What Are the Different Types of Submittals?

MeyerFire University | DX101.03

By Joe Meyer, PE

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NOTES

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DX101 SERIES

1. What goes into a set of plans?
2. What is the purpose of a set of plans?
3. What are the different types of submittals?
4. What drives installers crazy about bad plans?
5. Why "tell the story" with your plans?
6. Why are ambiguous bid documents bad?
7. Does drawing presentation matter?

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TRANSCRIPT

What are the different types of submittals? 

There are a few important benchmarks in construction, and the type of submittal depends on where it falls in the construction timeline. 

First, let's break out the timeline of a traditional design-bid-build approach to building construction. 

Design progresses through a series of stages starting with Conceptual Design, then Schematic Design (SD), Design Development (DD), and Construction Documents (CDs). 

The important benchmarks in design are bid, permit and construction sets. 

A bid set of documents is intended to clearly convey the scope of work so that a contractor can price the project.  

In our timeline a bid set could be as early as Schematic Design or be as late as the 100% Construction Documents. 

A permit set of documents is intended to show code compliance for a particular project.  

It establishes a plan that is put before review authority for their input in order to meet code.  

Depending on the size and complexity of the project and the way that the design team operates, a permit set could fall somewhere as early as a 65% Construction Document set, or could wait and be combined with a 100% Construction Document set.  

In the Fire Protection and fire alarm industry we like to think of the Permit set being as close to the 100% set as possible because so many of our systems are built specifically to achieve code.  

The construction set of documents is intended to guide what will actually happen for construction.  

In other disciplines such as HVAC or plumbing design, this may be the only actual set of plans.  

A mechanical contractor or plumbing contractor may not produce a shop drawing set, rather just do the install from the original design set. 

That is not common practice for fire suppression at least in much of North America at this time. 

For fire suppression we typically see shop drawings which detail the system and convey what is actually going to be installed.  

The shop drawings are usually completed by the sprinkler contractor as part of a deferred submittal package.  

Where do shop drawings fall in our timeline?  

In a design-bid-build approach, the shop drawing stage only happens after a bid set is issued in a contract is awarded. 

Design-build projects can be considerably different.  

In design-build, the design team is paired under a general contractor and is not a direct consultant to the owner. 

In this case a fire alarm or sprinkler contractor may go straight from taking architectural design to shop drawings without any other construction documents created. 

This condensed timeline is one of the main advantages of design-build philosophy. 

A design-build project could also involve a consultant onboard as well. The roles here are a little less rigidly defined. 

Here's an overview of different submittal types for a consultant versus a contractor. 

A consultant might start being involved at the schematic design level and issue a series of documents as design progresses.  

Noteworthy benchmarks here are bid, permit, and construction sets.  

Hopefully all three of these efforts are nearly the same and are well communicated. 

A contractor once awarded a job really has two key milestones.  

A Permit Set and an Install Set. 

Terminology and this approach differs from contractor to contractor, but as I've done it typically I would have a Permit set and an Install set.  

What is the difference between the two for contractors?  

A permit set will show pipe center to center lengths which better match hydraulic calculations, a permit set will show hydraulic nodes and hydraulic calculation information, and provide as much detail as possible to show code compliance for a plan reviewer.  

And Install Set later on goes to the installers in the field.  

They don't care about hydraulic nodes or the details of how I system is calculated, they need to know the important aspects of how to install the system.  

An Install Set could include far more dimensions for the installers to locate sprinklers and pipe, it could have pipe ID's, could have specific notes to the installer, and could accompany a fabrication or stocklist.  

A Permit Set is providing all the important information to a plan reviewer, whereas the Install Set is providing all of the important information to the man or woman installing in the field. 

We’ll go into detail about each of these in future videos. 

I'm Joe Meyer, this is MeyerFire University.