How to check shop drawings and product data against the specification.
Published October 28, 2026. Last reviewed October 27, 2026.
Start with the governing specification section, then add the contract drawings, schedules and every addendum, and treat them as one requirements list. Check the submittal against each requirement and mark it match, deviation or missing, citing the paragraph or sheet it comes from. A qualified reviewer then assigns the disposition. Specset runs the same requirement-by-requirement check and cites each finding.
1. Confirm the package is complete and routed to the right reviewer.
Check that the submittal has the transmittal, the required parts (shop drawings, product data, samples, certificates) and the contractor’s review stamp, and that it went to the reviewer the project’s submittal procedure names.
Division 01 sets those rules. In this Section 01 33 00 Submittal Procedures example, the design professional returns a submittal without action if it does not bear the contractor’s approval stamp, and an incomplete submittal is returned without review.
2. Identify the governing spec section, location and scope.
Match the submittal to its specification section number and to the areas, systems or elements it covers, so you review against the right requirements. Work from the conformed spec, with every addendum and any issued change (ASI, bulletin or change order) applied, not the bid set.
3. Build the requirements list.
Pull every requirement from Part 1 (submittal and quality requirements), Part 2 (products) and Part 3 (execution), then add what the contract drawings, schedules and each addendum say about the same item.
Part 1 tells you what the package must contain. Part 2 tells you what the product must be. When an addendum revises a paragraph, the revised text is the requirement, and the citation should name the addendum.
4. Check the product data.
Confirm the model number, ratings, performance values, referenced standards and the options marked on each cut sheet against the requirements list.
The Section 01 33 00 example asks the contractor to mark each copy of each submittal to show which products and options are applicable. Where the section asks for certificates or mill test reports, confirm each one is in the package and carries the fields the specification requires, such as the heat number or the project number.
5. Check the shop drawings.
Confirm dimensions, details, connections, materials, clearances and coordination with adjacent work against the contract drawings and the spec.
Some trades have their own review guidelines. For fabricated structural steel on bridges, the AASHTO/NSBA Steel Bridge Collaboration’s G1.1-2020 Shop Drawing Review/Approval Guidelines cover how shop detail drawings are prepared, reviewed and approved, and the role of each party in that review.
6. Flag deviations and substitutions, declared or not.
Note every deviation the contractor declares and every product that differs from the one specified, and check whether the spec’s substitution procedure was followed.
The Section 01 33 00 example tells the contractor to identify deviations from the Contract Documents on the submittal. An undeclared difference is still a deviation; record it the same way.
7. Cite every finding.
For each item, record the submitted evidence (sheet or page), the requirement it was checked against (section and paragraph, or drawing and detail) and the document revision.
8. Record the reviewer’s disposition.
The qualified reviewer assigns the disposition the project uses (for example approved, approved as noted, revise and resubmit, or rejected) and returns comments tied to the citations.
Disposition terms vary by owner. The City of Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering’s procedure 16.1, Shop Drawings, for example, uses four review criteria: No Exceptions Taken, Make Corrections Noted, Rejected / Resubmit, and Received and Filed. It also says review comments should not require anything that is not in the specifications.
An illustrative example: an exterior steel stair.
This example is made up to show the method. The project, the sheets and the findings are hypothetical.
A steel fabricator submits shop drawings SD-1 to SD-4 for an exterior egress stair on a hypothetical two-story building, under Section 05 50 00, Metal Fabrications. The reviewer builds the requirements list from Section 05 50 00 as conformed with Addendum 1, the structural sheets and the architectural stair sections, then checks the package line by line.
- Deviation
- Sheet SD-3 shows the exterior stair stringers shop primed. Section 05 50 00, paragraph 2.3.A, as revised by Addendum 1, item 4, requires hot-dip galvanizing for exterior steel. Cite the section, the addendum item and the shop drawing sheet.
- Missing
- Section 05 50 00, paragraph 1.4.C asks for mill test reports for the stringer steel. None are in the package.
- Match
- The stringer size on SD-3 matches structural Sheet S-501, detail 3.
- Conflict to send on
- The landing elevation on SD-2 matches architectural Sheet A-401 but not S-501. Cite both sheets and send the question to the design team, usually through an RFI, rather than choosing one.
The reviewer reads the cited list and assigns the disposition, for example revise and resubmit, with comments tied to each citation.
Checklist (printable).
One row per step. Mark each result match, deviation or missing, and fill in the source you cited.
Download the checklist (CSV) →| # | Check | Source to cite | Result (match / deviation / missing) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Package complete, stamped and routed | Division 01 submittal section | |
| 2 | Governing section, location and scope identified | Spec section number, drawing area | |
| 3 | Requirements list built (Parts 1 to 3, drawings, schedules, addenda) | Section and paragraph, sheet, addendum number | |
| 4 | Product data: model, ratings, performance, standards, options | Part 2 paragraph | |
| 5 | Shop drawings: dimensions, details, connections, materials, clearances | Contract sheet and detail | |
| 6 | Deviations and substitutions identified | Division 01 substitution procedures (e.g., 01 25 00) | |
| 7 | Every finding cited with revision | Submittal page, requirement, revision | |
| 8 | Disposition recorded by the reviewer | Reviewer name and date |
Where AI helps.
Specset reads the spec, the drawings and the submittal together and checks the submittal requirement by requirement against the spec, citing the source page or section for every finding.
It reviews the package, shop drawings included, against a conformed spec book with addenda and special provisions applied, and cites each finding to the governing section or the drawing sheet. When the spec and the drawings disagree, it cites both rather than deciding which governs. It also flags a missing certificate or mill test report, and follows the project’s own submittal workflow. The qualified reviewer assigns the disposition.
What reviewers ask about checking shop drawings against the spec.
01What is the difference between shop drawings and product data?
Shop drawings are drawings the contractor or a supplier prepares to show how specific work will be fabricated and installed, with dimensions, details and connections. Product data is the manufacturer’s published information, such as cut sheets, ratings and performance values, for a standard product. Most specs ask for both, and each is checked against the governing section.
02What does “approved as noted” mean?
It means the reviewer accepts the submittal subject to the corrections or comments marked on it, and the contractor can proceed if it incorporates those notes. The exact terms and whether a resubmittal is required vary by project, so check the submittal procedure in Division 01. In every case the disposition is the reviewer’s decision.
03What if the drawings and specs conflict?
Flag it as a contract-document conflict and send it to the design team, usually through an RFI, rather than choosing one yourself. The contract’s order-of-precedence clause, if it has one, guides the answer, but the design team or owner makes the call. Specset cites both documents so the conflict is clear, and does not decide precedence.
04Can AI review shop drawings, not just product data?
Yes. Specset reads shop drawings, not just product data, and compares what they show against the requirements in the spec and the contract drawings. Specset checks submittals requirement by requirement against the spec and cites the sheet or section behind each finding, so the reviewer can confirm it quickly. The reviewer still checks fabrication details that need engineering judgment and assigns the disposition.
Send one shop drawing package you have already reviewed.
Specset checks it against the conformed spec and the drawings and returns cited findings. Compare them with your own review.