Submittal register
A construction submittal register that keeps every ball-in-court visible
- Approved submittal on file Pass
- Installed product matches it Pass
Submittals slip when they live in scattered emails and no one knows whose court the ball is in. A register forces one row per submittal, with the dates and responsible parties that keep the schedule honest.
- Approved submittal on file Pass
- Installed product matches it Pass
Where submittals slip between emails and spreadsheets
A submittal register is the control panel for every piece of information the contract says the contractor must provide before work proceeds. When it is missing or out of date, trades start from outdated drawings, approvals arrive too late, and closeout manuals never show up.
Today
With RTI
Today
Submittals are tracked in email threads, so nobody knows which ones are out, who owns the review, or when they are due back.
With RTI
One numbered row per submittal with spec section, description, type, responsible party, date required, date submitted, status and date returned. The whole state is visible in one place.
Today
The GC asks for a status and gets three different answers from three different people.
With RTI
Status is a single field everyone updates against the same row: Approved, Approved as noted, Revise & resubmit, or Rejected. No more parallel spreadsheets.
Today
Closeout submittals like O&M manuals and as-builts are forgotten until the owner asks for them.
With RTI
The register includes every required submittal type from the start, including closeout deliverables, so the final package is tracked the same way as the first shop drawing.
Today
There is no record of what was returned when, so disputes about delay claims have no evidence.
With RTI
Every row carries the date returned and the current status, producing an auditable trail of when information moved and who held it.
Before you buy anything
What makes a submittal register actually useful
Is there exactly one row per submittal?
If the same submittal appears in multiple places, the status will diverge. A register only works when it is the single source of truth.
Does the status name who has the ball?
Whether it reads submitted, in review, approved, revise and resubmit, or rejected, the status should make clear whose action is blocking the next step.
Are closeout submittals in the same register?
O&M manuals, as-builts, warranties and similar deliverables often get tracked separately and then forgotten. They should start in the same log as shop drawings.
Can you prove the timeline?
A register is only defensible if it records when each item was required, submitted and returned, so delay and approval disputes can be resolved from the log.
Blank submittal register
Download a print-ready landscape PDF template with the nine columns that keep every submittal tracked from required-by through returned: number, spec section, description, type, responsible party, date required, date submitted, status and date returned.
Common questions
4 answers
- What is a construction submittal register?
- A submittal register is a log that tracks every piece of information the contract requires the contractor to submit, such as shop drawings, product data, samples and O&M manuals. Each row records what the submittal is, who is responsible, when it is due, when it was submitted, its current status and when it was returned.
- What columns should a submittal register include?
- At minimum: a number, spec section, description, submittal type, responsible party, date required, date submitted, status and date returned. These nine columns keep the ball-in-court visible from the first shop drawing through closeout.
- What submittal statuses should be used?
- Use a small, fixed set: Approved, Approved as noted, Revise & resubmit, Rejected and any interim state such as Submitted or In review. A fixed vocabulary prevents three people from describing the same item three different ways.
- Can I use this register template in RTI?
- Yes. RTI keeps structured records, review states and a tamper evident audit trail, so the same discipline behind a paper register becomes part of the project's signed-off quality record.
Track every submittal from required-by to returned
Download the blank submittal register template above and use it on your next job. It is a printable landscape PDF with the nine columns that keep every submittal from slipping through the cracks.