The full stamp vocabulary
Stamp wording varies by firm, but nearly every stamp maps to four actions:
- Approved / No Exceptions Taken — proceed as submitted
- Approved as Noted / Make Corrections Noted — proceed, incorporating the noted corrections; resubmission usually not required
- Revise and Resubmit — do not proceed; correct the deficiencies and submit again for another full review
- Rejected — does not conform; a different product or approach is required
- Some stamps add 'Submit Specified Item' (a substitution was declined) or a fifth 'Approved as Noted — Resubmit for Record' variant that lets work proceed but still requires a corrected copy for the file
What 'as noted' obligates you to do
Read every markup, on every page — not just the cover stamp. The notes might change a breaker size, strike a substituted finish, or condition approval on a field verification. Those notes now govern the work: order the corrected configuration, communicate the changes to your supplier and fabricator, and carry the notes into the purchase order. The classic failure is releasing the original quote to the supplier while the approved-as-noted copy with a changed option sits in the log; the delivered product then matches the submittal but not the approval.
If a note is wrong — the reviewer marked a correction that conflicts with the spec, the drawings, or physical reality — do not silently comply or silently ignore it. Raise it through the GC as an RFI or a response letter before proceeding.
Why architects use it so heavily
'Approved as Noted' is the workhorse stamp because it keeps the job moving: a package that is 95% right gets corrected in place rather than burning a two-to-four-week resubmittal cycle on a finish note. From the contractor's side that is a gift with a string attached — the string being that the correction burden transfers to you with no second review to catch a miss. Treat every as-noted return as an action list with an owner and a date, not as a filing event.
Does an as-noted stamp change the contract?
No. The standard stamp language disclaims exactly that: review is for general conformance with design intent, does not relieve the contractor of compliance with the contract documents, and does not authorize changes in cost or time. If a reviewer's note increases your cost — a bigger conductor, an added accessory — the stamp is not a change order; price it and submit the change request separately before you buy it.
Tracking notes so nothing slips
Submittal.App keeps the returned, marked-up version attached to the submittal record, so the as-noted copy — not the original — is what flows into quotes and purchase orders. The notes travel with the product data through procurement, which closes the most common gap between what was approved and what gets delivered.