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How to Quickly Generate Submittals for Faster Approvals

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Specification documents outlining which materials and methods to use on an upcoming job help sub-contractors choose quality, in-budget products for their submittals.

When pros see that the spec includes guidelines and products they’re familiar with or prefer using, they most often move forward with submitting the products to the job specifier. In other cases, pros may want to use alternate materials or products, which means they will have to request additional approval from the job’s design team.

Quick tip: To help make this task more efficient, request all alternate products from the same manufacturer if possible. That way you’ll only have to generate one submittal, not multiple from several manufacturers. This also helps ensure that all solutions work seamlessly together and theoretically share the same ratings.

Whether you stick to the originally specified products or not, the submittal process can be tedious. We’ll cover the challenges of using the traditional way of submitting products and provide a way to simplify your submittal efforts.

Limits to the Traditional Submittal Generation Process

Plumbing contractors may need to include product spec sheets for everything from the pipe and fittings to the fixtures and faucets in their submittal package. Depending on the project, the number of products in your submittal can add up, and each product needs a spec sheet.

To ease the burden of digging through documents, you’ll probably want to reach out to manufactures’ reps to gather all spec sheets you need in your submittal. While the typical processes of delegating may save you some hassle in the short term, waiting for your requests to be fulfilled can delay the submittal process and your project schedule if the rep isn’t quick to respond. Even if your rep is reliable, there may be times you wish you could have more control over the project timeline.

Benefits of Using a Manufacturer’s Submittal Generator

Somewhere between digging through product spec sheets manually and waiting for a manufacturer to get back to you with all your requested documents lies a more efficient submittal process. At HoldRite, we’ve worked diligently to create an online Firestop Submittal Generator to make the process of compiling a submittal quick and easy.

Simple navigation and easy access. The HoldRite submittal generator uses a series of drop-down menus to help you easily and efficiently locate the firestop product documents you need — all the way to the UL rating you’re looking for. You can then select the product documents you need for the submittal and generate a package and email it. Aside from firestop systems, you can easily access HoldRite’s Commercial Submittal Pack or Acoustical Submittal Pack on the Submittal Packs page.

Efficient data compilation. Submittal generators like this remove delegation from the picture without adding another time-consuming task to your plate. Instead, it simplifies the submittal process by compiling all the necessary product approvals, UL listings and details so the design team has all the information they need to approve your submittal packages.

Additional support. If you submit HoldRite HydroFlame Pro as an alternate for the firestop product on your job and your design team wants to see a product sample, contact our reps. They can provide additional support, such as:

  • Product samples.
  • Product demos.
  • Educational presentations.
  • Specification authorship.

We also have a spec writing tool on our website to assist with our AIA Product Master Spec tools. With this free assistance in hand, you can gain quick submittal package approvals and thus be allowed to use the quality products you prefer on your next job.

How to Get Your Preferred HoldRite Products in the Spec

If your favorite products aren’t already included in an engineer’s specification template, we know submitting them as alternates takes additional time. We want to do the heavy lifting to get those HoldRite products approved for you.

We have over 30 rep agencies that partner with us, many of whom have Spec Sales team members to handle this on your behalf. Contact us and let us know how we can help make it easier for you to use the products you want.