# Construction submittal glossary

> Source: https://deviationcheck.com/glossary/

- Action submittal: A submittal that needs the design team's approval before the work can proceed, such as product data, shop drawings, and samples. Spec section 01 33 00 separates these from informational submittals because they carry a review action and most of the deviation risk.
- Approved as noted: A review action accepting a submittal subject to the marked corrections, so the sub can proceed as long as they incorporate the notes.
- Architect of record: The licensed architect responsible for the project's design documents and for approving substitutions and or-equal requests.
- As-built drawings: Drawings marked up during construction to record what was actually built, including field changes, and turned over at closeout as the record set the owner keeps for future work.
- Basis of design: The specific product a spec is written around, named so that other products can be measured against it. Submittals that drift from the basis of design are a common source of deviations.
- Buy America: Federal and state requirements that certain materials, often iron and steel, be produced domestically on publicly funded projects. Submittals must document compliance.
- Change order: A written, signed amendment to the contract that adjusts scope, price, or schedule. Deviations caught late, after a product is fabricated or installed, are a frequent cause of change orders.
- Closeout documents: The records turned over at the end of a project: warranties, operation and maintenance manuals, as-builts, and certifications.
- Conformance: The degree to which a submitted product matches what the spec requires. A deviation is a point of non-conformance.
- CSI MasterFormat: The Construction Specifications Institute standard that organizes construction specifications into numbered divisions and sections. It is the common filing system for North American specs and the backbone of how submittals are tracked.
- Cut sheet: A single manufacturer page describing one product's specifications. Cut sheets are the most common item in a submittal package and the first place a reviewer checks for deviations.
- Deferred submittal: A portion of the design the building code allows the contractor to submit after the permit is issued, prepared by a specialty engineer and reviewed by the architect of record before fabrication. Trusses, fire sprinkler layouts, and curtain walls are common examples.
- Deviation: Any difference between what the spec requires and what the submittal proposes, whether in manufacturer, model, performance, documentation, appearance, or installation method. Some are intentional substitutions and some are accidental omissions.
- Deviation report: The one-page output Deviation Check produces for a submittal: a verdict, a table of deviations with category, severity, and verbatim quotes, and the redline passages to return to the sub.
- Field verification: Measuring or confirming an existing jobsite condition before fabricating to it, often required by a shop drawing note to verify in field. Submittals that skip required field verification are a common detail and installation mismatch.
- Informational submittal: A submittal provided for the record rather than for approval, such as manufacturer installation instructions, test reports, and certificates. The design team reviews it for information, so it carries less deviation risk than an action submittal.
- Long lead item: A material or piece of equipment with a long manufacturing or delivery time, such as switchgear, elevators, or custom glazing. Its submittal has to be reviewed and released early so the order does not hold up the schedule.
- Mockup: A full-size sample assembly built to confirm appearance and workmanship before the real work proceeds. Submittals often reference an approved mockup as the standard for aesthetic deviations.
- NEMA rating: A National Electrical Manufacturers Association rating for electrical enclosures that defines protection against dust, water, and corrosion, such as NEMA 1, 3R, or 4X.
- Operations and maintenance manual: A compiled set of product data, warranties, parts lists, and maintenance instructions for the installed equipment, handed over at closeout so the owner can run and service the building.
- Or equal: Language in a spec that lets a sub propose a product equal to the one named, usually subject to the architect's written approval. An or-equal used without that approval is a manufacturer substitution deviation.
- Performance specification: A spec that states the result a product must achieve, such as a rating, capacity, or tolerance, rather than naming a specific product. The sub may use any product that meets the stated performance.
- Prescriptive specification: A spec that names exact products, materials, or methods the sub must use, leaving little room for substitution.
- Product data: Manufacturer literature such as catalog cuts, data sheets, and performance tables, submitted to show that a product's characteristics meet the spec.
- Proprietary specification: A spec that names a single manufacturer or product with no or-equal option, requiring that exact item.
- Redline: A spec or drawing passage marked up to show what needs to change. Deviation Check returns redline passages so the Project Manager can send the exact spec language back to the sub.
- Resubmittal: A submittal sent again after a revise and resubmit action, correcting the items the reviewer flagged. A good review re-checks the changed sheets fresh, since a sub can introduce a new deviation while fixing an old one.
- Revise and resubmit: A review action telling the sub the submittal is not approved as submitted and must be corrected and sent again before fabrication or installation proceeds.
- RFI: A formal question from the contractor to the design team to clarify or resolve something unclear or conflicting in the drawings or specs. RFIs and submittals are the two main review streams on a project.
- Shop drawing: A detailed drawing prepared by a sub, fabricator, or manufacturer showing how a specific item will be fabricated and installed, submitted for review against the design documents.
- Spec section: A numbered part of the project specifications covering one scope of work, written in the CSI three-part format of General, Products, and Execution. An example is 09 51 00 Acoustical Ceilings.
- Submittal: A package a subcontractor sends to the general contractor to show that the products and methods they plan to use meet the project specification. It can include product data, shop drawings, and physical samples.
- Submittal log: A tracking register listing every submittal on a project, its spec section, status, and review dates. It is how the Project Manager knows what is outstanding and what is overdue.
- Submittal package: The full set of documents a sub submits for one spec section: cut sheets, manufacturer data, shop drawings, schedules, and samples. Deviation Check compares this package against the spec section it is held to.
- Submittal review: The process of checking a sub's submittal against the governing spec section to confirm the proposed products and methods comply, and to flag the differences that do not.
- Submittal schedule: A planned list of every submittal a project expects, with the date each is due from the sub and needed back from the design team. It is built early so long lead items are reviewed in time to order.
- Substitution request: A formal request to use a product different from the one specified, submitted on a substitution form for the architect or engineer to accept or reject before the product is used.
- Transmittal: The cover form that routes a submittal between parties, recording who sent what, when, and for what action.
- UL listing: A safety certification from UL Solutions showing a product was tested to a recognized standard. Many specs require it, and a missing UL listing is a common documentation deviation.