Start with the Work Specified brackets of the issued Section 03 37 13: confirm which elements on the drawings are to be shot, and that the structural, nonstructural, fiber-reinforced, wet-mix, or dry-mix choice kept matches what the sections and details show. Then check that the nozzleman certification covers the shooting orientations drawn, that the reinforced test panels represent the most congested reinforcement on the drawings, that lap splices, cover, joints, and finishes in the details follow the shotcrete paragraphs rather than cast-in-place habits, and that the blanks for strength, cover, durability, and tolerances are filled in to agree with the structural notes.
Assemble the review package
Gather the structural general notes with design strength, exposure, and cover, the plans, wall and slab sections, and elevations that mark which elements are shotcrete and their thicknesses, the reinforcement details with bar sizes, spacing, and lap splices, the joint and control joint layout, the architectural elevations and finish legend where the shotcrete is exposed, the retaining, slope, tunnel, or excavation support drawings with soil nails, anchors, drains, and weep holes where shotcrete faces earth or rock, any repair drawings for existing concrete or masonry, the geotechnical report, and the issued Section 03 37 13 with Section 03 30 00, the project’s special inspection section, and Section 01 33 00. Follow one shotcrete wall from its substrate through the reinforcement, the joints, and the finish before assuming the others match.
WBDG publishes UFGS 03 37 13: Shotcrete as a public guide-specification reference (accessed November 11, 2026). Use your project’s issued specification and amendments for the actual comparison; the guide specification does not automatically govern your project. The checklist below is an original suggested review workflow, not a reproduction of the UFGS requirements.
Eight checks to run against the issued set
Use one record per location or system. The CSV contains the same eight prompts plus fields for source revisions, observed evidence, the review owner, the decision, and closure references.
| Check | Sources to compare | Question to resolve |
|---|---|---|
| Which elements are shot, and in which process | Work Specified brackets (structural, nonstructural, fiber-reinforced, wet-mixture, dry-mixture) and note (delete both process options to leave the choice to the contractor) + Unit of Measure bracket + Fiber-Reinforced Shotcrete and Shotcrete definitions + plans, sections, and general notes marking shotcrete elements and thicknesses | Do the drawings mark each element to be shot, its thickness, and whether it is structural, rather than a general note allowing shotcrete as an alternative to formed concrete anywhere, does the bracket kept match, and where both process options were deleted to leave the choice open, have the paragraphs that apply to one process only, such as the water-cementitious ratio and air testing, been kept in a form that works for either, and does the unit of measure match how the drawings or the bid schedule quantify the work? |
| Nozzleman certification and crew qualifications | Qualifications note (refers to paragraphs “Structural Shotcrete” and “Nonstructural Shotcrete”) and article (ACI certification of nozzlemen for structural or fiber-reinforced work) + Structural Concrete paragraph (process and vertical and overhead brackets; contractor and foreman experience) + Nonstructural Shotcrete paragraph + sections and soffits showing vertical and overhead work | Does the certification bracket kept name the process and the orientations the drawings actually require, overhead where soffits, tunnel crowns, or undersides are shot, and since the note refers to a Structural Shotcrete paragraph the section titles Structural Concrete, has the specifier confirmed that the structural requirements apply to the shotcrete work selected in Work Specified? |
| Preconstruction panels that represent the drawn reinforcement | Preconstruction Testing note and General Requirements (panels for each mixture, shooting orientation, and nozzleman; testing agency; second panel; reinforced panels cored for visual examination) + Preplacement Verification (reinforcement the same as specified or the same as the existing structure) + reinforcement details and the most congested bar zones on the drawings | Has the reinforced-panel option been kept where the drawings show heavy or layered reinforcement, and does the panel reinforcement copy the largest bars, tightest spacing, and lap zones on the details rather than a typical mat, do the panel orientations cover every shooting position the drawings imply, and where existing structures are strengthened, does the Preplacement Verification bracket point to the existing reinforcement as surveyed? |
| Lap splices, cover, and encasement of reinforcement | Reinforcement article (non-fiber reinforcement to the contract documents and Section 03 30 00) + Reinforcement Laps (noncontact laps with a clearance and transverse spacing bracket; contact laps only with approval; lapped bars in one plane parallel to shooting; welded and mechanical splices) + Encasement of Reinforcement (cover blank; note to ACI 318 and 350) + Placement Techniques (encapsulation, corners, rebound) + bar details and lap schedules | Do the reinforcement details show noncontact laps with the clearance the issued section sets, or do they carry cast-in-place contact laps and bundled bars that the shotcrete cannot encase, is the cover blank filled in and equal to the cover in the structural notes and sections, and are bar size, spacing, and the number of curtains in thin walls realistic for shooting behind the front layer without shadows or voids? |
| Substrate, forms, ground wires, and bond | Preparation of Surface for earth, concrete, masonry, and shotcrete, rock, and reinforcement + Forms (escape of air, overspray, and rebound; form release) + Alignment Control (ground wires at corners and offsets) + Testing Shotcrete Bond to Substrate and Bond Strength brackets + Placement Techniques (no standing or flowing water) + excavation support, soil nail, anchor, drain, and weep hole details + repair drawings | Where shotcrete faces earth or rock, do the drawings show the drainage behind it, the weep holes, and the anchor or soil nail heads it must encase, and is groundwater addressed, since the section does not allow shooting onto standing or flowing water, where it bonds to existing concrete or masonry, is the bond test and bond strength kept with a value filled in, and do the elevations give the lines and thicknesses the ground wires must establish at corners and offsets? |
| Joints, finishes, and the fiber cover layer | Construction Joints (tapered; cut while plastic; slab intersections) + Control Joints (as indicated in the contract documents; reinforcement discontinued bracket) + Finish paragraphs (Gun Finish, Cutting Screed, Flash Coat, Float and Trowel Finish, Fiber-Reinforced Shotcrete layer “as denoted”) + Rod finish definition (describes a cutting screed) + Architectural Finishes curing restriction + elevations and finish legend | Are the control joints the section leaves to the contract documents actually located on the elevations, are construction joints drawn tapered rather than square, is the finish named on each exposed elevation one of the finish paragraphs kept, with the unused definition of rod finish deleted or tied to a finish, and where fiber-reinforced shotcrete is exposed to touch, do the sections include the nonfiber cover layer and its finish in the drawn thickness? |
| Mixture properties, durability, and the test program | Compressive Strength, Flexural Strength and Properties, Water-Cementitious Ratio (delete for dry-mix), Air Content (not bracketed; note asks for test frequency in Testing Shotcrete), Chloride Content, Voids and Absorption Properties, Bond Strength, and Resistance to Alkali-Silica Reaction + Testing Shotcrete, Test Panels (frequency, size, orientation), and Testing In-Place Shotcrete + Quality Assurance (submittals per Section 03 30 00) + structural notes on strength, exposure, and freeze-thaw | Do the strength, flexural, durability, and chloride blanks agree with the structural notes and the exposure the site imposes, is Air Content kept only where freeze-thaw, seawater, or deicing salts apply and given a test frequency, since its note asks for one in a paragraph that has no place for it, has the specifier corrected the panel dimensions, whose metric and inch-pound values disagree, and is Section 03 30 00 in the project, since Quality Assurance sends the quality control plan and laboratory qualifications there? |
| Tolerances, weather, curing, repair, and acceptance | Tolerances bracket (ACI 117 offered; its note says ACI 117 excludes shotcrete) + Hot Weather Shotcreting (“PREQUALIFICATION TESTING”) and Cold Weather Shotcreting + Curing and Protection + Repair of Shotcrete and Commercial Patching Products + Acceptance of Work (defect size bracket; acceptance on compressive or flexural strength) + Compliance with Test Properties (boiled absorption at “the specified test age”) + drawings tolerance and flatness notes | Has the specifier stated shotcrete tolerances for cross-section, cover, and surface finish, in the section or on the drawings, rather than relying on a standard the note says excludes shotcrete, does the hot weather exception point to Preconstruction Testing, is a test age given for absorption and voids, since the acceptance paragraph measures against one that is not specified, and do the architectural tolerances on exposed shotcrete agree with the finish kept? |
Worked example: a shotcrete retaining wall drawn like a formed wall
Illustrative example: a training facility adds a cut slope retained by a reinforced shotcrete wall over soil nails, with an exposed architectural face along a walkway. The structural sections show two curtains of large bars with contact lap splices, the cover in the general notes differs from the cover drawn on the typical section, and the elevations give a smooth finish but no control joint locations. The issued Section 03 37 13 keeps structural, wet-mix shotcrete with the ACI certification bracket for vertical work only, though the wall includes an overhead return at a stair, keeps the reinforced test panel option with a typical single mat, leaves the cover and tolerance blanks unfilled with ACI 117 kept, and keeps Air Content without a test frequency for a site with freeze-thaw exposure. No drain or weep hole detail appears behind the shotcrete.
Ask the structural engineer to redraw the laps as noncontact laps with the clearance the issued section sets, or to justify contact laps for approval, to reconcile the cover between the notes and the section, to detail the drainage and weep holes behind the wall, and to locate the control joints on the elevations. Ask the specifier to add the overhead orientation to the certification bracket, to require reinforced panels that copy the two-curtain lap zone, to fill in the cover, to state shotcrete tolerances for the exposed face rather than ACI 117 alone, to give an air test frequency, and to correct the hot weather reference to Preconstruction Testing, and confirm with the architect that the finish named on the elevations is one the section keeps.
Avoid a false conflict
Section 03 37 13 covers pneumatically placed concrete or mortar for structural, nonstructural, and fiber-reinforced work by the wet-mix or dry-mix process. Formed and placed concrete follows Section 03 30 00 and the concrete guide, which this section also relies on for non-fiber reinforcement and the quality assurance submittals, soil and rock anchors behind a shotcrete facing follow Section 31 68 13 and the soil and rock anchor guide, and special inspection follows the project’s special inspection section, so check those before calling a requirement missing. Some of the section’s own wording needs resolving before it is compared with the drawings: the Qualifications note refers to a Structural Shotcrete paragraph that is titled Structural Concrete, the rod finish definition describes a cutting screed and is used nowhere else, the hot weather exception relies on a Prequalification Testing paragraph the section does not have, the test panel dimensions disagree between metric and inch-pound values, the Tolerances bracket offers a standard its own note says excludes shotcrete, the absorption acceptance refers to a test age that is not specified, and the Air Content note asks for a test frequency in a paragraph with no place for one. Ask the specifier which wording the project intends before treating a difference as a design conflict.
When requirements disagree, follow the project’s document-control and clarification process. Do not assume that drawings always override specifications, or the reverse. Identify the exact sources and request an authorized decision.
Close the issue across the affected documents
Record the location or tag, drawing and specification references, issue dates, observed difference, and the decision needed. Assign an owner and keep the item open until the response identifies the governing requirement. Check the revised drawings and specification references together; a response email alone may leave the issued package inconsistent.
For the overall process, use the guide to drawing and specification conflicts. Mark an inapplicable checklist row with a reason, and distinguish a verified correction from a question that still needs design information.
Where Groundbook fits
Groundbook’s drawing and specification review helps investigate potential disagreements in the documents you supply. Include the relevant specification sections and drawing references, then verify the cited evidence with the responsible reviewers before acting on a finding.