Review against the right project requirements
DECK helps teams organize the information needed to evaluate a shop drawing:
- Contract drawings and relevant details
- Project manual and technical specifications
- Equipment, door, finish, or other schedules
- Addenda, ASIs, bulletins, and issued revisions
- Required calculations, certifications, samples, warranties, and supporting documents
- Prior review comments and resubmittal history
The goal is not to replace the reviewer. It is to make it easier to see what requires attention and why. For an overview of how AI fits into the broader submittal review process, see AI construction submittal review software.
From drawing review to a decision trail
A useful shop-drawing workflow needs more than a list of possible issues. DECK helps teams create a path from finding to resolution:
- Confirm the submittal is complete and correctly routed.
- Identify the component, system, location, and related specification section.
- Gather the applicable contract requirements and current revisions.
- Surface potential differences in geometry, materials, performance, code-related requirements, interfaces, or required documentation.
- Cite the submitted evidence and relevant project requirement.
- Assign the question or correction to the responsible party.
- Record the final human disposition and resubmittal outcome.
See the full step-by-step method in How to Review Shop Drawings Against Specifications.
Do not lose the reason behind the response
A final "approved as noted" status alone does not preserve the actual reasoning behind a decision. DECK is designed to retain the evidence, reviewer context, action owner, revision history, and final outcome so teams can find it later. This is where submittal management software matters — not just logging that an item exists, but preserving why a decision was made.
This helps Project Engineers, Project Managers, architects, engineers, QA/QC teams, and subcontractors avoid repeating the same search and follow-up work. General contractors managing dozens of trades and hundreds of submittals per project see the greatest impact.
DECK vs Bluebeam for drawing review
Bluebeam Revu is the industry standard for PDF markup — measuring dimensions, adding annotations, overlaying sheets. DECK does not replace that redlining workflow. Instead, DECK adds what Bluebeam does not: automatic retrieval of the governing specification requirement, cited comparison against contract documents, and a tracked path from finding to resolution.
Many teams use both: Bluebeam for visual redline and measurement, DECK for evidence-backed review findings and decision tracking.
DECK vs spreadsheet-based submittal logs
A spreadsheet can list submittals and track status. It cannot tell you which specification clause governs a submitted drawing, whether a submitted material matches the contract requirement, or what evidence supports a reviewer's comment. DECK connects drawings and specs to the requirement, surfaces what needs attention, and keeps the response and decision history intact — capabilities that spreadsheets and email chains cannot provide.
FAQ
Contract drawings communicate the project's design intent and required conditions. Shop drawings are prepared by contractors, fabricators, suppliers, or specialty trades to show the proposed fabrication, configuration, coordination, or installation approach.
The scope of review depends on the contract and discipline. Qualified reviewers commonly review for general conformance with design intent and project requirements; they do not automatically assume responsibility for contractor means, methods, fabrication QA, or engineering design.