What a reviewer looks for before you ever see the stamp. Built by a structural engineer
who has sat on the reviewing side of the table. Run it before every package leaves your desk.
Free to use and share · Engineer-built · August 2026
A rejected submittal costs a second review cycle, hours of reassembly, and the schedule that was waiting on the approval.
Almost every rejection on this list takes under two minutes to prevent.
A Before you assemble - 7 checks
Most rejections are decided before the first page is scanned.
Read the spec section's PART 1 submittal paragraph line by line.List every required item: product data, shop drawings, samples, certifications, warranties, O&M, LEED. Reviewers check this list first.
Read Division 01 (01 33 00) for the general submittal rules.Copies, electronic format, file-naming convention, stamp requirements. Breaking a Division 01 rule rejects a technically perfect package.
Confirm whether the item is "for approval" or "for record."Submitting record items for approval clogs the log and slows the whole register.
Match the submittal number to the register and the spec section.
Check lead time + review duration against the procurement date.Flag long-lead items now. A perfect approval that arrives after the install date is still a failure.
Identify deferred and delegated-design submittals early.Anything needing a specialty engineer's stamp has its own clock.
Confirm who actually reviews it.Architect, EOR, MEP engineer, owner's rep. A package routed wrong loses a full review cycle.
B The transmittal and cover - 5 checks
The first page decides the reviewer's mood for the next fifty.
Submittal number follows the project convention (section–sequence–revision).
Description matches the spec section title exactly.
The contractor's review stamp is signed and dated.Many reviewers reject an unstamped package without reading page two. It says nobody on your side looked first.
Resubmittals state how every previous comment was resolved.Point to the page. Making the reviewer hunt for their own comment is how a second rejection happens.
One submittal, one spec section.Mixed sections force a partial review and an automatic "revise and resubmit."
C Product data - 8 checks
The reviewer's core question: can I find the specified value on your page?
The exact model is arrowed or highlighted on any catalog page showing multiple options.
Every specified performance value is locatable in the data.R-value, PSI, gauge, flame spread, wind rating. If the spec names a number, your page must show that number.
The manufacturer is specified or a named acceptable equal.Anything else is a substitution and needs the form, not a quiet swap.
Options and accessories are selected, not left as ranges.
Finish and color selections are marked.
Compliance with referenced standards is shown, not claimed.ASTM, UL, AISC, NSF: the listing or test data appears in the package.
Required certifications are attached.Mill certs, test reports, ICC-ES reports. "Available upon request" reads as "not checked."
The cut sheet is current.A discontinued product line found by the reviewer ends the package's credibility.
D Shop drawings - 7 checks
Field dimensions are verified, or honestly marked "field verify."
Details reference contract drawing numbers and grid lines.
Connections, anchors and embeds are fully shown.These are what the EOR is actually reviewing. A missing connection detail is a guaranteed comment.
Conflicts with the contract drawings are clouded and flagged.Never silent. A conflict the reviewer finds is a rejection; a conflict you flag is a conversation.
Scales, section marks and text survive at print size.
Delegated-design sheets carry the specialty engineer's stamp.
Adjacent-trade coordination is noted.Openings, blocking, clearances, power requirements. The reviewer checks whether you talked to the other trades.
E Cross-document coordination - 6 checks
The rejections that hurt most hide between documents, not inside one.
Product data agrees with the shop drawing.The same model number on both. It is astonishing how often it is not.
Dimensions agree across architectural and structural references.
Electrical characteristics match the electrical drawings.Voltage, phase, MCA. Equipment approved at the wrong voltage becomes a change order.
Equipment weights were checked against the structure.Rooftop units and suspended equipment: the EOR will ask.
The physical sample matches the finish schedule.
Addenda and ASI changes are incorporated.Confirm you are reading the current spec, not the bid set.
F Deviations and substitutions - 4 checks
Every deviation is listed on a deviation sheet.A hidden deviation discovered later costs the rejection and the trust. You never get the second one back.
Substitutions use the project's form with a side-by-side comparison.
Cost and schedule impact is stated, even when it is zero.
"Or equal" is proven with data, not asserted.
G The last pass - 5 checks
Ten minutes here saves three weeks there.
Every page is legible, right-side up, in a bookmarked PDF with a contents page.
The file name follows the project protocol.
Page count sanity check.Merges silently drop pages. Count what went in against what came out.
Someone who did not assemble it reads it cold for ten minutes.
The final question: "Can the reviewer approve this without asking a single question?"If the answer is no, you already know what the comment will be. Fix it now, while it is free.