How Construction Technology Is Streamlining Project Documentation and Approval Processes

Ask anyone who has run a construction job, and they will tell you the building is rarely the hard part. The paperwork around it is.

Product data, shop drawings, samples, logs, and sign-offs all have to move between contractors and design teams before a single item gets ordered.

Here is where that process stalls, what the people doing the work say about it, and what newer tools are doing to help.

What Is a Material Submittal, and Why Does It Matter?

A submittal is the documentation a contractor sends to the design team to show that a product or method matches the specifications. It needs approval before the work moves ahead. Construction specification management software helps teams reference project requirements when reviewing submitted materials. Think of it as a checkpoint: catching a wrong product on paper costs far less than fixing it once it is installed.

What Actually Goes Into a Submittal Package?

It depends on the product, but most packages include some mix of product data sheets, shop drawings, physical samples, and supporting certificates. A specification management database can help teams access the relevant project requirements when preparing and reviewing these documents. The design team compares each item against the written specification and responds with an approval, a rejection, or a request for changes.

The trouble is that one project can involve hundreds of these. Each needs to be gathered, checked for the right version, formatted, sent, tracked, and filed. None of those steps is hard on its own. Together they eat a surprising amount of a project manager's week.

To see how one tool handles package building and submittal logs, here is its overview page:
https://www.spec-id.com/solutions/submittal-software

Why Do Submittal Approvals Take So Long?

Mostly because of volume, the number of reviewers, and unclear timing. Kevin O'Beirne, writing on the Construction Specifications Institute's resources site, says he has seen design teams average 42 or more days to respond, which he calls excessive. He adds that review time depends on the size and complexity of the submittal, how many people review it, and how busy the team is.

Slow reviews are not just annoying. Most contracts set a completion date and treat time as essential, so a contractor cannot simply wait around. When reviews run late on critical-path work, the usual outcome is a delay claim. You can read the full argument in Kevin O'Beirne's post on the CSI resources site. https://www.csiresources.org/blogs/kevin-obeirne-pe-fcsi-ccs-ccca-cdt1/2022/01/14/shop-drawings-and-submittals-timeliness-of-submitt

What Is a Submittal Schedule, and Do You Need One?

A submittal schedule is a shared plan listing what will be submitted, when, and how much review time each item gets. O'Beirne's recommendation is that the contractor and the design professional agree on it early, tie it to the construction progress schedule, flag critical-path items, and update it regularly.

It also has contractual weight. Under the AIA A201, a contractor that ignores an approved schedule loses entitlement to time or money for review delays. Under the EJCDC C-700, an acceptable schedule is a condition for the first progress payment. A single deadline for everything is rarely fair, because a simple item may need two or three days while a big batch needs far longer.

How Do You Track Submittals Without Losing Versions?

A spreadsheet works for small jobs, but it gets shaky as projects, reviewers, and platforms multiply. In a discussion on the AIA Community Hub, many architects said they still log submittals in Excel, recording dates, routing, and actions taken. Some use the same workbook for RFIs and change orders. A few stressed that being organized matters more than which tool you pick.

Others said contractor platforms are good for distribution but come with a steep learning curve and force duplicate uploads when files move between systems. Cost came up too, with sole practitioners saying specialty software is priced for larger firms.

That is where construction document management software earns its place: one home for the current version, the review history, and whoever currently holds the document. It only pays off if it fits how your team already works.

For a closer look at how digital submittal tools support document control on job sites, see How Construction Submittal Software Improves Document Control on Job Sites. https://opsmatters.com/posts/how-construction-submittal-software-improves-document-control-job-sites

Should You Rely on the Contractor's Platform?

Members of that same discussion mostly said no, at least not exclusively. Their concern was access. If a dispute arises, a firm could lose entry to the contractor's system, or records could be altered. Many keep their own official log and reconcile it regularly with the contractor's, and some write contract language guaranteeing access to project files at closeout. They also noted that due dates entered by a contractor do not override what the contract requires.

Can Construction Workflow Automation Fix the Busywork?

It can take over the repetitive assembly. Building a package by hand means collecting product data, spec pages, and certificates, then formatting everything into a binder. Construction workflow automation handles that kind of repeatable work, such as generating submittal logs with date stamps or compiling automated submittal packages from a material list.

Software for specialty contractors can also simplify this process by helping trade teams organize product documents before submitting them for review.

The payoff is mostly consistency. When the format is the same every time, reviewers know where to look.

Will Automation Replace the Project Manager?

No. Judgment calls still need a person: whether a substitution really meets the spec, which items sit on the critical path, and who to chase. Automation simply clears the clutter so those calls happen sooner.

What Happens to All Those Documents at Project Closeout?

Approved submittals do not end their useful life when the product is installed. The approved product data feeds the closeout binder that goes to the owner, along with warranties and maintenance information. When records are scattered across email threads and personal folders, assembling that binder at the end becomes a scramble.

Keeping everything organized as you go means closeout is mostly a matter of compiling what already exists. That is one more reason to treat documentation as an ongoing habit and not an end-of-job chore.

Does Going Digital Really Save Time?

A 2025 Procore survey of more than 1,200 construction decision-makers found that 18% of project time is lost searching for data and 28% to rework. Those figures cover construction broadly, not submittals alone, but they show how much time is hidden in documents that are hard to find. Tools built around construction document management software and automated submittal packages target that waste directly, though results depend on how well a team adopts them.

If you are weighing a move, start small. Pilot a new process on one project, keep an independent log for the first few months, and check whether it fits how your team already works before rolling it out more widely.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the submittal process involve

The contractor sends product data, drawings, or samples to the design team. They check the material against the specifications and approve it, reject it, or ask for changes before work continues.

Who approves a submittal?

Usually the design professional, sometimes with a construction manager or program manager involved, depending on the contract.

How long should a submittal review take?

Whatever the contract sets. EJCDC specifications have suggested a minimum of 14 days for engineer review, though complexity and workload can change that.

This release was published on openPR.