How to Fill Out and Submit ENG Form 4288-R: Submittal Register

ENG Form 4288-R, the Submittal Register, is filled out at the start of a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers construction contract and maintained throughout the job to track every drawing, sample, certificate, and data package the specifications require. To fill out ENG Form 4288-R, you create one sheet per specification section, list each required submittal as a numbered line item with its spec paragraph and description, mark the submittal type and classification, set the dates approval and delivery are needed, and then submit and update the register electronically through RMS 3.0 Contractor Mode. The governing regulation is ER 415-1-10, and the form works alongside UFGS Section 01 33 00 on submittal procedures.¹ Blank copies are available from the USACE Publications website.²

What to Have in Front of You

Four things need to be on the desk before the first row makes sense:

The contract number and project title, which anchor every entry to the government’s tracking system.
The contract’s technical specification sections. These sections dictate what belongs on the register and typically follow the CSI MasterFormat numbering system.³
The construction schedule, so you can work backward from procurement and installation dates to set submittal deadlines.
Any designer-generated register data. On many projects the designers produce a preliminary register through SpecsIntact software, and after award you can import that file into QCS/RMS rather than building from scratch.⁴

Submittal responsibilities come up at the preconstruction conference. If QCS is not specified in your contract, the Contracting Officer may hand you a blank ENG Form 4288-R at that meeting instead of the electronic version.¹

Header Fields

Each sheet of the register covers a single specification section. A project with twenty spec sections produces twenty sheets. The top of each sheet captures the contract number, the specification section number and title, and the contractor name. Transposing a digit in the contract number creates tracking problems that ripple through the government’s database, so verify it against the contract cover page rather than typing from memory.

Filling Out the Line Items

Each row is one submittal. The columns walk left to right through what the government needs to process it.⁵

Item No. (column c). A unique number for each submittal within the specification section. This number follows the item for the life of the project and must match exactly on the transmittal form when you later send the package.⁶
Specification Paragraph Number (column d). The exact paragraph in the specs that requires the submittal. This creates the legal link between the contract requirement and the item you deliver.
Description of Item Submitted (column e). A clear, specific name. “Portland Cement Type II” or “HVAC Ductwork Shop Drawings,” not “cement” or “drawings.”
Type of Submittal (columns g through o). Mark the category that applies. The form provides columns for drawings, instructions, schedules, statements, reports, certificates, samples, records, and O&M manuals.

You are also responsible for adding anything the contract documents or drawings require that the designer’s preliminary register missed, particularly data useful for facility operation, maintenance, or quality control.¹

Matching Each Row to an SD Designation

UFGS 01 33 00 organizes submittal types into standardized designations that correspond to the type columns:⁷

SD-01 Preconstruction submittals: schedules, tabular lists of materials and equipment.
SD-02 Shop drawings: fabrication diagrams, coordination drawings.
SD-03 Product data: catalog cuts, performance charts, brochures.
SD-04 Samples: physical examples, color samples, mock-ups.
SD-05 Design data: calculations, mix designs, analyses.
SD-06 Test reports: lab results, field test findings, daily logs.
SD-07 Certificates: compliance statements, warranty documentation.

The specs reference these SD numbers directly. Match each register entry to the correct designation.

Classifying Each Submittal

Two columns near the middle of the form, “Information Only” (column p) and “Gov Approved” (column q), decide how much government scrutiny an item gets. A “Classification” column (r) and “Reviewer” column (s) sit next to them. Misclassifying an item is one of the faster paths to corrective action, because it can mean installing materials the government never approved.

Design-Bid-Build Contracts

Two classifications apply:¹

Government Approved (GA). Items critical to the quality the contract specifies. This includes core requirements, any variation from the stated contract requirements, and items where the contract puts responsibility for detailed development on you.
For Information Only (FIO). Everything else, such as catalog cuts, shop drawings that do not vary from the specified design, and samples for non-critical items.

The government spot-checks roughly ten percent of FIO submittals. If a spot-check finds non-compliance, the item comes back with a code requiring corrective action and resubmission.¹

Design-Build Contracts

Design-build adds several classifications because the contractor’s Designer of Record shares review responsibility with the government:¹

Designer of Record Approved (DA). Extensions of design, critical materials, and any deviations from the solicitation or accepted proposal.
Conformance Review (CR). Government review of DOR design submittals for conformance with the technical requirements of the solicitation and accepted proposal.
DA/CR. Variations from the accepted design that are not contract deviations, needing both DOR approval and government conformance review.
DA/GA. Variations that also deviate from the contract, needing DOR approval followed by full government approval.
GA and FIO. Same meaning as on design-bid-build, though GA items on design-build are limited to those specifically identified in the request for proposal.

The Section 01 33 00 in your contract spells out which classification applies to each submittal item.⁷

Setting the Schedule Dates

The right side of the form tracks timing. Two contractor schedule columns ask when approval is needed (column t) and when the material is needed on site (column u). Work backward from your construction schedule. If ductwork installation is planned for week twelve, procurement takes four weeks, and government review takes several more, the submittal must go out early enough to absorb all of it.

This matters because every required submittal must be approved before you can hold the preparatory phase meeting under the Three Phase Control System. A submittal still under review blocks the work activity it covers.⁸ Any work performed before government approval of a GA submittal is at your own risk.⁹

Government review periods are not a single universal number. UFGS 01 33 00 uses a fill-in field the contract drafter sets project by project, and different agencies use different windows.⁷ Read the Section 01 33 00 in your own contract to find the review period that applies.

Submitting the Register

On most USACE contracts, the register is submitted electronically through RMS 3.0 Contractor Mode, which replaced the older QCS 2.38 and RMS 2.38 software.¹⁰ Your Quality Control manager reviews and approves it in RMS before it goes to the government. Once exported, the data feeds the government’s RMS database, where the Resident Engineer, submittal reviewers, and Contracting Officer can all track it.⁴

For design-build contracts, UFGS 01 33 00 requires the completed register within 30 calendar days after the Notice to Proceed.⁷ Design-bid-build contracts may specify a different deadline, so check your contract’s Section 01 33 00.

Reading the Government Action Codes

When the government returns a submittal, the Resident Engineer enters an action code in column y. The codes tell you whether you can proceed, need to correct something, or need to start over:¹¹

Code A, approved as submitted. Proceed. Completed.
Code B, approved except as noted on drawings. Proceed and incorporate the marked changes. Completed.
Code C, approved, resubmission required. Move forward, but a revised submittal is owed. Resubmit.
Code D, returned by correspondence. Handled through a separate letter. Completed.
Code E, disapproved. The item does not comply. Select a compliant product or method and resubmit.¹
Code F, receipt acknowledged. Logged, no further action. Completed.
Code G, other. Resubmission for reasons explained in the remarks. Resubmit.
Code K, government concurs with interim design. Design-build only. Completed.
Code R, acceptable for release for construction. Completed.
Code X, receipt acknowledged, does not comply. An FIO item that was spot-checked and failed. Corrective action and resubmission required.¹

Codes C, E, G, and X all leave the submittal open. Keep those rows visible on the register; they are the bottlenecks that stall construction if you lose track of them.

How the Register Feeds ENG Form 4025-R

The register is the master list. ENG Form 4025-R, the transmittal form, is how you actually send each individual package to the government. The Item Number links the two: whatever you assigned on the register must appear identically on the 4025-R when you send that package.⁶

A few transmittal rules affect how you set up the register:

Each transmittal covers only one specification section. Items from different spec sections cannot ride on the same 4025-R.
Transmittals are numbered consecutively as the spec section number followed by a sequential number, such as 03300-001 and 03300-002.
Resubmittals add a decimal to the original number, so the first resubmittal of 03300-001 becomes 03300-001.1.
The 4025-R is self-transmitting. No cover letter is needed.

Keeping the Register Current

The register is not a one-time deliverable. ER 415-1-10 requires the contractor to maintain and update it for the life of the contract, tracking the status of each submittal and coordinating procurement lead times with the schedule.¹ In practice that means entering actual submission dates (columns v and w), government action codes and dates (columns y and z), and adding new line items when you spot submittals the original register missed.

Update before weekly progress meetings. An outdated register hides approval bottlenecks, and ER 415-1-10 gives the government several enforcement tools when a contractor falls behind, including delinquency letters, retainage for unsatisfactory progress, nonpayment for unapproved materials, removal of QC personnel, and interim contractor performance ratings through CPARS.¹ At closeout, the completed register is the definitive record that every required submittal was provided, reviewed, and resolved.

1
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. ER 415-1-10 – Contractor Submittal Procedures
2
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Publications. ENG Form 4288-R – Submittal Register
3
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. April 2022 Brown Bag RMS Training – Submittals and Transmittals
4
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Quality Control System (QCS) and Resident Management System (RMS)
5
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. ENG Form 4288 – Submittal Register
6
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. ENG Form 4025-R – Transmittal of Shop Drawings, Equipment Data, Material Samples, or Manufacturer’s Certificates of Compliance
7
Whole Building Design Guide. UFGS 01 33 00 – Submittal Procedures
8
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Construction Quality Management for Contractors – Student Study Guide
9
Acquisition.GOV. 48 CFR 52.236-21 – Specifications and Drawings for Construction
10
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. RMS 3 Contractor Mode User Manual
11
USACE Resident Management System (RMS). What Do the Submittal Codes Mean?