The Construction Submittal Log: 5 Best Practices [FREE Excel Template]

There are thousands of documents involved in any particular construction project. Drawings, letters, notices, legal documents, technical information and more are exchanged between all parties involved. With all this back-and-forth, how are we supposed to keep track of them. That’s where the submittal log comes into play. In this article, we’re talking about the Construction Submittal Log: What It Is, Why It’s Important & Several Best Practices For Project Managers.

The Construction Submittal Log: What To Know

Here’s a summary of the best practices construction managers can use when using submittal logs. If you want to jump ahead, click the links below!

• What’s A Submittal Log For?
• Download A Construction Submittal Log Excel Template (FREE!)
• Practice #1: Organize By Specification, Trade Or Scope Of Work
• Practice #2: Track Revisions
• Practice #3: Track Who Submits A Document & Who Responds
• Practice #4: Submittal Days & Dates
• Practice #5: Track Submittal Comments & Status
• Bonus Practices

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When the average person thinks of construction project management, they think of the big picture: large machinery, giant plan drawings, hardhats and suits, and generally getting the building/bridge/whatever it is built. These are the coolest parts of construction that we see in Hollywood.

But those of us working in the construction management field know better – there are a LOT of documents, to-do tasks, coordination meetings, emails and phone calls involved in making those cool parts actually come together. In fact, the majority of construction management is actually behind the scenes, and not on the job site!

• Those large machines: Engineers must first review all equipment to make sure the ground and job site can handle the weight of the machine, the vibration it produces, etc.
• Those giant plan drawings: Those are revised again and again as the Owner’s representatives review and return plans submitted by different contractors and professional engineers.
• The management in hardhats and (sometimes) suits: They are the project staff, who either represent the Owner, or are working for contractors and consultants on the job – all of whom do not perform any physical work, but rather handle the management and the administration of the work.
• The materials being used: Those are submitted and approved on paper before they’re ever installed. Or at least, they should be!

Machines, equipment, plans, drawings, documents, materials – on a larger project, there are THOUSANDS of files associated with these! So how are construction project managers supposed to keep track of all this?

Construction Submittal Log: What It’s For & How It Helps

Not only are thousands and thousands of documents involved in a large construction project, but they’re always changing hands.

Project staff members review these documents, then make comments, ask questions and request additional information. This back-and-forth can include several revisions for even one single document before it’s approved to proceed.

The Owner’s Representatives (aka the Design Team) must approve all of these documents before anything in them can be used on the job site. As every contractor knows well, performing work onsite that is not yet approved on paper can lead to HUGE problems, including accidents, failures, delays and redoing the work (goodbye, profit!).

This is why every successful project must have a submittal log. This is a ledger that tracks every document on the project: who put it together, when they sent it, who reviewed/responded to it, when they responded, and so on. Ideally, everything down to the nut and bolt is recorded in this process.

Having a closely monitored, regularly updated submittal log is key to a construction project’s success in the following ways:

1. Submittal logs track what is approved, and when.
2. Submittal logs track time – the date something is turned in, when it’s responded to and the number of days in between.
3. Submittal logs prevent mistakes – when a portion of work is not 100% approved, it should not proceed.
4. Based on the above, submittal logs are closely tied to contractor’s budget (profitability) as well as schedule.

Naturally, there are best practices all project managers can use to make the most out a construction submittal log. Let’s explore them…

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Practice #1: Organize By Specification, Trade Or Scope Of Work

Think of any construction project, and you’ll realize how many types of work every project involves. There are surveyors and engineers, earth movers and concrete contractors, electricians and plumbers, roofers and carpenters, the list goes on…

This is why a construction submittal log should make reference to the type of work that each submittal applies to.

In the submittal log, make note of one of the following for every submittal:

• Specification section (MasterFormat, if it applies): examples include 017123 Field Engineering & Surveying, 033000 Concrete and 057500 Decorative Metal.
• Trade: examples include structural engineer, ironwork, concrete, electric and plumbing.
• Scope Of Work: examples include foundation, steel structure, glass curtainwall and elevators.

Read Next: Our Comprehensive List Of 25 Ways Contractors Lose Money

Practice #2: Track Revisions

With every construction project comes a tremendous amount of back-and-forth on paper. A contractor usually submits a set of drawings several times before the final set is approved.

Every time a set of drawings or a document gets submitted, it needs to be tracked on its’ own line in the submittal log. This is why all construction submittal logs must note the version, or ‘revision number’, of each document.

• When a document first gets submitted, it is revision (REV) 0. Every subsequent submittal after that is noted by the next item in sequence: REV. 1, 2, 3, etc.
• Anyone who reviews the submittal log will be able to understand which document is the final one, based on its’ REV. number in the log.
• Important: Keep the title of each submittal the same across all revisions of a document. This will eliminate confusion in the future.

Read Next: The Difference Between Shop Drawings And Construction Drawings

Practice #3: Track Who Submits A Document & Who Responds

On a large project, the project staff consists of dozens of contractors, consultants and Owner’s representatives. In a perfect world all parties understand who is responsible for submitting a document, who must approve a particular item and which parties need to review a document before it can be approved.

However, we do not live in an ideal world. When enough parties are involved, this exchange of documents quickly becomes a confusing mess. Not to mention, as a project enters its’ critical stages, memories of the recent past fade fast, and it can be difficult to remember exactly who submitted what, and when they did so.

This is why keeping track of the party that sends in a submittal, as well as the party who responds, is so important. In every construction submittal log:

• Note the person who receives a submittal package, and the company/firm they represent.
• Note the person who sends in the submittal and the company they represent. This can be a subcontractor if you’re a GC.
• Note the person who responds to the submittal package and their company, or companies, which leads to…
• A contractor may submit a document to only one party for approval, but they in turn might forward it to several more parties for their input. This is why it’s particularly important to note all of the parties who respond to a submittal, even if they aren’t the party who it was originally sent to.

Read Next: How Do You Organize Project Documentation? A Few Must-Know Methods

Practice #4: Submittal Days & Dates

Everyone knows how critical the schedule is to the success or failure of a project. Delays onsite are easy to spot – if the schedule shows a portion of work being done and workers are still building, the work is delayed!

But what about delays you can’t see? These are on-paper delays, and they happen during the design and planning phases of a project. As you can imagine, the timing (date) of design, drawing and document submittals plays a big role in a construction project’s schedule, as does the response time. Here are a few ways to stay ahead of this:

• At the beginning of a project, establish submittal deadlines and final approval deadlines for all documents that will be required.
• Know the terms of the contract: how much time is the architect, engineer or any Owner’s representative allowed to take when reviewing a submittal? This is important for tracking delays and due dates.
• Of course, note the date a document is submitted and the date it is returned.
• Optional Bonus Tip: Track the time between revisions, as well. If a set of drawings requires just a few updates, but the updated drawings aren’t resubmitted for several weeks, there is a delay happening in the process. This is especially important if you’re receiving and processing submittals from other contractors.

Read Next: How To Estimate Construction Costs: Our Comprehensive Guide

Practice #5: Track Submittal Comments & Status

Contractors have many inside jokes about the craziness of the construction industry. One of them is calling a returned submittal a ‘bloodbath’. The reason? They’re covered in red markups.

These markups and comments are the official response that an architect, engineer or any Owner’s representative provides for a submittal package. These comments are expected to be addressed in the final document, prior to any approval being given. There are many reasons for these comments, here are just a few:

• The contractor did not provide enough information.
• The contractor did not interpret the design or intent correctly.
• The architect/engineer has design changes to make.
• The architect/engineer did not adequately convey what they require.
• There is more coordination required between various details.

Submittal comments and how well they’re addressed can make or break a project. Specific comments may be the reasons for a project delay, grounds for a change order or the need for further exploration before work begins. This is why every line item in a construction submittal log should include a column for notes, comments and changes!

Read Next: What Is It Like Being A Construction Project Manager? A Day In The Life

Construction Submittal Log: Bonus Practices

This article has covered the essential best practices for managing a construction submittal log. By practicing the five things we discussed above, contractors and construction managers will be well on their way to cruising through the submittal process on a project. Here are a few additional tips that can bring your submittal log to another level:

• Use colors to note the status of each submittal. If your submittal log is in Excel, highlight the cells in green when a document is approved, yellow if it’s pending and red if it’s rejected, marked ‘revise and resubmit’, etc. This creates a visual guide for quickly scanning though many line items.
• Based on the contract and the amount of time a party has to review a submittal, highlight the ‘response time’ cell in red if the time exceeds what is allowable. This helps track specific delays. You can even create an Excel formula to highlight the cells in this column if the time exceeds what is allowed.
• Make Excel columns sortable inside the log. That way, a user can easily sort by spec section/trade, dates, reviewer information, etc. once the log begins to fill up.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about the construction submittal log. Don’t forget to enter you email for a FREE Excel submittal log template, which you can download instantly after signing up!

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