When to use submittals [Growth and Enterprise plans]

Submittals are required in complex, large projects where production specifications/technical data are sent to architects and engineers for approval to make sure that the correct items are installed.

How to use submittals in Knowify:

• If you are a Subcontractor
• If you are a General Contractor

If you are a Subcontractor

You can be ahead of your customer and send a submittal for approval to them.

When preparing your documentation you can always save your changes and keep editing your draft later on.

During the approval process, your submittal will go through the following states:

• Draft, while you are still working on gathering all the data before sending for approval
• Awaiting approval, once sent and the ball is in the approver's court, that is your customer (or someone working for the customer, like an architect or engineer)
• Revise and resubmit, if the approver requested changes
• Approved, when the process is complete by getting the customer’s approval

If you are a General Contractor

You most likely follow the submittal schedule and request a submittal to your subcontractor. You might also be using this option if you are a subcontractor managing other subcontractors.

Once the subcontractor gets back to you, you can either

1. Review the submittal yourself and approve the documentation submitted or request a revision to your subcontractors or
2. Ask an external approver to review the submittal

During the process, your submittal will go through the following states:

• Draft, while you are still working on gathering all the data before requesting the documentation
• Awaiting submission, once sent and the ball is in the submitter’s court, that is your subcontractor or vendor
• Ready to review, once the submitter submitted the requested information
• Awaiting approval, in case you resent the submittal to be reviewed by a third party such as the architect or the engineer
• Approved, when the process is complete by getting your approval or a third-party’s approval

Using submittals is important for the following reasons:

• Quality assurance
• Liability

Quality assurance

Submittals provide a deeper level of detail than is offered in design documents. You can avoid miscommunication pitfalls and rework by relying on submittals to get the materials approved. The submittal will act as a final quality assurance check before materials arrive at the construction site.

Liability

You can use submittals as a protection against future claims. If a contractor installs materials that are not according to specs, they will be held responsible for replacing them with the correct items and likely bear the cost of such correction and any potential damage. You can avoid this situation by getting your submittals approved. Even if the submittal is not approved, sending them to the approver and following up will place you in a better position should any issues arise.

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