Create a Submittal

Objective

To create a submittal for a project using the project's Submittals tool.

Background

In the construction industry, a submittal is written and/or physical information provided by subcontractors to the general contractor and then to the design team for approval of equipment, materials, etc. before they are fabricated and delivered to the project. Submittals can be presented in various formats, such as shop drawings, cut sheets on equipment, and material samples. Submittals are required primarily for the architect and engineer to verify that the correct products and quantities will be installed on the project in compliance with the design documents/contract documents. 

In Procore, a submittal manager is a person responsible for overseeing a submittal throughout its lifecycle. If you create a submittal and have 'Standard' or 'Admin' level permission to the Submittals tool, your name appears as the 'Submittal Manager' by default. However, users with 'Admin' level permission to the Submittals tool have the ability to assign the submittal manager role to any Procore user who has been granted 'Standard' or 'Admin' level permission to the Submittals tool (Note: Users with 'Standard' permission do not have permission to change the submittal manager). The 'Submittal Manager' field lets you change ownership of a submittal when the person who created a submittal (or that submittal's current manager) is no longer a member of the project team.

Although every company and project may have its specific process, it is common for the project manager or engineer to be responsible for acting as the submittal manager. First, the submittal manager will create the submittal. Next, the subcontractor provides the required documentation for the submittal. Then, when the required documentation is in place, the submittal is sent to the appropriate design team members for review and approval.

Things to Consider

Video

 

Steps

  1. Navigate to the project's Submittals tool.
  2. Click + Create > Submittal.
  3. Create a new submittal as follows:

​Add General Information

 Note

Users with Standard permission to the Submittals tool are limited to viewing the following fields when creating a new Submittal:

Title, Spec Section, Number & Revision, Submittal Type, Responsible Contractor, Received From, Final Due Date, Location, Linked Drawings, Distribution List, Ball in Court, Private, Description, Attachments

  1. Complete the data entry in the General tab as follows:

    • Title. The descriptive name that best summarizes the information in the submittal. 

    • Spec Section. Denotes the corresponding section from the project's specifications book (a.k.a., spec book). See Where do the selections in the 'Spec Sections' drop-down list in the Submittals tool come from?

    • Number & Revision. The submittal number and its revision number. See How are submittals numbered in Procore?

    • Submittal Package. The submittal package that contains the submittal. In Procore, adding submittals to a package is optional. The decision to add submittals to a submittal package is based on your project's requirements, which is determined by your company's or project's management team. For instructions, see Create a Submittal Package.

    • Status. The current status of the submittal. Only a user with 'Admin' level permission to the Submittals tool can change a submittal's status. See What are the default submittal statuses in Procore? and What is a 'Draft' Submittal?

    • Responsible Contractor. The company name of the contractor/subcontractor that is responsible for completing the work specified on the submittal. 

    • Received From. The contact for the responsible contractor who provided the submittal information to the project team. 

    • Submit By. Select the date by which a contractor/subcontractor must submit all relevant documentation (i.e., documents, drawings, manuals, plans, and so on) for the submittal to the project's design team for review.

    • Issue Date. The date the contractor/subcontractor submitted the submittal items (i.e., documents, plans, and so on) to your project team for the review process. 

    • Received Date. The date that the submittal information was received from the contractor/subcontractor responsible for the performing work associated with the submittal.

    • Final Due Date. The due date by which all approvers on the submittal workflow must submit a response.

      Notes: When the 'Final Due Date' occurs, the system sends an automated email notification to notify users that the submittal is overdue. If your system is configured to use sequential approval, the notification goes to the Submittal Manager and the Ball in Court person on the approval workflow. If your system is configured to use parallel approval, the notification goes to the Submittal Manager and members of the approval workflow).

    • Lead Time. The expected number of calendar days that will be required for the material/services for the submittal to arrive.

    • Required On-Site Date. The date by which materials related to the work detailed on the submittal must be delivered and available at the construction site.

    • Cost Code. The cost code for the submittal. Cost codes are managed in the 'Cost Code' segment in Procore's Work Breakdown Structure.

    • Submittal Manager. The name of the submittal manager. This is the person who is responsible for overseeing the submittal throughout its lifecycle in Procore. Each submittal can have a different submittal manager or your project team can configure a 'Default Submittal Manager' for all of your submittals. See What is the 'Submittal Manager' role?

    • Type. The information type associated with the submittal. The default type selections in Procore include: Document, Pay Request, Payroll, Plans, Prints, Product Information, Product Manual, Sample, Shop Drawing, Specification, and Other. See Create Custom Submittal Types.

    • Private. Indicates privacy settings for the submittal. When a submittal is marked 'Private', it is only visible to users with 'Admin' level permissions on the Submittals tool, users in the Submittal Workflow, and members of the submittal's Distribution List. Users with the 'View Private Submittals Associated to Users within Same Company' granular permission enabled on their permissions template can also view a submittal marked 'Private' if another user in their company is associated with the submittal. See Mark a Submittal as Private.

    • Location. The location at the job site for the submittal. This can be an existing location from the Location list or a tiered location. See Add Tiered Locations to a Project. 

    • Linked Drawings. Renderings stored in the project's Drawings tool that are linked to the submittal. See Link Related Items on a Drawing.

    • Description. Informative details, notes, and/or actions that describe the submittal. 

    • Attachments. Attach any relevant files. You have these options:

      • Click Attach File(s) and then choose the appropriate option from the shortcut menu that appears.
        OR
      • Use a drag-and-drop operation to move files from your computer into the grey Drag and Drop File(s) box.

    • Distribution List. The people who will receive email notifications from Procore as the submittal progresses through the submittal workflow. If your project team has created any distribution lists in the Project Directory, you can select those lists here. See Add a Distribution Group to the Procore Directory). 

back to steps

Calculate Submittal Schedule Information (If Enabled)

Submittal Schedule Calculations is an optional feature that you can enable. See Enable Submittal Schedule Calculations. When enabled, the Submittals tool will analyze your entries in the 'Required On-Site Date', 'Lead Time', 'Design Team Review Time', and 'Internal Review Time' fields to provide suggestions for the Submitter and Approver 'Due Date' on the submittal workflow. It also automatically populates the 'Planned Return Date', 'Planned Internal Review Completed Date', and 'Planned Submit By Date' fields.

  1. Follow the steps in Create a Submittal. 
    This reveals the New Submittal page.
  2. Scroll down to the Submittal Schedule Information area. 
  3. Set the following information:
    1. Schedule Task. The schedule task associated with the submittal being created. A schedule must be uploaded to the project first. See Upload a Project Schedule File to Procore's Web Application.

    2. Design Team Review Time. The number of days allotted for the design team's review on the submittal.

      Note: If you enter 7, the system subtracts '7' calendar days from the Planned Return Date to automatically populate the date entry for the Planned Internal Review Completed Date.

    3. Lead Time. The expected number of calendar days that will be required for the material/services for the submittal to arrive.

      Note: If you enter 10, the system subtracts '10' calendar days from the Required On-Site Date to automatically populate the date entry for the Planned Return Date.

    4. Required On-Site Date. The date by which materials related to the work detailed on the submittal must be delivered and available at the construction site.

    5. Internal Review Time. The number of calendar days that your project's design team requires to ensure the submittal is properly reviewed.

      Note: If you enter 5, the system subtracts '5' calendar days from the Planned Internal Review Completed Date to automatically populate the date entry for the Planned Submit by Date.
      This illustration shows you an example of these entries and calculations.

      create-submittal-schedule-info.png
       

back to steps

Update the Delivery Information

  • Anticipated Delivery Date
    View the date displaying in the Anticipated Delivery Date. This is the date between the 'Lead Time' and when the submittal was distributed, and it will not populate upon the creation of the submittal. This date is calculated by Procore once the submittal has been distributed. See Distribute a Submittal.​​
  • Schedule Task
    If you have enabled the Schedule tool on the project and integrated an Asta Powerproject, Microsoft Project, or Oracle Primavera schedule with Procore, you are permitted to select a project task from the Schedule Task drop-down list when you have a user account that has been granted 'Read-Only' level permission or higher on the Schedule tool. This is for reference only.
  • Confirmed Delivery Date
    Select the date the subcontractor or supplier confirmed the freight would arrive using the Confirmed Delivery Date calendar. 
  • Actual Delivery Date
    Select the date the material arrived on site using the Actual Delivery Date calendar. Typically, this value is updated by the project superintendent. 

back to steps

Apply a Submittal Workflow Template

A user with 'Admin' level permission to your project's Submittals tool can create one (1) or more submittal workflow templates which you can then to a new submittal when you first create it. This saves data-entry time by preventing you from having to add a new submittal workflow each time you create a submittal. 

  1. Under Submittal Workflow, do the following:

    submittal-workflow-add-template.png
     
    1. Select a Template. Select a workflow template from the drop-down list. 
      Notes:
      • This drop-down list is only visible and available to users with 'Admin' level permission on the Submittals tool. 
      • This action applies the person(s) named on the submittal workflow template to your submittal. 
      • To learn how submittal workflow templates are created, see Manage Submittal Workflow Templates.
  2. Continue by modifying the Name, Role, and Days to Submit/Response fields as needed for the submittal. Your changes only affect the workflow on the submittal, your changes do NOT affect the submittal workflow template. 
  3. (Optional) Continue with the steps in Add Users to the Submittal Workflow. 

Add Users to the Submittal Workflow

  1. Under Submittal Workflow, do the following for each desired line item in the submittal:
    • Name. Start typing a project user's name in the Search box. Then select the appropriate user from the list.
      • If you want to require a response from the user, place a mark in the checkbox next to their name.
        OR
      • If you do NOT want to require a response from the user, remove the mark from the checkbox.
        Note: If you are adding more than one user to a parallel approval workflow group, the Ball In Court Responsibility will shift to the next workflow group after all of the people marked required in the group submit a response to the submittal. 
    • Role. Select Approver or Submitter from the list. See What is the difference between a submitter and approver in submittals?
      Notes:
      • To be designated as an approver, the person must exist in the Project level Directory tool (see Add a User Account to the Project Directory) and must also be granted 'Admin' or 'Standard' level permissions to the Submittals tool (see Set User Permissions for the Submittals Tool).
      • If you are a user with 'Standard' level permissions to the Submittals tool, you can only add users with 'Admin' level permissions to the workflow.
      • If you plan to add a Submitter to the submittal, we recommend that you designate a Submittal Manager as the first approver in the submittal's sequential approval workflow. This gives the Submittal Manager an opportunity to ensure the submittal is thoroughly reviewed by your internal stakeholder before it is sent to the users in the next step on the submittal workflow. 
      • If you are a user with 'Admin' level permissions to the Submittals tool, you can add users with either 'Admin' or 'Standard' level permissions to the workflow. 
        Note: If you want the submittal workflow to use sequential approval, add only one user to each line item in the workflow. If you want a step in the submittal workflow to use parallel approval, add two or more users to a line item. 
    • Due Date. Select a date from the calendar for the submittal response to be due.
      Note: The 'Due Date' field is automatically populated based on the default number of days specified on the Submittals tool's Configure Settings page. See Configure Settings: Submittals Tool. The due date also respects which days are set as 'working days' for the project. See Set Project Working Days.
  2. Click Add Step. 
  3. Repeat these steps to add another user to the workflow. 
  4. If you want to change the order of the workflow steps, do the following:
    1. Grab the line item by the vertical grip (⋮⋮).
    2. Use a drag-and-drop operation to move the line item into the desired order. 

      submittals-change-order-table.png

Update and Send the Submittal for Review

When finished with the steps above, choose one of these options:

  • To save your changes without sending an email to members of the submittal workflow, distribution list members, and submittal manager, click Create. 
    OR
  • To save your changes and to send an email notification to alert the members of the submittal workflow and to alert the members of the distribution list, click Create & Send Emails.

See Also