What goes in the file
A precast material submission is a small, dull, complete document. Nothing in it is difficult. Submissions come back because something is missing or because two documents do not agree with each other, almost never because the product was wrong.
- A covering schedule — what the units are, quantities, and which drawing and specification clause they answer.
- Shop drawings for each unit type: dimensions, reinforcement, cover to steel, lifting points and their rating, joint detail.
- The mix design, with the target grade, water-cement ratio, cement type and admixtures named.
- Cube test results for the mix, from the plant that will actually cast your units.
- Source certificates for cement, aggregate and steel, with mill certificates for reinforcement.
- The plant material approval reference — the approval held by the casting plant, quoted by its own reference number.
- A method statement for handling, transport, offloading and setting out, including the lifting arrangement.
The order matters more than you would think
Put the covering schedule first and make it a map: one line per unit type, with the page number where its drawing and its test data sit. A reviewer who can find things approves faster than one who has to hunt, and a file that reads as organised gets fewer speculative comments.
Keep one unit type per drawing sheet. Combined sheets that cover four variants invite a comment on all four when only one needed changing, and then the whole sheet resubmits.
The two omissions that cause most resubmissions
First: traceability between the cube results and the units on the delivery note. A folder of good cube results that cannot be tied to the batch actually delivered proves nothing. The batch reference has to run from the mix, through the cube report, onto the delivery note. Ask for it as a matched set rather than as three separate documents.
Second: whose approval it is. The material approval belongs to the plant that casts the unit, not to the company that sells it. A submission that names the supplier where it should name the approved plant gets returned. If the units are cast across more than one plant, every plant in the scope needs its reference in the file.
If a submission is coming back repeatedly, the cause is usually one of these two rather than anything technical about the concrete.
Timing
Submit before you need the units, and assume at least one review cycle. Approval time is outside anyone’s control, so the only lever you hold is starting early enough that a comment does not become a programme problem.
If the programme is already tight, tell us at the quote stage. We can often supply from an approved standard product with paperwork already assembled, which changes a submission from an authoring job into a covering letter.
What to send us
The specification clause, the drawing, and the authority you are submitting to. We will tell you what we already hold for that product and what has to be produced, so you know on day one whether this is a form-filling exercise or a real piece of work.
The estimator quoting your job also delivers it
Send the drawing or a photograph. You get a delivered rate, a date and a straight answer on whether the spec is right.
Are your products RTA approved?
The units are cast in plants holding the relevant material approvals, and the approval reference for the casting plant is supplied with the submission pack. Approvals sit with the plant that casts, which is why we name the plant rather than ourselves.
What paperwork comes with a delivery?
A delivery note carrying the batch reference on the day, with cube and absorption results and the material approval reference available against that batch.
How long does a precast submission take to approve?
It depends on the authority and their current load, and it is outside our control. Assume at least one review cycle and submit early — that is the only part of the timeline you can influence.