Expediting, Submittals, and the Material Procurement Schedule

Why the Material Procurement Schedule Matters

A project can have a perfect master schedule and a skilled crew ready to work—and still grind to a halt because a critical material has not arrived. The material procurement schedule is the tool that prevents that failure. It maps every significant material package back through its lead time, submittal review period, and fabrication window so the project team knows the last possible date to issue a purchase order and still hit the project milestone.

In construction management, procurement is not a single event. It is a chain of steps, and each link takes time.

The Procurement Chain

For any engineered or fabricated material, the chain typically looks like this:

1. Design completion – the engineer of record finalizes the specifications and drawings.

2. Bid / quote period – subcontractors and suppliers price the work.

3. Award and purchase order issuance – the owner or GC commits to a vendor.

4. Submittal preparation – the supplier prepares shop drawings, product data sheets, or samples and submits them to the project team.

5. Submittal review – the architect or engineer reviews and either approves, approves with comments, or rejects the submittal. Review cycles commonly run two to four weeks per round; specifications state the contractual review period.

6. Fabrication – once submittals are approved, the supplier fabricates the item. Structural steel, custom curtain wall, mechanical equipment, and precast concrete are examples of items with long fabrication lead times.

7. Delivery – the finished material ships to the site.

8. Installation – crews incorporate the material into the work.

The material procurement schedule works backward from the installation date required by the master schedule. That back-calculation gives you the required order date.

Building the Material Procurement Schedule

Start with the project master schedule (bar chart). Find the activity that requires each material package and read off the required-on-site date. Then subtract each time element in reverse:

• Required on site: Day X
• Minus delivery transit time → Ship date
• Minus fabrication lead time → Approved submittal needed by
• Minus submittal review time (all rounds) → Submittal must be submitted by
• Minus submittal preparation time → Purchase order must be issued by

Enter each calculated date into the material procurement schedule template. Color-code items whose order dates are within two weeks of today—these demand immediate attention.

The Critical Path and Expediting

The critical path is the longest sequence of dependent activities in the schedule; any delay on it delays the project completion date. When a material package sits on or feeds a critical-path activity, a late delivery has a dollar-for-dollar impact on project overhead, liquidated damages, and owner relationships.

Expediting is the active follow-up a project manager or procurement specialist performs to confirm that a supplier is on schedule and to intervene early when they are not. Effective expediting includes:

• Regular status calls or emails (weekly is standard for critical items).
• Requesting written delivery commitments with milestone dates (submittal submission, approval receipt, production start, ship date).
• Escalating to supplier management when field-level contacts cannot resolve delays.
• Documenting every communication in the project's correspondence log.

Expediting is proactive, not reactive. Waiting until a delivery is missed to contact a supplier is too late on a critical-path item.

Writing an Expediting Memo

An expediting memo is a formal written record. It should:

• Identify the project, purchase order number, and material in question.
• State the contractually required delivery date.
• Describe the current status and the gap between required and projected delivery.
• Request a specific action: a revised delivery commitment in writing by a stated date and weekly written status updates going forward.
• Be professional and factual in tone—adversarial language damages relationships and rarely speeds deliveries.

Keep the memo to one page. Copy your supervisor and retain it in the project file.

Verbal Expediting: Phone and Site Calls

When written communication is not producing results, a direct call is faster. Before calling:

• Have the purchase order number, contractual delivery date, and current status in front of you.
• Know what outcome you need from the call (a new ship date, a production status report, an executive contact).
• Take notes during the call and follow up with a written summary sent to the supplier the same day.

Professional tone matters. Suppliers who feel respected are more likely to prioritize your order. Treat every call as a negotiation, not a complaint.

Safety Considerations in the Procurement Phase

Procurement decisions directly affect site safety. When ordering materials, verify that product data sheets and Safety Data Sheets (SDS) arrive with or before the material—OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard requires SDS availability before hazardous substances are used on site. Confirm that structural materials (steel, precast) arrive with certified mill test reports or product certifications so field crews are not installing unverified materials. If delivery involves crane picks or heavy equipment, coordinate with the site safety plan before the truck arrives. Rushed deliveries caused by late procurement compress installation schedules and increase the risk of workers bypassing safe practices—another reason early expediting is a safety issue, not just a schedule issue.