Deferred submittals: how the timeline actually works
Short answer
A deferred submittal is a portion of the design that the building official has agreed may be submitted after the permit is issued. It is a permitting item, not just a shop drawing.
The sequence is fixed: it goes to the registered design professional in responsible charge, who reviews it and forwards it to the building official with a notation that it has been reviewed. The work cannot be installed until the building official approves it. That last step is what catches steel subs.
Why the normal submittal instinct fails here
On an ordinary submittal, the chain ends with the architect or engineer. Approved as noted and you fabricate. A deferred submittal adds a step nobody in the field controls: a plan review by the jurisdiction.
That review takes whatever it takes. It is not governed by your subcontract, and no amount of pressure on the GC moves it.
Schedule backward, not forward
The date that matters is not when you can produce drawings. It is the date the work has to be installed, minus the building official's review time, minus the design professional's review time, minus your detailing time, minus resubmittal contingency.
Run that arithmetic at award, while there is still room to react. Deferred items commonly include cold-formed metal framing, stairs and railings, and miscellaneous metals packages that get designed late by nature.
Where the risk lands
The schedule usually shows a fabrication and erection window. It rarely shows the plan review sitting in front of it. When the item is late, the delay is visible at your crew, not at the jurisdiction, and the conversation starts with your name in it.
- Identify every deferred item at award, from the permit set and the general notes, not from the submittal log.
- Ask the GC in writing what review duration the jurisdiction is currently running.
- Put the approval date on the schedule as its own milestone, distinct from the submittal date.
- Escalate in writing the moment the milestone is threatened.
Common questions
What is a deferred submittal?
A portion of the design that the building official has agreed may be submitted after the permit is issued rather than with the original permit application. Deferred submittal items are listed on the permit documents.
Who approves a deferred submittal?
The registered design professional in responsible charge reviews the deferred submittal documents and forwards them to the building official with a notation indicating they have been reviewed. The building official then approves them. The work may not be installed until that approval is issued.
Why do deferred submittals cause schedule problems for steel subcontractors?
Because they add a jurisdictional plan review in front of fabrication, and that review duration is outside the contractor's control. Schedules often show the fabrication and erection window without showing the approval that has to precede it.
This is part of Submittals and shop drawings. If you would rather not run it yourself, that is the scope it falls under.
Requirements come from the contract. The governing specification, the awarding agency, and the jurisdiction decide what applies on a given project. Confirm against the contract documents before relying on it.
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