Submittals, RFIs and closeout paperwork eat your PM's week.
On commercial electrical work, the paperwork can wear out a project manager faster than the job does. Electrical submittals, RFIs and closeout documents all need writing, checking and chasing, and they land on the same person who's supposed to be running the job.
Sound familiar?
- Your PM spends days pulling cut sheets for every fixture, panel and device, then formats them all over again for another GC's submittal package.
- A submittal comes back with comments, and the resubmittal sits in someone's inbox while gear lead times keep running.
- An RFI takes longer to write than the question deserves, and the answer shows up after the crew has already worked around it.
- Closeout drags on long after the last device is set: as-builts, O&M manuals, warranty letters.
What it costs you
Your PM's best hours go to formatting and chasing paper instead of watching the job: labor, schedule and how things stand with the GC.
Slow submittals can hold up ordering gear, and late gear can hold up everything after it.
An RFI that sits too long turns into a field decision nobody wrote down. That can come back later as a disagreement, or as extra work nobody pays for.
And slow closeout can mean your last payment waits too.
Why it keeps happening
Every GC and engineer wants submittals a little differently, so nothing carries over cleanly from the last job.
Product data lives on manufacturer sites, in old job folders and in your PM's own files. Finding the right sheet takes longer than it should.
A clear RFI means pulling together the drawing, the spec section and the question from the field, while the crew waits for an answer.
Closeout comes at the end, when everyone's attention has already moved to the next job.
Who you'll talk to
I'm Kevin Kirchner, and you'll be talking with me. I want to know what your PMs spend their weeks on, and which piece of the paperwork stalls the most: submittals, RFIs or closeout.
A good part of what buries a PM is busywork, and it doesn't all have to stay on their desk. What that means at your shop depends on how you run projects.
Questions
Why do electrical submittals take so long?
Each package means finding the right product data for every item, matching it to the specs, and formatting it the way this GC wants. Then it often comes back for another round.
Who should handle submittals at an electrical contractor?
It varies. Some shops have the PM do it, some have a project coordinator, and some leave it to whoever has time. The bigger question is how much of that person's week it takes.
Is this only for big commercial shops?
It matters most for shops doing commercial work with GCs and engineers. If you mostly do service and residential work, another problem on this site may fit you better.
What exactly do you build?
It depends on how you work today; we figure that out on the call.
Related shop headaches
See all shop headaches, or go back home.
Find out where your PM's hours go
Tell me about the last project your team closed out, and how long the paperwork took. You'll get my honest take on whether it's worth fixing.