How do I review and stamp submittals and shop drawings? (Approved, Approved as Noted, Revise and Resubmit)

Submittal and shop-drawing review follows a familiar pattern. The contractor sends a package, the design team marks it up and stamps it with an action code, and anything not approved comes back as a resubmittal. This guide shows how to run that cycle in zipBoard, including with consultants who don't use zipBoard.

1. Set up the project for submittals

• Create boards for your stages, for example Received → Under review → Returned → Closed. See Review cycles.
• Customize statuses to match your action codes, for example Approved, Approved as Noted, Revise and Resubmit and Rejected. See Statuses.
• Save it as a project template so every job starts the same way.

2. Assign reviewers and a due date

Add the architect, engineer or consultant as Reviewers on the submittal, and set the review due date. Reviewers see it in Needs my review, and overdue items turn red. See Mandatory reviewers and Due-date colors.

3. Mark up the drawing

Reviewers use clouds, arrows, text, highlights and measurements directly on the PDF, and each comment can become a task with an assignee. See PDF & drawing review guide.

4. Stamp it with your action code

Add a stamp to the drawing: a signature, check mark, timestamp, or a custom stamp you create, such as "APPROVED AS NOTED" with your firm's name. Then set the reviewer decision (Approved or Changes Requested) so the submittal's status is clear to everyone. See Drawing and stamping on PDFs and Complete your review.

5. Handle the resubmittal

Upload the resubmitted drawing as a new version of the same file. Approvals reset for the new round, the earlier markups stay on the previous version, and reviewers can compare the two side by side to check every comment was addressed. See Version control and Compare PDF versions.

Reviewers outside your company

Send consultants a share link instead of buying them seats. You can require sign-in, add a password and set an expiry date. See Share link settings.

Return the reviewed submittal

Download the stamped, marked-up PDF to return it or file it in your document control system. Export the comment list to CSV if you also send a comment log. See Annotated PDF and CSV export.

Using Procore or an ERP?

New Procore submittals can flow into zipBoard for markup. See Procore integration. For SAP, ERP or other document systems, see zipBoard API.