3.7.1 General

The concept of shop drawings, or “approval submittals,” is constantly being tried—by design professionals and subcontractors and materialmen—both sides of the coin. Motivations are rooted in everything from simply trying to avoid the time and effort necessary to do the job right to direct and strained efforts to avoid responsibility and liability.
On the design side, chronic problems exist such as:

1. The use of “creative” words and language on shop drawing stamps
2. Actual failure of the design professional to check for compliance with design intent
3. Direct attempts simply to avoid having to spend the time necessary for proper review and other action that the construction force may be entitled to (particularly on equals and substitutions)
4. Failure to take action in a reasonable amount of time
5. Taking inappropriate full or partial rejection positions
6. Refusing to accept the consequences of his or her “approval,” regardless of what the stamp might say

On the side of those who prepare, submit, or pass-through submissions of shop drawings, problems include:

1. Failure to comply with contractual requirements regarding the manner, scale, amount, and type of information presented in the submittal
2. Failure to submit such documents in time to avoid delay in the work
3. Failure to coordinate the work with contiguous work
4. Attempts to avoid responsibility for properly accommodating field dimensions or other field conditions
5. Failure to provide sufficient number of copies for proper distribution
6. Failure to properly review third-tier submittals for compliance with the contract
7. Failure to properly review third-tier submittals for compliance with the primary subcontract
8. Failure to clarify responsibilities between primary vendors or subcontractors and their subs or suppliers
9. Inappropriate treatment of “equals” and “substitutions”
10. Failure to properly distribute information to all those who might need it—in time to avoid conflict
Actual procedures for securing, reviewing, and processing all approval submittals are treated in great detail in Section 4, “Project Engineering.” This section will focus on contractual responsibilities and liabilities in the submittal process, and is closely related to the discussion of equals and substitutions in Section 3.8.