# Material Samples and Approvals: Getting Sign-Off Before Ordering

> The material approval process is how a contractor submits each material, as a physical sample, data sheet or shop drawing, for the client's design team to approve before it is ordered. A submittal register tracks each item against the date it must be ordered. Approvals given late consume lead time, and approved samples are kept as the benchmark that deliveries are checked against.

## Finishes are approved late far more often than they are built late

Ask why a fit-out missed its date and the answer is often a delivery: the stone
arrived late, the glass partitions were still in the factory, the carpet came in
the wrong shade. Trace it back and the cause is usually earlier. The item was
ordered late because it was **approved** late, or approved, ordered and then
changed.

The misconception is that sample approval is a design formality that happens
somewhere in the background while the site gets on with work. It is not. **An
approval is an activity on the critical path whenever the item has a long lead
time.** Every week spent deciding between two veneers is a week taken from the
supplier's manufacturing time, and the site cannot recover it by working harder.

The cost of getting this wrong goes beyond time. Finishes approved in a hurry,
from a small swatch under office lighting, are the ones that look wrong when they
cover a whole floor, and a change at that stage is paid for twice: once for the
material ordered, once for its replacement.

## What gets submitted, and why

| Submittal type | What it shows | Best used for | What it cannot tell you |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Physical sample | Colour, texture, pattern, finish, feel | Stone, tile, laminate, veneer, fabric, carpet, paint, metal finishes, glass tint | Fire, acoustic or durability performance |
| Range sample | The expected variation across the supply | Natural stone, timber, handmade or glazed tiles | How a specific batch will look |
| Product data sheet | The manufacturer's stated properties and dimensions | Every specified product | Whether the actual delivery matches it |
| Test reports | Performance against a named test standard | Fire classification, acoustic rating, emissions, slip resistance | Appearance |
| Shop drawing | How the item will be made, fixed and jointed | Joinery, partitions, ceilings, metalwork, glazing | Finish quality |
| Mock-up | The assembled result at full size, in place | Typical rooms, feature walls, facade bays | Performance across every condition |

Most items need more than one. A partition system needs a shop drawing, a data
sheet, test reports for any fire or acoustic rating claimed, and a sample of the
finish. Where the combination of finishes matters as much as each one, a
[mock-up room before the full fit-out](/blog/mock-up-room-before-full-fit-out)
shows the result before it is repeated across the floor.

## The submittal register turns approvals into a programme

A submittal register lists every item needing approval and works **backwards
from the date it is needed on site**:

- **Need-on-site date**, from the construction programme.
- **Minus the lead time**: manufacture and delivery, confirmed with the supplier.
- **Minus the review period**: the time the design team takes to review and
  return a submittal, agreed in the contract.
- **Minus time for one resubmission**, because not everything is approved first
  time.

That gives the latest date each submittal must go in. The register then records
the date submitted, the reviewer, the status returned (commonly approved,
approved with comments, revise and resubmit, or rejected), and the revision.
Reviewed weekly, it shows which approvals are about to cost time before they do.
How approvals sit alongside design freeze and long-lead ordering in the overall
sequence is covered in [office fit-out programme: where the time actually goes](/blog/office-fit-out-programme-where-time-is-lost).

Quality management guidance treats this as planned control, not paperwork.
**IS 15883 (Part 4)** gives guidance on quality management for construction
projects, and **ISO 10005** on preparing quality plans, which is where the
submittal and inspection procedure for a project is usually set out.

## Who approves, and what "approved" means

Approvals stall most often not because the review is difficult but because
nobody is clearly authorised to give it. A finish circulated to a committee by
email collects opinions, not decisions. Three arrangements make the process
work.

**One named approver per category.** The design team reviews against the
specification; a single person on the client side signs off appearance and
brand items. Others can be consulted, but the register shows one name.

**A clear status, not a conversation.** "Approved with comments" is useful only
if the comments are specific and the contractor knows whether to order. Where a
comment changes the product, the item should be resubmitted, not ordered on an
interpretation.

**Decisions recorded where everyone can see them.** The register, the signed
sample and the returned submittal should all carry the same status and date.
When an approved item is later questioned, the record shows what was approved,
by whom and against which revision of the specification.

Clients sometimes worry that a formal process slows things down. In practice it
is the informal one that does: approvals given verbally on site are revisited
later, and the item is reordered.

## Physical samples: judge them the way they will be seen

A swatch on a meeting room table is a poor guide to a floor finish. Some practical
rules from site:

- **Ask for samples large enough to judge.** Pattern, veining and texture are
  invisible on a small chip.
- **View them in the room's light,** daylight and artificial, at the distance
  they will be seen from. Colour temperature changes how finishes read.
- **Review finishes together.** Floor, wall, joinery and fabric samples on one
  board show clashes that separate approvals miss.
- **Approve against the specification, not just the look.** A beautiful sample
  without the test report for its fire or slip classification is not approved.

Performance properties need documents, not eyes. Whether a product's fire or
acoustic classification suits a particular location is for the project's
designer and consultants to decide; the approval should confirm that the
submitted test reports match what they specified.

## Approved samples, batches and shade

Once approved, a sample becomes **the benchmark for the project**. Label it with
the item, specification reference, date and approver's signature, and keep sets
in at least two places, typically on site and with the designer. Deliveries are
checked against it before fixing, not after.

Batch variation is the other half of the problem. Tiles, stone, carpet, laminate,
paint and even light fittings vary between production runs:

- **Order from one batch** where possible, including an allowance for wastage and
  a reserve for future repairs.
- **Record batch numbers** on delivery notes and check them on arrival.
- **For natural stone,** approve a range sample showing acceptable variation, and
  agree how slabs will be laid out before cutting.
- **For carpet,** dye lots differ; the same applies to [carpet tile](/materials/carpet-tile)
  ordered in stages.

A material substituted after approval, for availability or price, should go
through the same approval again. If it is a change the client asks for, it is
usually a variation, for the reasons set out in
[why a change costs more after contract](/blog/variation-orders-fit-out-why-a-change-costs-more).

## Common mistakes

- **Leaving finish selection open after design freeze.** Long-lead items wait on
  a decision nobody has scheduled.
- **No submittal register.** Approvals live in email threads and nobody sees the
  backlog.
- **Approving from a small swatch** under the wrong light.
- **Approving appearance without performance.** The sample looks right; the test
  report is missing.
- **Not retaining the approved sample.** A shade dispute comes down to memory.
- **Mixed batches on one floor.** Two deliveries, two shades, one visible line.
- **Accepting substitutions informally.** A "same as approved" product arrives
  without anyone approving it.

## What to ask your design team and contractor

- Is there a submittal register, and does it work back from need-on-site dates?
- What review period does the contract allow, and who is the named approver?
- Which items need physical samples, which need test reports, and which need both?
- Where will approved samples be kept, and who signs them?
- How will batch numbers be recorded and checked on delivery?
- How are substitutions proposed and approved?

## Standards referenced

Quality management guidance for construction projects in **IS 15883 (Part 4)**;
guidance on quality plans in **ISO 10005**; construction management and practices
in **NBC 2016, Part 7**. The specification, required performance classifications
and acceptance criteria for any material are set by the project's designers,
engineers and consultants, and the manufacturer's data governs each product's
properties.

## Frequently asked questions

### What is a material submittal?

It is the information a contractor submits for approval before ordering or installing a material or product: a physical sample, a manufacturer's data sheet, test reports, or a shop drawing showing how it will be made and fixed. The design team reviews it against the specification and returns it with a status. Only approved items should be ordered.

### What is a submittal register?

It is a schedule listing every item that needs approval, its specification reference, the type of submittal, the date it must be submitted and approved to be ordered on time, and its current status. It turns approvals from a stream of emails into a programme activity that can be tracked and chased.

### Why do material approvals hold up a fit-out programme?

Because long-lead items cannot be ordered until they are approved, and the time taken to approve comes out of the time available to manufacture and deliver. A finish approved late, or approved and then changed, pushes its delivery and every trade that follows it. The delay is rarely visible until the item fails to arrive.

### Is a data sheet enough, or do we need a physical sample?

It depends on what is being judged. Appearance, colour, texture and feel need a physical sample, ideally a large one seen in the actual room's light. Performance, such as fire classification, acoustic rating or emissions, cannot be judged from a sample at all and needs test reports to the named standard. Many items need both.

### What happens to approved samples?

They should be labelled, signed and dated by the approver and kept as the reference for the rest of the project, usually one set on site and one with the client or designer. Deliveries and installed work are checked against them. Without a retained sample, a dispute about whether the delivered material matches comes down to memory.

### How do we avoid shade differences between batches?

Order the full quantity of tiles, stone, carpet, laminate or paint from one production batch where possible, with a stated allowance for wastage and future repairs. For natural stone, approve a range sample that shows the expected variation rather than a single piece. Ask suppliers to state batch numbers on delivery, and check each delivery against the approved sample before it is fixed.

## Sources

- [IS 15883 (Part 4)](https://standards.bis.gov.in/website/published-standards/department-wise) — Construction project management - guidelines - quality management
- [ISO 10005](https://www.iso.org/standards.html) — Quality management - guidelines for quality plans
- [NBC 2016, Part 7](https://www.bis.gov.in/standards/national-building-code/) — Construction management, practices and safety

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Source: https://hagerstone.com/blog/material-samples-and-approvals-before-ordering