The Contracter Normally Stampps the Submittals Indication That They Have Been Reviewed

Construction Administration and the Submittal Process – Adept Article

In this article, experts in architecture and construction administration discuss the purpose and importance of the submittal process. The construction experts at Robson Forensic are often retained to provide expert witness investigations relevant to a broad range of construction claims.

Construction Assistants and the Submittal Process

Overview

For building construction projects, the architect and their consulting engineers prepare contract documents, which provide teaching to the general contractor in the class of drawings, details, and technical specifications. The contractor and their subcontractors are tasked with meeting the architect's blueprint intent through compliance with these contract documents.

Due to the complex nature of edifice construction, and the division of responsibilities the contract documents exercise not include direction on means and methods of structure. The contract documents permit the contractor to use their best skill and judgement in their approach to the project. Otherwise, contract documents would appear more similar the assembly manual for a bicycle or automobile manual, rather than a finished building project.

While the assembly manual approach may seem reasonable, in do, it is not.

Large, complex building projects can dwell in the design and document production process for an extended period of time, sometimes years. Production manufacturer'due south routinely discontinue products, make modifications to products, or create new and improved products that may be more than suitable to the project weather condition than those originally specified. New products and materials become available, which may not have been manufactured or available just a few years prior.

These dynamic industry factors must be accounted for in the building design and construction procedure.

For this reason, the purpose of the architect's contract documents, including those of their consulting engineers, is to express the pattern intent and the level of quality expected. The documents do non require an exacting means or methods in the construction of the building. The contract documents are produced to allow variation in the products and materials available for use by the contractor with the implicit requirement that the furnished products and materials comply with the design intent.

The contractor has the responsibility to develop an understanding of the design intent and provide materials, products, and the ways and methods necessary to construct a completed building, which meets the contract document requirements. In doing and so, information technology is the contractor'southward responsibility to hire and manage the subcontractors, suppliers, and vendors that will provide the specified materials and products for the building.

Submittal Procedure Purpose

The submittal process is first and foremost the vehicle through which the contractor expresses his understanding of the blueprint intent to the architect and owner. It is the responsibleness of the contractor to select products and materials that comply with the contract document requirements, submit them to the architect for blessing, and contain the approved products and materials into the work of the project.

Proper direction of the submittal procedure is of vital importance to the success of a building construction projection. The contractor implements this process to convey the canonical product and material information between his selected subcontractors, material suppliers, and the field personnel in the construction of the building. The procedures for the scheduling, tracking, and documentation of the submittals is a joint try among the project team and is led by the contractor.

In fact, the approved submittals become the detailed documents from which individual elements of the building are built. Store drawings are a skilful example. The contract documents provide overall layout, and relative location of the required building components, as in the case of metallic pan stairs, simply do not show connectedness points or actual fellow member sizes.

The architect too has a significant office in the process. The architect receives submittals from the general contractor and, depending on the submittal, either reviews them, or, later on a cursory review, forwards them to the appropriate consulting engineers for their review and approving. One time the consulting engineer has taken appropriate action the architect returns the submittal to the contractor with notice on how to proceed. In well-nigh cases, it is the builder that determines which submittals are necessary for the contractor to set and submit.

Submittals are non voluntary. Submittals are as integral to the construction process equally the contract documents, the subcontractor scopes of work, the project schedule, and coordination between trades. The authoritative management and coordination of submittals is normally the responsibility of the general contractor.

Structure Project Management, third edition, published in 2009, explains that:

• The shop drawings go, in effect, the working drawings of the project and office of the contract documents…When the shop drawing is accepted, fabrication can brainstorm. This acceptance assumes that all last coordination among trades has been accomplished.

The American Institute of Architects (AIA), founded in 1857 is the largest and most widely recognized organization in the The states active in the publication and maintenance of contract language for the structure industry. The AIA publishes a complete family of contract forms commonly used for the relationships between Owners and Architects, Owners and Contractors, and Contractors and Sub-Contractors. The standard of intendance is embodied in these forms of agreements, which are adult by the AIA in association with professional associations representing other portions of the construction manufacture, such as contractors and building officials.

The General Conditions of the Contract for Construction (AIA Document A201) defines the requirements for an effective submittal process:

• A) The contractor establishes a submittal schedule for approval by the Architect.
• B) The contractor submits the store drawings, product data, and similar data every bit required by the architect's contract documents.
• C) The contractor reviews the submissions of the sub-contractors for compliance with the contract documents prior to forwarding such to the builder.
• D) The contractor develops and manages the project schedule and coordinates the sequence of the work in compliance with the approved submittals as returned by the builder.
• E) The contractor and their sub-contractors, under the contractor'due south supervision, shall non perform any work on site prior to approval of the submittals past the architect.

This contract language makes it articulate that the contractor is the gate keeper for the piece of work, including the scheduling, sequencing, coordination, and supervision of the subcontractors work on the project, much of which hinges on a successful submittal process.

Construction Jobsite Management, 2nd edition published in 2004, describes the importance of the General Conditions to the contractors' part equally follows:

As the basis for the legal contract between the owner and contractor, the General Weather condition of the Contract is a very important document. Each sentence in the General Conditions and the Supplementary Weather condition tin have an impact on the construction project. Consummate understanding of these documents is essential to projection management.

Deviating from this standard of care within the contract language, or in practice can negatively impact the successful consequence of a building construction project.

Submittal Process Management

Considering the contractor is the gate keeper for the work of the project, it is essential that the contractor have a quality control program in place, which should include;

• A.) Succinct and accurate scopes of work for each sub-contractor.
• B.) A critical path projection schedule inclusive of milestone dates reflecting;
• a. Submittal submission and approval
• b. Project duration and completion
• c. Sub-contractor start and completion
• d. Piece of work and landmark Inspection dates
• C.) A submittal log
• D.) A Qualified project field superintendent

The contractor must advisedly manage and supervise the piece of work of the subcontractors. The contractor should provide distinct direction to the subcontractors regarding their individual scope of work, their expected schedule, required inspections, and the quality of their work. Without a complete understanding of these expectations, subcontractors are oft left to make erroneous interpretations that can lead to lacking work.

Merely every bit the contractor expresses his understanding of the project to the architect through the submittal process, the same must occur between each subcontractor and the full general contractor. Each subcontractor's submittals should be described by the general contractor within the subcontractor contractual scope of work. The submittals should exist coordinated with the contract documents and the timing of their submission and blessing should exist determined by the project schedule. The Contractor should provide each sub-contractor with the necessary information to develop a submittal package that reflects the scope of piece of work they were hired to perform, and when they are required to make submissions.

The subcontractor's submittals must exist reviewed by the contractor for completeness and accuracy and approved by the contractor as coming together the intent of the contract documents prior to being sent to the architect. Subcontractors should non ship submittals directly to the architect and subcontractor submittals should not exist submitted to the architect, which do non bear the review postage stamp of the general contractor kickoff.

Every submittal indicated in the contract documents is a required submittal, but not all submittals require action past the architect. There are 2 submittal types. "Action submittals" are those representing products or materials that require review and approving by the architect. "Informational submittals" are used to represent compliance with contract requirements that are not within the piece of work of the project. This type of submittal includes items like warranties, quality control certifications, and data to support the work, but is not part of it. Informational submittals are ordinarily kept as record documents and provided to the owner without action past the architect.

For Activeness submittals, the architect is required to review each one for general compliance. The architect's approving is not an balls that the submitted materials or products meet the requirements of the contract documents. The responsibility for compliance ultimately remains with the contractor.

In the submittal review process, the architects' actions on the submittal include the following, or some variation thereof:

• A) Approved.
• B) Approved as Noted.
• C) Revise and Re-Submit.
• D) Incomplete submittal, complete and re-submit.
• E) Non approved.

The architect will inform the contractor of their action, generally with a stamp bearing these aforementioned action choices with an indication of which has occurred. The contractor should not continue with whatsoever work associated with a particular submittal until such fourth dimension as the architect has indicated that the submittal is complete, and approved.

The submittal action of the architect is directive and the process should therefore exist treated with as much thoughtfulness every bit other contract terms. Advancing work with materials or products that have not been canonical by the builder places the contractor and sub-contractor at substantial risk. For this reason, many contractors, and often the architect, require strict submission deadlines in the project schedule to ensure that all products, materials, and shop drawings are submitted, reviewed, and canonical before significant work begins on site.

Once the products, materials and/or shop drawings have been canonical by the builder, the contractor has the responsibility to communicate the approval to each of the subcontractors that will have on-site work interaction with the approved component. It is the responsibility of the contractor to develop the means and methods of analogous the approved material, product, or component into the ongoing, on-site work.

Field coordination is office of the submittal process management effort that is oftentimes performed inadequately and results in lacking construction. A Contractor that simply distributes the approved submittals to each subcontractor, regardless of their role, and leaves the sequencing, scheduling and coordination of the field work to those aforementioned subcontractors is violating the standard of care. And mostly, when defective work is encountered, the contractor is quick to turn to subcontractors to cure the defect.

The subcontractor is non likely to have one. In fact, an exam of the contract that the contractor has with the owner is where the remedy will usually be establish.

Subcontractor's Role in Submittals

Nearly submittals are initiated by subcontractors, fabricators, and lower tier cloth suppliers and the subcontractors are responsible for the submission content.

A recognized cause of construction defects is the submission of a "substitute production" which fails to meet the original blueprint intent on the pretext that the originally specified product(s) are either no longer bachelor, or the Subcontractor is not a "Manufacturer's Certified Installer". In other cases, it may be that the subcontractor can purchase a substituted production for less cost than the production specified. When submitted, the subcontractor makes the claim that the substituted production is equivalent in performance to the originally specified product. This practice tin create potential liability for the entire project team.

In making a submittal to the architect, the contractor must exist diligent and exercise caution to ensure the submittal does non modify the architect'south pattern intent.

In the book Construction Project Management, 3rd edition, published in 2009, this main is explained against the backdrop of 1981 Hyatt Regency walkway collapse in Kansas City, Missouri. In this instance, the steel fabrication subcontractor made a design modification to the walkway interruption system in the shop drawings that was either un-noticed or un-challenged at the time of submission review. The design modification failed causing and resulting in the death of 114 people. The book describes:

• Because shop drawings often contain data that is outside the expertise of the architect or engineer, they cannot approve them beyond stating that they suit to the intent of the blueprint documents. However, as the Hyatt instance illustrates, this does not salvage the professional of responsibility for annihilation within his or her range of expertise. Information outside that expertise is usually related to fabrication process or to means and methods of construction and is the responsibility of the contractor.

This fatal construction defect was initiated by a subcontractor (the steel fabricator) that fabricated a blueprint modification inside the store drawings that was non explicitly noted as a change and, therefore was not readily identifiable as a modification to the design. The general contractor approved the submittal and so forwarded it to the architect, who in turn approved information technology and sent information technology to the consulting structural engineer. The structural engineer failed to verify the integrity of the proposed detail and approved the submittal. The structural framing was constructed as depicted in the steel fabricators store drawings and the edifice completed.

The results of this concatenation of events ended in fatalities.

The importance of an effective and cooperative submittal process cannot be overstated. The failure of any one party to do the necessary care and diligence throughout the procedure can have catastrophic results. The architect must specify the submittals required in the contract documents and take appropriate action when they are received. The full general contractor must:

• Create appropriate scopes of piece of work then that each subcontractor understands their role in the project. Each scope of work must place the submittals required of the subcontractor.
• Create a submittal log that identifies and tracks each submittal from every source, and the actions taken on those submittals by the contractor and the builder.
• Distribute the approved submittals to all those parties whose piece of work is affected by it, and coordinate their work efforts accordingly.

Each subcontractor must submit products, materials and shop drawings that comply with the requirements of the contract documents. They must piece of work together with the general contractor and other sub-contractors to accomplish the scheduling, sequencing, and coordination necessary to timely incorporate their piece of work into the piece of work of others. Every political party with an interest in the project must collaborate to ensure a successful outcome.

Construction Claims Investigations

For almost any outcome, Robson Forensic can assemble a tailored squad of construction professionals to provide a thorough and efficient investigation. Our power to clarify structure documents and evaluate the functioning of construction parties allows our experts to identify liability, quantify damages, and assist in resolving disputes in a timely and price effective manner.

For more information submit an inquiry or phone call us at 800.813.6736.

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