What belongs in an electrical submittal package
Start from the specs, not from memory. Each Division 26 section has a Part 1 'Submittals' article that lists exactly what the engineer expects. On a typical commercial job you will be pulling submittals for most of these sections:
- 26 05 19 — Wire and cable: manufacturer cut sheets with conductor type, insulation rating, and temperature rating flagged
- 26 05 33 — Raceways and boxes: conduit, fittings, and box product data
- 26 24 13 / 26 24 16 — Switchboards and panelboards: shop drawings with bus ratings, AIC ratings, breaker layouts, and dimensions
- 26 27 26 — Wiring devices: receptacles, switches, cover plates, with finishes noted
- 26 28 16 — Enclosed switches and circuit breakers
- 26 51 00 — Lighting (often handled as its own package with the fixture schedule)
- Studies where specified: short-circuit, coordination, and arc-flash — usually a deferred or separate submittal
Product data vs. shop drawings for electrical
For catalog items — devices, conduit, wire, disconnects — a marked-up manufacturer cut sheet is enough. Highlight the exact catalog number, voltage, and options being furnished, and strike or cloud everything that does not apply. A cut sheet with six unmarked variants is the fastest way to get 'Revise and Resubmit.'
Gear is different. Switchboards, panelboards, and MCCs need factory shop drawings: one-line, elevation, bus arrangement, breaker schedule matched to the panel schedule on the drawings, and nameplate data. The engineer reviews these against the load calcs, so mismatched breaker frame sizes or AIC ratings get caught immediately.
The review round-trip
The package goes from you to the GC, who logs it and forwards to the electrical engineer of record. Expect 10 business days of review time per the general conditions, plus the GC's handling time on both ends — call it two to three weeks door to door. Gear submittals often come back 'Approved as Noted' with corrections to breaker sizes or feeder designations; you incorporate the notes and release for fabrication without resubmitting unless the stamp says otherwise.
Common rejection reasons on electrical submittals
The same handful of problems cause most electrical rejections:
- AIC ratings on panelboards lower than the fault current shown in the study
- Unmarked cut sheets — reviewer cannot tell which catalog number is being furnished
- Substituted gear manufacturer without a substitution request when the spec is proprietary
- Missing series ratings documentation when breakers are series-rated
- Fixture or device finishes that ignore the architect's finish schedule
- Wire submitted at 75°C when terminations require 90°C rated conductors
How Submittal.App builds the electrical package
Submittal.App's AI Builder reads your schedule or spec section, matches each catalog number against an indexed library of manufacturer cut sheets, and assembles a formatted package — cover sheet, table of contents, and section dividers — in minutes. You review, adjust, and send a link to the GC instead of spending an evening merging PDFs. When the review comes back, the approved package converts straight into quotes and purchase orders.