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Forms

A submittal form is a per-feature, per-criteria document that pulls project data and analysis output into a layout the destination authority expects. Each form covers one focal feature (the PES being sited) and reports its analysis against every facility in the project that participated in an encumbrance with it. For the click-by-click flow, see Submittals → How to generate a submittal for a single feature. The supported standards are listed in Submittals → Supported standards.

Learning objectives

By the end of this lesson you should be able to:

  • Generate a form for a specific feature under a chosen criteria set
  • Read the three sections of a typical DCMA-style submittal form
  • Recognize how the ATF forms differ from the DCMA-style forms
  • Recognize the dual-direction reporting, relationship notes, and the inline criteria citations
  • Print a form cleanly, and recognize when a form is marked incomplete or out of date, or reports sides not analyzed

What's on a form​

A submittal form opens with a toolbar and three table sections.

Toolbar. Pick the Facility (the feature the form is about) and the Criteria set (DCMA, DESR2024, NATOCV1, ATF — only criteria the project is configured for show up). A Print Form button generates the printable view.

1. General Information. Installation, Location, Date (YYYYMMDD), and Engine Info (e.g., DCMA-0.13.0) — the version of the criteria engine that produced the analysis. Useful when comparing forms across time.

2. Data on Facility to be Sited. A single row covering the focal feature:

  • Facility name and description (type code + display name + the feature's Facility Description text)
  • RQD IBD with the 110% inclusion-zone distance computed inline (e.g., 1,250 (ft) 110%: 1,375 (ft))
  • RQD PTRD
  • Per-hazard NEW columns: 1.1, 1.2.1 + MCE, 1.2.2, 1.2.3 + MCE + (xx), 1.3, 1.4 — note the supporting weights surface alongside NEW for divisions that need them (see Calculator: Explosives → Supporting weights)
  • A Sides not analyzed row, only when a side of this facility or of a listed facility has no analyzed face (see Incomplete, out-of-date, and partial forms)

ATF forms​

The ATF (27 CFR 555) forms keep the same three sections but change the columns:

  • RQD IMD (intermagazine distance) appears alongside RQD IBD and RQD PTRD
  • High Explosive (555.218), Low Explosive (555.219), and Fireworks (555.224) columns replace the hazard-division columns — one weight per ATF explosive class rather than per HD
  • The ES variant's sited-facility row states "Facility does not contain explosives." and its third section, PES Facilities That Encumber the Sited Facility, lists each PES that encumbers the sited facility with the encumbering PES's required distance and weight per class

See Submittals → ATF forms for the full column description.

3. PES/ES Paired Relationships. One row per pair of faces between the focal feature and another facility. A PES form lists a facility when it lies within 110% of the focal feature's IBD, when it is a PES whose IBD arc reaches the focal feature, or when the pair is in violation in either direction. Columns:

  • Facility — the other feature's name plus the Exposure Type tag (e.g., AGM IMD, Feature 005 IBD)
  • Facility Description — type code + display name + the other feature's Facility Description text
  • Relationship — packs Act: X (ft) - Req: Y (ft), PES Face: ..., ES Face: ..., the relationship code (unrelated, sameline, etc.), the (B) Barricaded / (U) Unbarricaded status, the analysis-code pair (AGSU-AGSU, AGSB-ECM7FB), the Reverse direction analysis-code pair, and the Exposure Type. A default face prints its criteria side name (e.g. Perimeter); a custom face prints its name and the side it is analyzed as (e.g. Loading Dock (front)); a perimeter trimmed around a custom segment prints Perimeter (remainder). The barricaded status is the pair's Yes/No override if it has one, otherwise barricaded when either face is flagged on its Segments tab (see Barricading in Siter)
  • Per-HD columns (1.1, 1.2.1, 1.2.2, 1.2.3, 1.3, 1.4) — required distance, the inline criteria citation (e.g., Table AP2.T6., Table AP2.T14., Note 2), the reverse-direction distance, the allowable NEW (DQ), and supporting weights (MCE, (XX)) where the division uses them

Under a pair's data row the form can print extra note rows: first the other feature's own Submittal Notes (unlabelled), then the pair's relationship notes (see Relationship notes below). The sited facility's Submittal Notes print the same way under its row in section 2. A feature's internal Notes never print.

Relationship notes​

A relationship submittal note is free text a user attached to one direction of a pair — see Individual facility editing. Forms print it directly under the pair's row, with a small-caps label that names the direction relative to the sited facility:

  • PES forms print PES->ES Note (the sited facility as the PES) and then PES<-ES (Reverse) Note (the listed facility as the PES)
  • ES forms print ES<-PES (Reverse) Note (the listed PES as the PES, the sited facility as the ES)

The labels mirror the dual-direction reporting below: the forward note explains the forward row, the reverse note explains the Reverse: line. A direction with no note prints nothing. The note is not criteria-specific, so the same text prints on the pair's form for every standard; when reviewing, check that a mitigation note names the criteria it applies to. See Submittals → Relationship notes on submittal forms.

Dual-direction reporting​

When the ES in the encumberance is also a PES, the relationships table includes both directions. The forward direction is the focal feature acting as PES against the other; the Reverse: line shows the same pair with roles swapped. The two directions can produce different required distances and even different governing analysis codes when the two features have asymmetric attributes or different segment-aware analysis codes (e.g., AGSB-ECM7FB forward, ECMFU-AGSB reverse).

Each row is matched to the analysis by its own pair of faces, and its Reverse: values come from that same face pair read the other way. A face pair with no reverse result prints N/A rather than 0. On a PES form, a row that exists only because of the reverse direction prints No Analysis in its forward explosive columns, so a missing result never reads as "no separation required".

Read both directions when interpreting a row — a pair that's compliant in one direction can violate in the other.

Violation flagging​

Rows where the actual distance is less than the required distance are visually flagged on the form, typically with a (violation) marker beside the facility name and a red color treatment on the row. When a facility takes several rows, it is marked (violation) if any of its rows violates. Violations are surfaced inline in the same table — there is no separate violations section.

Inline criteria citations​

Each per-HD cell carries the criteria citation that produced the value (e.g., Table AP2.T6., C5.18.13.5.). The citation is the form's audit trail — when the form is reviewed by an external authority, every required-distance value can be traced back to its source criterion. This is the same data the criteria path carries on a calculator-side analysis, surfaced inline in the form for compliance use.

Printing the form​

The form is HTML rendered for the browser, which means Print Form sends it to the browser's print dialog. A note on the form itself reminds users:

Turn off Headers/Footers in your browser print window for a clean form.

Browser-injected headers and footers (URL, timestamp, page numbers) clutter the printed output if left on. Disable them in the browser's Print → More settings → Headers and footers before saving the PDF or printing.

Incomplete, out-of-date, and partial forms​

Three markers tell you a form is not ready to submit:

  • Form incomplete (ATF forms) — the analysis behind the form has not been run. On the ATF forms, any required-distance or weight cell for a pair or explosive class that was never analyzed reads N/A rather than 0 — a zero on an ATF form is always a computed result
  • Analysis out of date (every form) — the focal feature, a listed PES, or a PES that can reach the focal feature had its analyzed faces or search zones changed and has not been analyzed since. Editing only notes, a description, a name, a label, or a style does not trigger it
  • Sides not analyzed row (every form) — a side of the focal feature or of a listed facility has no analyzed face, so nothing is measured from it. Facilities created before v0.31 whose default faces do not match their criteria's sides (for example, one perimeter face on a four-sided facility) print this row until you rebuild their faces with Regenerate Faces (Analysis menu, or the facility's Segments tab) and re-run the analysis

Form incomplete and Analysis out of date print, and either one prefixes the facility name in the printed page footer with INCOMPLETE on every page, so a partial form cannot be passed off as a finished one. Run the analysis and regenerate the form before submitting it. See Submittals → Incomplete and out-of-date forms and Submittals → Sides not analyzed.

warning

Siter is not intended to be a documentation management platform. Forms are ephemeral and are not saved within the project.

The transmittal letter​

The DCMA forms travel to DCMA with a cover letter, the ESSP transmittal letter. Siter drafts it (an alpha feature) for one or more DCMA PESs as a LaTeX (.tex) file from label Popups > Export Transmittal Letter, a PES's Export Tools menu, or the Feature List bulk menu. The letter does not repeat the forms' Q-D detail; it summarizes it:

  • Project fields fill the header, request paragraph, and signature: Organization, Installation, Installation Description, and the Submittal Contact
  • Each facility group gets its own paragraph built from the PESs' Facility Narrative (Notes tab), a NEW and governing-distance table, and the nearest exposure of each separation type with its compass direction
  • The exposed sites on the PESs' forms are listed with their own narratives
  • Boxed USER UPDATE markers show what is left to write — group overviews, violation explanations, the TO: address, and any empty field

The Facility Narrative never prints on a form, and the Facility Description and Submittal Notes never print in the letter. See Transmittal letters.

Try it​

In an analyzed project with at least one explosive-bearing feature:

  1. Open the submittal form for that feature, picking DCMA as the criteria
  2. Confirm the General Information section populates from project metadata
  3. Spot-check the focal feature's row in the Data on Facility section — confirm the NEW values match what you entered
  4. Pick one row in the PES/ES Paired Relationships table and verify the Reverse: direction tells a coherent story (same pair, roles swapped, possibly different required distance)
  5. If the pair has relationship notes, find the PES->ES Note and PES<-ES (Reverse) Note rows under it and confirm each note matches its direction
  6. Click Print Form and observe the browser's print dialog. Toggle off Headers and footers and confirm the printed output is clean
  7. If the project is configured for ATF, switch the Criteria selector to ATF and generate the form for the same feature. Confirm the RQD IMD column and the High Explosive, Low Explosive, and Fireworks columns appear, and note whether a Form incomplete notice is shown — if so, run the ATF analysis and regenerate
  8. Check under the focal feature's row for a Sides not analyzed row. If one appears on a facility created before v0.31, select Regenerate Faces in the Analysis menu, run Analyze Project, and regenerate the form — the row should clear, and no Analysis out of date notice should remain
  9. Open label Popups > Export Transmittal Letter, choose two or three DCMA PESs, and download the .tex file. Find the USER UPDATE markers and compare the letter's NEW and distance table with the same PESs' forms