Workflow Template

Submittal Review and Approval Workflow

Manages the intake, completeness check, technical review, and distribution of contractor submittals across projects — from initial submission through coordinator triage, consultant/engineer decision, and final distribution or revise-and-resubmit routing.

Contractor submittals often stall in email threads, with no clear record of what's missing, who's reviewing, or when a decision was made. This workflow registers each submittal as a record, has a coordinator run a completeness check, routes complete packages to a consultant or engineer for technical review, and then distributes approved versions or sends revise-and-resubmit instructions back to the contractor. Coordinators handle intake and distribution, while consultants or engineers make the technical decision.

Business Outcomes

Helps reduce time submittals sit incomplete before contractors are notified
Supports faster routing of complete submittals to technical review
Makes it easier to track submittal status across projects from one record
Helps keep contractors informed automatically at each key decision point
Supports more consistent turnaround against completeness and review deadlines

Workflow Steps

Steps

1
Create Submittal Recordcreate record
Registers the contractor's submitted submittal as a record.
2
Set Status to Submittedupdate record
Sets the submittal status to Submitted.
3
Send Acknowledgement Emailsend email
Emails the contractor an acknowledgement with the submittal reference number.
4
Coordinator: Completeness Checkcreate task
Coordinator checks the submittal package for completeness within 2 days.
5
Save Completeness Check Resultupdate record
Persists the completeness check result and missing items to the record.
6
Route on Completeness Result
Routes the submittal based on whether it is complete or incomplete.
completeness_result: "Complete"→Set Status to Under Review
completeness_result: "Incomplete"→Set Status to Returned
Default→End
7
Set Status to Returnedupdate record
Sets the submittal status to Returned because it is incomplete.
8
Email Contractor: Missing Itemssend email
Emails the contractor the missing items and asks them to resubmit as a new revision.
9
Set Status to Under Reviewupdate record
Sets the submittal status to Under Review since it passed the completeness check.
10
Consultant/Engineer: Technical Reviewcreate task
Consultant or engineer reviews the submittal and records a decision within 10 days.
11
Save Review Decisionupdate record
Persists the review decision, comments, and marked-up package to the record.
12
Route on Review Decision
Routes the submittal based on the consultant/engineer's review decision.
review_decision: "Approved"→Set Status to Approved
review_decision: "Approved with comments"→Set Status to Revise and Resubmit
review_decision: "Rejected"→Set Status to Revise and Resubmit
Default→End
13
Set Status to Approvedupdate record
Sets the submittal status to Approved.
14
Coordinator: Distribute Approved Versioncreate task
Coordinator distributes the approved version within 2 days and records the distribution date.
15
Save Distribution Dateupdate record
Persists the distribution date to the record.
16
Email Contractor: Approvedsend email
Emails the contractor confirming the submittal has been approved.
17
Set Status to Revise and Resubmitupdate record
Sets the submittal status to Revise and Resubmit.
18
Email Contractor: Revise and Resubmitsend email
Emails the contractor the decision and comments, asking them to revise and resubmit as a new revision.

Fields

Show all 17 fields

FormContractor Submittal Form

Contractor Name*· Text
Contractor Email*· Email
Company*· Text
Project*· Text
Submittal Number*· Text
Revision*· Text
Specification Section*· Text
Description*· Long text
Submittal Package*· File upload
Date Approval Required*· Date

TaskCoordinator: Completeness Check

Completeness Check Result*· Choice
Missing Items· Long text

TaskConsultant/Engineer: Technical Review

Review Decision*· Choice
Review Comments· Long text
Marked-Up Package*· File upload

TaskCoordinator: Distribute Approved Version

Date Distributed*· Date

Other fields

Submittal Status· Choice

Contractor Name*
Contractor Email*
Company*
Project*
Submittal Number*
Revision*

Forms

Contractor Submittal Form

10 fields

Data Views

Submittals Overview

project, submittal_number, spec_section, date_approval_required +1 more

Dashboard Widgets

Submittals by Status

Recommended integrations

Setup the following integrations to extend workflow capability.

Send email in the workflow
AWS SES

submittal approvalconstruction submittalshop drawing approvalmaterial submittaldocument review

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Similar Categories

Project Management Quality Management

FAQs

How do I set up this submittal workflow for my projects?

Publish the template in your workspace and it's ready to run — no installation or development project needed. The public request form already asks for contractor, project, submittal number, revision, spec section, description, package and required approval date, so contractors can start submitting right away.

Who needs an account to use this workflow?

Only your workspace admins and members need accounts, since tasks like the completeness check and technical review are assigned to them. Contractors take part entirely through the public request form and emailed forms, so they never need to log in or create an account.

What happens if a submittal fails the completeness check?

The coordinator records the completeness check result and any missing items, which are saved to the record. If the result is Incomplete, the status is set to Returned and the contractor gets an email listing the missing items and asking them to resubmit as a new revision.

What decisions can the consultant or engineer make during technical review?

The consultant or engineer records a Review Decision of Approved, Approved with comments, Rejected, or another outcome, along with comments and a marked-up package. Approved and Approved with comments route to the coordinator distribution step, while Rejected or other outcomes move the submittal to Revise and Resubmit status with an explanatory email to the contractor.

Can I change the completeness check or review deadlines?

Yes — describe the change in plain English or edit the steps directly in the workflow editor. The current workflow gives the coordinator 2 days for the completeness check and 10 days for the consultant or engineer's technical review, and earlier versions are kept if you want to revert.

Where do the missing items and review comments get saved?

Because the workflow waits on the completeness check and technical review tasks, the values entered — Completeness Check Result, Missing Items, Review Decision, Comments, and Marked-Up Package — are all saved directly to the submittal record. This means anyone viewing the record's timeline can see exactly what was found and decided at each stage.

How does the contractor know what's happening with their submittal?

The contractor gets an acknowledgement email with the reference number right after submitting, then further emails depending on the outcome: missing items and a resubmit request if returned, an approval confirmation, or a revise-and-resubmit email with comments. They track all of this without needing an account.

How is an approved submittal actually distributed?

Once the status is set to Approved, a coordinator task opens for distributing the approved version within 2 days. The coordinator records the Date Distributed, which is saved to the record, and the contractor then receives an email confirming approval.

Can I track how many submittals are stuck at each stage?

Yes — each submittal is a record with a reference number, status, and full timeline of events. Table views and dashboards show records grouped by status, such as Submitted, Under Review, Approved, or Revise and Resubmit, so you can see where things stand across all your projects.

Can this workflow send SMS updates or accept online payments?

Email is built in and used throughout this workflow for contractor notifications; SMS and Stripe payments are available platform features that can be added as steps if your process needs them. Connecting your own AWS SES, SNS, Twilio or Stripe account doesn't change this workflow by itself — a step has to be added for it to take effect.

Ready to use this workflow?

Create a free account and customise this workflow for your business.