The identification block
Standard contents, top of page one:
- Project name, number, and location
- Submittal number in the section-sequence convention (e.g., 09 29 00-002) and revision (R0, R1…)
- Spec section number and title the package answers
- Description of contents ("Gypsum board assemblies — product data and UL listings")
- Subcontractor, supplier, and manufacturer names
- Date, and dates of any prior submissions of the same number
The two stamps
Going up: the contractor's review stamp, where the GC certifies it examined the package, verified field conditions, and coordinated it with the work — signed and dated. Most architects will not review a package without it.
Coming back: the reviewer's action stamp — Approved / No Exceptions Taken, Approved as Noted / Make Corrections Noted, Revise and Resubmit, or Rejected — with the reviewer's markups on the pages behind it. The stamped cover plus marked pages is the record copy that governs what gets installed. Archive every returned version; the sequence of stamps tells the project's story better than any narrative.
Deviations and attachments belong on the cover
Two more items earn their place on page one. First, a deviation statement: either 'no deviations' or an explicit list of every departure from the specified products or performance — burying a deviation in page 47 of a cut sheet does not count as disclosure, and undisclosed deviations remain the contractor's risk even after approval. Second, a contents list when the package holds multiple items, so the reviewer can confirm completeness before starting and you avoid the 'returned without review — incomplete' cycle.
Format conventions that speed review
Reviewers process dozens of packages a week, and the ones formatted predictably move first. Keep the cover to one page. Use the section-sequence number in the filename as well as on the sheet — '26 24 16-001-R1 Panelboards.pdf' files itself, while 'submittal final v3 (2).pdf' guarantees confusion in six months. Repeat the submittal number in a header or footer on the content pages, because returned markups get separated from covers in email chains. And when the package contains multiple items, number them on the cover contents list and tab the PDF with matching bookmarks — a bookmarked package reviews measurably faster than a flat 200-page scan.
Generated automatically in Submittal.App
Submittal.App generates the cover sheet and table of contents for every package the AI Builder assembles — numbering follows your register convention, revisions increment automatically, and the returned stamp and markups stay attached to the version they belong to. The formatting nobody enjoys producing simply exists, on every package, the same way every time.