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Free checklist · Sheet BM-001
The 12 reasons submittal packages actually get bounced.
Pulled from real spec books and real rejection letters — with the spec-section references, so you can run the check before the engineer does. The reviewer gives your package ten minutes. Here's where it dies.
Showing 01–03 of 12 · the rest unlock free
Off-list brand
The supplier swapped an "equal" that isn't on the accepted-manufacturers list. The reviewer flips straight to Part 2 and checks brands first — it's the fastest kill available. Cost: full resubmittal, 2 weeks.
CHECK: Part 2.01 "Manufacturers" — every product, before anything elseSubstitution without a request
Even a genuinely better product bounces if the spec says "no substitutions" or requires a substitution-request form you never filed. The product isn't judged — the procedure is. Cost: automatic bounce, no partial credit.
CHECK: Division 01 25 00 "Substitution Procedures" + the section's substitution clauseOne missed standard
Seal class. UL listing. NEMA rating. One line in Part 2, written at 11pm, unchecked. The engineer reads your product data against the spec line by line — and one miss reads as "nobody checked any of it." Cost: 2 weeks + the engineer reads your next package looking for blood.
CHECK: every UL / NEMA / ASTM / IEEE reference in Part 2 against the datasheetChecks 04 through 12 are locked.
The other nine — including the two that kill most packages — unlock with your work email. Free, instant, no inbox round-trip.
Unlock all 12 checksWrong product on the row
A breaker datasheet on a receptacle line. It happens on real 200-material packages more often than anyone admits — the sheet is real, it's just answering the wrong question. Cost: your credibility with the reviewer.
CHECK: each cut sheet against its schedule row's product TYPE, not just its tagCatalog number doesn't match the schedule
The drawing schedule lists an exact catalog string. Your cut sheet shows the product family. One suffix off — wrong finish, wrong voltage, wrong mounting — is a wrong product installed and ripped out in month six, on your dime. Cost: rejection now, or rip-out later.
CHECK: drawing schedules (fixture / panel / equipment) character-by-characterUnmarked options and accessories
The datasheet covers 40 configurations. Nothing is circled. The reviewer can't tell which model, which options, which finish you're proposing — so he can't approve it. Cost: "revise and resubmit — indicate selected model."
CHECK: exact model marked on every multi-configuration sheet, options struck or circledMissing scheduled items
The package covers 84 of 91 scheduled products. The seven you're "still waiting on the rep for" don't hold the package — they bounce it. Completeness is checked before quality. Cost: automatic bounce, no partial credit.
CHECK: package line-count against drawing schedules + legend + Part 2 product listMissing shop drawings
Part 1's "Action Submittals" paragraph asked for product data AND shop drawings AND samples. You sent product data. Fabricated items — ductwork, gear sections, custom supports — need drawings, not catalog pages. Cost: automatic bounce.
CHECK: Part 1.05 / 1.06 "Submittals" — every listed item type, not just product dataThe whole catalog, nothing highlighted
A 164-page catalog dropped into the package as-is. If the reviewer has to hunt for the evidence, he doesn't hunt — he rejects, and makes YOU hunt. Cost: 2 weeks, and it was avoidable with a highlighter.
CHECK: relevant pages only, compliance data marked, one product per insertSpec-vs-drawing conflict, unflagged
The spec says one thing, the drawing schedule says another, and your package silently picks a side. The reviewer notices, and now it's your problem instead of an RFI. Flag it BEFORE you submit and the conflict is the architect's to resolve. Cost: rejection + an RFI you should have written two weeks ago.
CHECK: spec Part 2 vs drawing schedules; conflicts become RFIs, not guessesWrong use condition
The product is fine — for a different room. Interior gear in a wet location, standard temp rating in a plenum, non-seismic mounts in a seismic zone. Part 3 and the general notes carry conditions the datasheet must answer. Cost: rejection, or a code violation installed.
CHECK: Part 3 "Execution" + drawing general notes for environment, rating, mountingPackage format the reviewer can't navigate
No cover, no TOC, not organized by spec section, files named "scan_004.pdf". Formatting sounds cosmetic until you remember the reviewer budgets ten minutes — a package he can't navigate is a package he sends back. Cost: rejected on form before content was ever read.
CHECK: cover + TOC + CSI-section order + one bookmarked PDF, named by sectionGet the one-page version.
The printable checklist — all 12 checks with spec references, sized for a clipboard or a second monitor. Free, no strings. We'll also send you occasional submittal field notes; unsubscribe any time.
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Download the checklist below. And if you'd rather we just run all 12 checks for you — your first submittal package is free, on a real job.
Download the PDFBonus, on us: the builder-side companion — The Package Pre-Flight (BM-002). Build it in this order and the reviewer finds nothing.