What Are Deferred Submittals in the Permit Process for Projects

Deferred submittals are designated portions of a project's construction documents that the authority having jurisdiction permits to be designed, reviewed, and approved after the main permit is issued. The engineer of record identifies the deferred items, states the design criteria they must satisfy, reviews the deferred submittals for general conformance, and the deferred work cannot be installed until its submittal is approved. The discipline is in the criteria. A deferred item with vague performance requirements comes back as a design that doesn't fit — loads the structure wasn't sized for, anchorage the slabs can't provide. Specific criteria on the permit drawings are what make deferral work.

The process starts at permit submittal: the engineer of record lists each deferred item on the drawings with the design loads, performance criteria, and applicable codes the deferred design must meet, and the building official approves the deferral as part of the permit. That list is a contract — items not listed can't be casually deferred later. When the deferred design is ready, its engineer submits it to the engineer of record for the conformance review, then to the jurisdiction for plan check under the deferred submittal process with its own fees and review time. The contractor sequences the work so deferred approvals land before installation. I've seen schedules collapse when teams treated deferred review as instantaneous — the jurisdiction's queue doesn't care about your critical path.

Deferral creates paperwork obligations on both sides. The engineer of record's responsibilities include these.

• Deferred item list on the permit drawings with design criteria, loads, and applicable codes
• Jurisdiction approval of the deferral request following local procedures and fees
• Conformance review of each deferred submittal against the stated criteria before forwarding
• Coordination of deferred designs with the base building structure and systems
• Construction sequencing that holds deferred work out until approvals are in hand