MEP Co-ordination : Efficient way

Before starting, let me brief about the three services wrt MEP Co-ordination.

1. The most important and clinical element out of these services will be Drainage(plumbing) because of the slope constraint. So a seperate space and path not interfering with the slope of drainage needs to be kept in mind.

2. Second important service will be HVAC because of the sheer size & weight of the ducts and pipes and the difficulty of installation. So there should be sufficient space and accessibility around the duct/pipes since the insulation usually are done at a later stage.

3. Electrical/ELV installations are comparitively easier because of the cable tray are light weight and thin. But the most maintenance or future upgradation will be needef for power or telecommunication network. Hence, these should be kept at the most accessible path. So unless there is a water line running parallely above the tray/ladder, the electrical path can be the lowest.

4. Services like water supply, fire fighting(in plumbing) and trunking (in electrical) can be taken through anywhere as these are the simplest paths easy to manouver.

Now that you have got a brief idea about the 3 services, lets move on to how an efficient MEP coordination can be sought out:

(Consideration of space above false ceiling depends on project to project. But if our requirement is not met, then we can ask to lower the false ceiling for smooth functioning of the building in future)

H O W?

When the 3 MEP services are being designed, the concerned department Engineers needs to sit together and decide the paths of their services in the most conjusted areas (usually the corridors). First they need to take a horizontal segregation like shown below.

Next, to draw a vertical limit as shown below to make sure the main runs are not being hit by other services.

Once, this is done, we get a final space for the three services a shown below

Please note that these spaces are made for the main runs and not branches. Branches can be easily coordinated with the available space. (Also read point 4 in the top section)

This seggregation of space during the initial stage of design will be really helpful to avoid many clash within the MEP services. Understand that there will be around 8 to 10 designers doing the job and hence this co-ordination at the design stage is very important.

This is the best possible way to get a clash free MEP routes in conjusted area.

The second way of doing it is when the design is lagging and the construction takes the lead so that the above scenario doesnt work because of the time management (most common scenario and 90% of the project I have worked goes like this). Here we make use of tools like BIM/Revit where in if we get the 3d model of the individual service on time, we can work around to get a clash free model. BIM/Revit is the quickest and efficient tool available currently to do this job. The speciality being if there is a change made in one service we will know where else its clashing in its route and with whom.

But this is a job where pressure will be high due to the fast pace of construction.

So, its always recommended to do it the former way. Remember DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME, EVERYTIME.

Next Blog: What all can be played around with the physical (initial) design of services. Starting with HVAC.