What a good submittal turnaround time looks like

Benchmarks drawn from live projects, and the three bottlenecks that account for most of the difference between fast and slow review cycles.

What good looks like

Median turnaround measured against the contractual review period, not against the date an item was picked up. Projects performing well clear the majority of routine submittals inside the contractual window and escalate the exceptions early rather than at month end.

The three bottlenecks

1. Incomplete first submissions returned without review, costing a full cycle
2. Unrouted items sitting unassigned, the largest source of avoidable dead time
3. Resubmissions treated as new, so the reviewer starts from scratch

The measurement that changes behaviour

Publishing median turnaround by reviewer, visible to both parties. It is uncomfortable, which is why it works.