Transmittals: sending documents so receipt can be proven
At the weekly coordination meeting the electrical subcontractor's project manager says his office ordered the level 2 corridor fixtures to revision F of the lighting plan, because revision G never reached them. He wants the restocking charge on 14 wrong fixtures paid as an extra. Nobody doubts revision G exists; the argument is over who had it, and when.
Send every formal document under a numbered transmittal that lists each item with its revision and date, its purpose and its recipients, get it acknowledged, and keep every transmittal in one log. Then "we never got that revision" is settled by a log entry, not by memory. Proof goes missing because documents travel loosely: attached to an email about something else, shared as a link to a folder that has since changed, or handed over in the site office.
Issuing a transmittal
- Number every transmittal in one job sequence (T-001, T-002…) and log its date, recipients, documents, purpose and acknowledgement.
- List each document on its own line with number, title, revision and date — never "updated drawings".
- State the purpose: for construction, information, review or pricing. A sheet sent for pricing is not an instruction to build.
- Send it to named people: the trade's project manager and the foreman who builds from it.
- Attach the files as issued. A folder link shows what the folder holds today, not what it held then.
- Get an acknowledgement: a reply quoting the transmittal number, a signed copy or a download record. Chase it after two working days, and log the call.
The transmittal proves the issue; pulling old sheets from every field set is covered in keeping only current drawings on site.
Common mistakes
- Sending revised sheets inside an email about something else.
- Attaching the wrong revision to a correct transmittal; check the title block before it goes.
- Using transmittals for drawings but sending sketches and RFI answers by text message.
Checklist
Every transmittal you send
- A number from the job's sequence
- Each document with its revision and date
- The purpose: construction, information, review or pricing
- The foreman who builds it among the recipients
- The files as issued, attached
- An acknowledgement, chased after two working days
Check your understanding
You send a revised sheet to a trade "for pricing", and their crew installs it before the change is approved. What does your transmittal's purpose line do for you?
