Finish Submittals and Your Architectural Materials Supplier

For architects, interior designers and builders, choosing a finish is only half the job. The other half is documenting it, so the owner approves the right product, the contractor orders the right product, and the installer puts the right product in the right room. A good architectural materials supplier makes that paper trail easier, and knowing what to ask for keeps finish submittals from becoming the last loose end on a Bellingham project.

This post walks through how to assemble submittal information for flooring, tile, slabs and wet walls, and where a supplier like Forma Material fits in.

What a finish-material submittal should include

For each finish on the schedule, the submittal should let anyone on the team identify the exact product without guessing. At minimum, that means:

• Manufacturer and series, written exactly as the manufacturer writes them.
• Color name and any color code.
• Size and format, including thickness for tile and slabs, and plank width and length for flooring.
• Finish, such as matte, polished, honed, textured or lappato.
• Product data sheet with technical properties.
• Installation instructions from the manufacturer, including substrate requirements.
• Care and maintenance guidance for the owner's closeout binder.
• Warranty document, where the manufacturer offers one.

Most of this comes from the manufacturer, not the supplier. The supplier's role is to confirm the exact item, point you to the current version of the documentation, and flag anything that affects availability.

Working with an architectural materials supplier on documents

When you contact us about a project, send the finish schedule or the relevant pages of the drawings. We can check each line against what we carry, confirm names and formats, and tell you which items are stocked and which are special order. For products from manufacturers such as Daltile, Bedrosians, Cambria or Wilsonart, the product data and installation documents are published by the maker, and we can help you find the right ones for the specific series.

Ask early about anything that could change between specification and order: discontinued colors, formats that are available only in certain finishes, or products sold only in full pallets or full slabs.

It also helps to tell us how the project is organized. A single custom home with one designer and one builder needs a different rhythm than a multi-unit building where the finish package goes out for bid. If the finishes will be priced by several contractors, a clean, unambiguous product list protects you from each bidder interpreting "white matte porcelain" in their own way.

Samples and the approval step

Owners approve finishes by looking at them, and a submittal without a physical reference invites second-guessing later. Build the sample step into your schedule:

1. Request samples of the specified items, where available, before submitting to the owner.
2. Label each sample with the finish schedule tag, room and product name.
3. Review samples in the space or in comparable light. A tile approved under office fluorescents can look different in a room with big west-facing windows toward Bellingham Bay.
4. Keep an approved set on file. It becomes the reference when material arrives and during punch list.

For natural stone slabs, a small sample shows color but not movement or variation. For granite, marble and quartzite, approval should be based on the actual slabs or full-slab images, and the documentation should say so.

Handling substitutions

Substitutions happen: a color is discontinued, a format becomes hard to get, or the budget shifts. Handle them with the same rigor as the original selection.

• Get the substitute's full product data, not just a photo.
• Compare technical properties that matter for the application, such as slip resistance for a floor or water absorption for a shower.
• Check that the substitute's thickness does not change transitions, trim or tile setting heights.
• Re-issue the sample to the owner if the look changes at all.
• Update the finish schedule so the drawings and the order match.

A supplier can often suggest close alternatives from the same manufacturer or a comparable one, which keeps the documentation clean.

Keeping the record straight through closeout

The finish schedule is only useful if it matches what was installed. As orders are placed, record the product, quantity and any lot or batch information on the delivery paperwork alongside the finish tag. At closeout, the owner should receive the product list, care guides and warranty documents, plus a note of which leftover boxes or pieces belong to which room.

That record pays off years later when someone in a Fairhaven condo or a South Hill house needs to replace a cracked tile and wants to know exactly what was used.

If you are specifying finishes for a project in Bellingham, WA, send your finish schedule to [email protected] or call (360) 255-8377. You can also browse the full range of manufacturers from the Forma Material home page.