What is a Submittal?

A submittal is a critical document in construction project management. It serves as a formal request by the contractor or subcontractor for the architect, engineer, or general contractor to review and approve specific materials, products, equipment, or systems before they are fabricated, delivered, or installed on site.

Submittals play a vital role in ensuring compliance with the design intent, contract documents, and quality standards established for the project. They include a wide variety of items, such as product data sheets, material samples, shop drawings, and technical specifications, and are often required for structural components, finishes, HVAC systems, electrical devices, and more.

The purpose of a submittal is to:

• Verify that proposed items meet the project’s technical requirements.
• Prevent costly errors, delays, or rework due to incorrect installations.
• Establish clear communication and accountability between all project stakeholders.

To support this essential process, Contractor Foreman provides a powerful and easy-to-use Submittals module. It allows project teams to create, submit, review, and track submittals in one centralized platform. The system improves transparency, reduces paperwork, and helps ensure nothing falls through the cracks, from initial submission to final approval.

By streamlining the submittal workflow, Contractor Foreman helps teams stay organized, avoid surprises, and deliver construction projects that are accurate, efficient, and compliant with all design specifications.

Submittal Workflow

When you create a submittal, it’s assigned the status Draft by default. Once you start working on it, you can manually change the status to Pending. After completing the submittal and it’s ready to be reviewed, you’ll submit it to the external approver. At that point, the system will automatically update the status to Submitted.

The external approver will receive the submittal and can provide feedback on any of the items included. Keep in mind that a submittal can contain as many items as needed.

Once the submittal is returned, its status will change to Response Received. You’ll then review it to check if the items were approved or declined. If everything is approved, you can mark the submittal as Approved, and the workflow is complete.

If the submittal requires changes or wasn’t fully approved, you’ll mark it as Rejected, create a copy, and restart the workflow with a new revision.Create a New Submittal

Create a New Submittal

To create a new submittal in your Contractor Foreman account, open the main menu and navigate to the Submittals module. This will take you to the submittals dashboard. In the top-right corner, click the + Submittal button. A new pop-up window will appear on the right side of your screen.

Start by entering the submittal number, this is a required field. By default, the system starts numbering from 1 and you can’t change this directly. If you want to customize the numbering system (for example, so each new submittal starts at 1 per project), go to your Submittal Settings and change the numbering system there.

Next, enter the title, select the project, and choose a coordinator. Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required. Once completed, click the Create Submittal button. This will take you to the submittal you just created, now displayed in full screen.

Each submittal has two tabs: Details and Notes. Let’s start with the Details tab.

Details tab

At the top left, you’ll see the project name, the submittal title (which you can click to rename), and the submittal number. In the center, you’ll find the status tracker, as well as five key sections: Details, Internal Approver, External Approver, Custom Fields, and Submittal Items.

Details Box

• Submitted by refers to the person or company sending the submittal (e.g., if you’re a GC and your plumber submits it, their name goes here).
• Date Received is when you originally received the submittal.
• Due Date is when the submittal must be approved by.
• Coordinator is the user who created the submittal.
• Sent to (CC) lets you add others who should receive the submittal once submitted.
• Plan Sheet Numbers and Spec Section allow you to reference relevant drawings or specifications.
• External Link lets you include additional information.

Internal Approver Box

The Internal Approver section is for someone on your team, like a project manager or superintendent, who can review the submittal before it’s sent out. They can provide internal responses and comments.

External Approver Box

The External Approver is typically someone outside your company, such as an architect, engineer, consultant, owner, or city reviewer, who will approve or decline the submittal. Their responses and comments go in this section.

Custom Fields Box

In the Custom Fields section, you can add additional fields as needed. These fields apply across all projects, offering flexibility to tailor submittals to your workflow.

Submittal Items Box

In the Submittal Items section, click + Item to Submittal to add items. Each item can include:

• Item Number
• Item Name
• Plan Sheet Numbers
• Manufacturer
• Spec Section
• Description
• An attached document

All applicable fields should be filled in according to best practices. For example, you might not include a manufacturer for shop drawings, but it’s important for product data sheets.

Below each item, there is an External Approver Response section. Leave this blank, this is where the external approver will leave comments, indicate approval or rejection, or mark the item as needing resubmission.

Once you’ve entered all required information, click Confirm.

Notes Tab

The Notes tab is for internal coordination. You can leave time-stamped comments and upload attachments. These notes are not visible to external users.

Submit to the External Approver

Finally, when your submittal is complete, click the three-dot icon, then select Submit for Online Approval. The submittal will be sent to the external approver and to anyone listed under Sent to (CC). Only the designated external approver can officially approve or reject the submittal.

Watch the video linked to learn more about managing submittals.