A Submittal Comes Back Marked Up. That Is the System Working.

The gear is not on site, the schedule says it should be, and the foreman tells you the switchgear submittal came back revise and resubmit. On a commercial or industrial job, paper moves months before material does. So what is a submittal, and why does it keep coming back marked up?

A submittal is the contractor's proof, sent before anything is purchased, that what it intends to install matches what the drawings and specifications actually called for. Three kinds show up on most electrical scopes. Product data is standard manufacturer information, catalog cuts, specifications, and installation instructions gathered for one product type. Shop drawings are project specific drawings prepared for this job, not reproductions of the contract documents. Samples are physical pieces submitted so someone can judge finish or color. Specifications also separate action submittals, which require the architect's responsive action, from informational submittals, which need no approval but can still be rejected.

The order matters. The electrical contractor checks each submittal for compliance first, then sends it up. Under AIA A201-2017 section 3.12.6, the act of submitting is a representation to the owner and architect that the contractor has reviewed and approved the item, verified materials and field measurements, and checked and coordinated the information inside it. Stamping and forwarding does not meet that. The reviewer returns it marked, typically as no exceptions taken, make corrections noted, revise and resubmit, not acceptable for review, or received for record only. A common specification allows ten working days for the first review and ten more for a resubmittal, which is how a single rejected lineup of switchgear turns into a month. Code is the other half of it. NEC 110.2 makes conductors and equipment acceptable only if approved, and listed or labeled equipment is treated as acceptable to the authority having jurisdiction. Section 110.3(A) lists what equipment gets judged against, including suitability, mechanical strength, wire bending and connection space, insulation, heating and arcing effects, and classification by type, size, voltage, and current. Section 110.3(B) requires listed equipment to be installed and used according to its instructions, which is why a manufacturer sheet specifying copper only can make an aluminum feeder a violation.

This is also where a career starts to move off the tools. Foremen, detailers, and project managers are the people who assemble, check, and chase submittals, and on data center and industrial work, where switchgear and transformer lead times run long, that function is worth real money to a contractor. An electrician who can read a specification section, catch a substitution that does not match, and say so before the purchase order goes out is being evaluated for the next job, not just this one.

The misconception is that a reviewer's stamp moves the risk. It does not. Specifications commonly state that the contractor bears all responsibility for the information in a submittal, require every deviation from the contract documents to be highlighted and identified, and allow no added contract time or money because something was rejected and had to be resubmitted. The markup is not an insult. It is the record of who is accountable.

If this part of the work interests you, the move from installer to foreman or project manager is a real path with real numbers behind it. Start with our Electrician Career Paths guide.