Submittal questions, answered.

What is a construction submittal?

A construction submittal is the written proof that what you plan to install matches what the design team specified, delivered for review before it goes in the wall. The proof takes standard forms: product data, a shop drawing, a physical sample, a certificate, or a test report, each tied to a spec section.

The spec book names the form in each section's submittals article. Section 08 71 00 Door Hardware asks for product data and a hardware schedule. Section 07 92 00 Joint Sealants asks for product data and color samples. The architect reviews the submittal and returns a stamp action, and that action decides whether the item can be released for fabrication.

How do you build a submittal log from the spec book?

Go section by section. Open each spec section, find its submittals article, and record every required item with its type, who owes it, and the page it appears on. One row per requirement. SubPro drafts that first pass from the project manual so your team reviews rows instead of typing them.

The slow part is the reading. A thick project manual holds several hundred requirements, and the ones that get missed are usually buried in Part 3 or in a referenced standard. A source page on every row is what makes the log checkable later. See submittal log automation, or start from the free log template.

Can building a submittal log be automated?

The first pass can. SubPro reads the spec book, drafts each log row with its source page, and flags the rows that need a decision. A person on your team then reviews and confirms every row. The transcription is handled for you. The judgment is not.

A drafted log earns its place only if it can be checked quickly. That is why each row carries the page it came from: a reviewer opens the source, confirms the requirement, and moves on. Rows with an or equal clause, an owner selection, or a note that reads two ways are flagged for a call rather than guessed.

Submittal log or submittal register: what is the difference?

Mostly vocabulary. Register is the Division 01 term for the complete list of submittals the contract requires, cited to the spec book. Log is what most field teams call the working sheet that tracks status day to day. Teams that keep both use the register as the source and the log as the tracker.

SubPro builds one structured list and exports it both ways: the register with its citations, and the log with status, revision, and dates. Whichever word your GC uses, the columns are the same. See submittal register automation.

How is a transmittal different from a submittal?

The submittal is the content: the product data, the shop drawing, the sample. The transmittal is the cover that sends it, recording who sent what, for which project and section, and on what date. A transmittal proves delivery. It proves nothing about the product inside.

On a submittal package SubPro builds, the transmittal and cover sheet sit in front and the product data stacks behind them, so the GC receives one numbered PDF. See construction transmittal software.

What belongs in a submittal package?

One submittal package answers one spec requirement. It carries a cover sheet naming the project, the spec section, and the item; a transmittal; and the proof the section asks for: the product data sheet, the safety data sheet where a chemical product is involved, and a shop drawing or sample when the section calls for one.

Gaps stay visible. If a required document is missing, the submittal package says so on its face rather than hiding it under a full-looking table of contents. See submittal package software, or compare the manual build.

Does SubPro replace submittal tracking software?

For your side of the work, yes. Every submittal SubPro builds carries its status, revision history, and transmittal record through closeout. What SubPro does not run is the architect's stamp-and-route process. When the GC requires its own system, the editable Excel and PDF exports drop straight in.

That is the boundary. SubPro builds and tracks what your shop owes. The review chain above you stays where the contract puts it. The construction submittal software page walks the full lifecycle.

Will SubPro send or approve submittals on its own?

No. Nothing goes out without a person. The draft lands with its source pages and its flags attached, and someone on your team makes each accept, substitute, or reject call before a submittal leaves. SubPro does not stamp, does not transmit on its own, and does not decide a substitution.

Flags exist for exactly this. An or equal clause, an owner selection, or a requirement written loosely enough to read two ways is marked with the page behind it and waits for a PM.

What happens to the project files I share with SubPro?

Your spec book is read to build your deliverables, delivered with them, and deleted. It is not kept on file, not used to train a model, and not used as an example. Handling terms, including any NDA or approved transfer method, are settled before real project files move.

The chat on this website is separate and cannot take project files at all. The full commitment is on the data handling page and in the privacy policy.

Can you ask the spec book a question directly?

Yes. SubPro chat answers from your spec book and the drafted log, and every answer cites the page it came from. Ask which sections require samples, or what Section 09 91 13 says about mockups, and the reply names the page so you can confirm it at the source.

Spec Chat on this website is a different tool: it answers questions about SubPro and never reads your files. Project chat comes with the work SubPro does on your spec book. See how SubPro works.

Where does the product data in a submittal package come from?

From the manufacturers. SubPro keeps a library of manufacturer-published documents: cut sheets, product data sheets, and safety data sheets, each linked to its source. When a drafted row names a product, the matching documents are pulled from that library and your team reviews every match before it goes into a submittal package.

The library is free to search under Submittal Documents. Its ownership rules are on the document rights page: the documents stay the manufacturers' property.

Who uses SubPro?

Trade contractors with spec-heavy scopes, and general contractors who own the log for a whole building. Inside those companies it is the project manager, the project engineer, preconstruction, and document control who use it, because they are the people the spec book lands on the week of award.

Openings and hardware in Division 08, finishes in Division 09, mechanical in Division 23, and electrical in Division 26 are the typical scopes. A shop with only a few submittals per job is not a fit. A coordinator lists those in an afternoon.