What’s MEP coordination, which technical roles and instruments are concerned? What are MEP coordination drawings, which benefits may be added to the BIM course of? All the small print on this inisight.

The MEP coordination exercise is a elementary step within the BIM course of that enables the identification of interferences earlier than the development part.

MEP coordination is a multidisciplinary collaboration and coordination apply primarily based on BIM that includes the three essential fields of building and infrastructure design: structure, construction and set up programs.

Let’s see what it’s and why it’s important within the BIM course of.

Earlier than transferring on the the important thing elements, I recommend you check out these two important instruments to coordinate and handle a BIM MEP venture:

What’s MEP coordination?

Once we speak about MEP, we consult with all elements of administration, design and upkeep of mechanical, electrical and plumbing programs. The acronym MEP, in actual fact, stands for Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing.

MEP is a vital step within the BIM course of: simply assume that this a part of the constructing can account for as much as 40-60% of the overall value of a venture.

Equally necessary is MEP coordination, that’s the set of actions geared toward making certain integration between the totally different disciplines throughout all phases of the design, building and upkeep processes associated to a given asset.

There are 5 steps that usually outline the MEP coordination course of:

1. validation of the architectural mannequin;
2. creation of the MEP mannequin;
3. use of the BIM MEP mannequin;
4. interference detection;
5. decision of interferences.

The premise of interdisciplinary coordination is communication between professionals.

The middle of communication is the 3D BIM mannequin, which should at all times be up-to-date, obtainable and correct. Engaged on a single 3D BIM mannequin permits to detect any interferences and to resolve them already within the early design part.

For instance, on this part, the place of some elements of the heating system may overlap with the structural mesh assumed by the structural engineer. This preliminary verification results in a difficulty decision at an preliminary stage, avoiding expensive adjustments in the course of the building part.

MEP coordination begins within the preliminary design part and ends earlier than  finishing the requesting authorizations and planning permission. At this stage, a multi-disciplinary assembly amongst all professionals can show to be helpful to look at any interference and acquire a very conflict-free mannequin.

What are MEP coordination drawings?

The MEP coordination drawings (mechanical, electrical, hydraulic) are the set of drawings that describe the design selections and permit you to have a whole overview of the works to be carried out earlier than building. They describe the forms of programs used, their positions, sizing, intervention prices, and so forth.

The principle goal is to reconstruct a normal thought of  the hypothetical selections to be able to confirm any interference between the fashions under:

• mechanical, akin to HVAC tools, cooling towers and ducts;
• electrical, together with panels, lifts, electrical panels, cable trays, transformers, and so forth.;
• plumbing, akin to water tanks, sewage wells, pumps, and so forth.;
• for fireplace security.

MEP Drawings | plan views, cross-sections and 3D views

This coordination course of facilitates the development part of the venture and the set up of plant programs, in compliance with the requirements set within the venture, the timing and the budgeted prices.

The benefits of coordination drawings are:

• built-in design (multidisciplinary data is proven in a single mannequin);
• saving of assets;
• discount of building prices;
• discount of errors as a consequence of miscommunications
• improved collaboration and visualization;
• area optimization;
• detection of interferences within the preliminary part

The coordination drawings may be detailed based on the target and the event part of the venture. Normally MEP BIM fashions are developed based on 5 ranges of element:

• 3D MEP preliminary design mannequin (LOD 100);
• 3D MEP detailed design mannequin (LOD 200);
• 3D MEP building design mannequin (LOD 300);
• MEP building mannequin (LOD 350);
• MEP prefabrication mannequin (LOD 400).

For extra fascinating data regarding the ranges of element, I like to recommend studying this text “LOD and LOIN in BIM: what they’re and what they’re used for“.