@Daniel Nicely. Since the string is in relation to shop drawings, product data, etc submittals the context is ones submittal stamp, not one's professional stamp. Under no circumstances that I am aware should the architect place their professional stamp on any submittal.
As for seeking a second legal opinion, our corporate attorney has been practicing A/E law for at least 30 years. I will chalk that comment up to a misunderstanding of which stamp was being discussed.
HKS, Inc.
Original Message:
Sent: 10-22-2025 06:42 PM
From: Daniel J. Nicely
Subject: Submittals Reviewed by Our Consultants
In response to any suggestion to apply your architectural seal to consultants' drawings (such as those prepared by structural engineers, MEP engineers, interior designers, or other independent professionals), I strongly advise against this practice.
Doing so undermines the fundamental purpose of engaging licensed consultants: to provide specialized expertise in their respective disciplines, for which they assume professional responsibility through their own seals. Your role as architect includes coordination, integration, and thorough review of their work-not the assumption of their design authorship or liability.
Applying your seal to another professional's drawings would significantly expand your liability exposure, as it implies endorsement of the entire content, including elements outside your scope of expertise and licensure. This could void your professional liability insurance coverage and expose you to claims for errors or omissions in the consultant's work.
This is distinct from your standard duty to review submittals, shop drawings, or construction documents for general conformance. I recommend obtaining an opinion from attorney experienced in architectural practice and professional liability.
Stamps we have used in the past for submittals include this language:
-No Exception Taken
-Make Corrections as Noted
-Revise and Resubmit
-Rejected -Resubmit
-Not Required
-Submit Specified Item
"REVIEW IS ONLY FOR GENERAL CONFORMANCE WITH THE DESIGN CONCEPT OF THE PROJECT AND COMPLIANCE WITH THE INFORMATION GIVEN IN THE CONTRACT DOCUMENTS. THE CONTRACTOR IS RESPONSIBLE FOR: DIMENSIONS TO BE CONFIRMED AND CORRELATED AT THE JOB SITE; FABRICATION PROCESSES AND TECHNIQUES; COORDINATION OF THEIR WORK WITH THAT OF ALL OTHER TRADES; AND THE PERFORMANCE OF ALL WORK IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONTRACT DOCUMENTS. THIS REVIEW DOES NOT CONSTITUTE APPROVAL OF SAFETY PRECAUTIONS OR CONSTRUCTION MEANS, METHODS, SEQUENCES, OR TECHNIQUES"
Reference Documents
- AIA A201–2017 §3.12.4–3.12.8
- AIA G712–2017 (Architect's Submittal Transmittal Form)
- CSI Practice Guide – Submittal Procedures (§01 33 00)
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Daniel Nicely, AIA
Dakota Architecture PLLC
Raleigh NC
Original Message:
Sent: 10-21-2025 06:46 PM
From: Mark I. Baum
Subject: Submittals Reviewed by Our Consultants
With respect to Mr. Koppy's response, the reference to the "Architect" in the Contract Documents is understood to include the Architect's licensed consultants and, therefore, the consultants' review under the umbrella of the Architect suffices as the Architect's review. The Architect does not typically have the expertise to provide a review of the entirety of the submittals relative to its consultants' portions of the Contract Documents, and to suggest by its review stamp that it has reviewed the engineering submittals in their entirety might be viewed as constituting the practice of engineering, and may not be covered by its PL insurance. Therefore, the response I initially offered and which was echoed by several other respondents was to stipulate the extent of the Architect's review.
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Mark I. Baum, AIA
Mark I. Baum Architect LLC
New Orleans, LA
Original Message:
Sent: 10-21-2025 06:24 PM
From: Michael D. Miller
Subject: Submittals Reviewed by Our Consultants
@Donald Koppy, AIA, "Best read your contracts and Division 01 - General Requirements, before not reviewing AND stamping all your consultant's reviewed submittals". While I do not disagree with your assessment in concept, as advised by our corporate attorney, who was an architect before becoming an attorney, and is still an architect, we do not "overstamp" consultants submittals unless we have specific architectural related comments, markups, etc. And then, our disposition of the stamp is "Reviewed for Architectural Issues Only" and restricted to the specific page of the comment.
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Michael Miller AIA
HKS, Inc.
Richmond VA
Original Message:
Sent: 10-21-2025 05:37 PM
From: Donald A. Koppy
Subject: Submittals Reviewed by Our Consultants
Let's technically walk through this scenario a bit:
If the Architect as prime consultant in the contract, requires the Contractor to stamp the subcontractor's submittal (which is good practice), and also requires the Contractor to obtain the Architect's approval of any submittal prior to starting the work of any submittal (which is also good practice), and the Architect doesn't stamp the submittal, then shouldn't the Contractor hold off on the work of that submittal?
If the submittal is schedule critical, and the Architect's non-stamping causes a delay, wouldn't the Contractor be able to file a delay claim?
Best read your contracts and Division 01 - General Requirements, before not reviewing AND stamping all your consultant's reviewed submittals.
Donald A. Koppy,
CSI, CCS, AIA, NCARB, SCIP
True Architecture, LLC
Original Message:
Sent: 10/20/2025 5:23:00 PM
From: Michael D. Miller
Subject: RE: Submittals Reviewed by Our Consultants
This can be a point of contention as it seems every firm handles this differently.
When handling consultant submittals, lets use a simple one such as concrete reinforcing, if there are nocomments from the structural engineer such as "arch verify" or similar, we do not "overstamp" consultants submittals. Another example would be electrical switchgear. In the event there are consultant comments, say the lighting submittal where the EE has stated "arch verify fixture color/finish", we provide the color/finish selection and stamp that particular page with our stamp and mark it "Reviewed for Architectural Issues Only".
Somewhat convoluted, but hopefully this helps.
Cheers!
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Michael Miller AIA
HKS, Inc.
Richmond VA
Original Message:
Sent: 10-20-2025 04:38 PM
From: James P. McLane
Subject: Submittals Reviewed by Our Consultants
I would like to know what are the best practices for reviewing and managing submittal responses by our consultants.
It is obvious that we should perform at least a cursory review of all work by our consultants.
What are our contractual responsibilities?
Are we required to put our own stamp on a submittal response by our structural engineer? My practice is to give the same response as our consultant, such as Make Corrections Noted.
Looking forward to seeing your comments.
Best, Jim McLane
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James McLane AIA
Page & Turnbull
Los Angeles CA
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