Architect's Technology Coordination Checklist: 40 Items by Design Phase | TMC

The technology systems a building runs on shape the building design itself, from where risers land and how much ceiling depth a floor needs, to which rooms the plan will have to give up to data equipment. That means design phase technology coordination has become part of every architect's job, whether the fee proposal accounted for it or not.

And getting it wrong costs a lot. Identifying a pathway conflict in schematic design lets you resolve it with a drawing revision, while the same conflict caught once crews are on site means RFIs, change orders, and demolitions. The price climbs from hundreds of dollars to thousands, then to tens or hundreds of thousands, simply based on when someone catches it.

That’s why we put together this checklist. It walks through 40 items architects should coordinate with a technology consultant – organized by the four AIA design phases – so you know exactly which tech decisions need to be made and when.

The biggest takeaway: The earlier you engage a technology consultant for architects, the less it costs in the long run. Items caught in SD cost hundreds to address, but the same items caught during CDs cost thousands. When caught during construction, they cost tens or hundreds of thousands.

"Technology systems aren't an add-on. They're load-bearing infrastructure for how the building functions on day one."

— Cheryl O'Brien, Principal and Founder, TMC

Schematic Design: 8 Essentials

Schematic design is where the building's technology strategy is set – where technology lives, how it distributes, what problems it must solve. Skip these items in SD and every downstream phase will be more expensive.

1. Establish an Owner's Technology Requirements document. Before making any decisions, the owner must communicate which systems are in scope, what performance is expected, and what flexibility is needed. This brief, called the Owner's Technology Requirements (OTR), is going to guide every decision that follows.
2. Identify main equipment room and IDF closet locations. Main data rooms and Intermediate Distribution Frame (IDF) closets use up floor area. Determine their quantity, size, and adjacencies now, as moving them later will be costly.
   
3. Determine centralized vs. distributed technology architecture. Some buildings run best on a centralized model (one large data room feeds everything); others need distributed intelligence (edge closets on each floor or wing). This is a Day-1 SD decision that informs everything from cable plant sizing to future scalability.
4. Establish backbone pathway strategy between floors. Retrofitting riser space in DD or later is expensive and operationally disruptive. Identify vertical risers for structured cabling and low-voltage systems during SD to ensure they align with structural shafts, elevator cores, and MEP risers.
5. Set security zoning and access control philosophy. Security design starts as a floor-plan diagram before it becomes a device schedule. Do you know which zones require credentialed access, or where the perimeter, interior, and restricted-zone boundaries are? Get answers to questions like these early.
6. Identify AV anchor spaces. AV drives all the structural, acoustic, and lighting decisions for spaces like auditoriums, boardrooms, conference centers, training rooms, and digital signage locations. Flag them now so that AV design can inform the architecture instead of retrofitting it.
7. Coordinate life-safety integration touchpoints. Mass notification, security-fire interface, elevator recall, area-of-refuge communication – these integration points between life-safety and tech systems are jurisdiction-specific and dependent on design phase technology coordination.
8. Flag jurisdictional and AHJ-specific requirements. Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) often require specific tech provisions, such as public-safety DAS or specific cabling standards. Identify the AHJ requirements before finalizing schematics to avoid later rework.
   

"One project that shows what early engagement is worth was a national photography company's corporate headquarters. We caught a conduit route issue early, which allowed it to go in ahead of the parking lot paving, curbing, and landscaping. If it had been handled as an afterthought, that same route would have meant cutting, digging, and patching a finished parking lot and restoring everything above it. The cost difference was enormous."

— Cheryl O'Brien, Principal and Founder, TMC

Design Development: 12 Essentials

DD is where strategy becomes design. Systems are sized, pathways are routed, and MEP coordination intensifies. It’s the devil-in-the-details phase – and the phase where many errors get caught.

1. Confirm equipment room sizes against actual equipment lists. While SD identifies where equipment rooms go, DD confirms whether they're big enough. Factors like cabinet counts, cooling loads, service clearances, and equipment growth allowance all drive final dimensions.
2. Size pathways for cable capacity + growth. Undersized pathways are some of the most common expensive-in-CA errors. Confirm that all cable pathways in ceilings, walls, and risers accommodate not just today's cable counts but a reasonable growth allowance (typically 25–50% over Day-1).
3. Locate wireless access points on ceiling plans. Wireless access point (WAP) coverage requires ceiling coordination with lighting, HVAC diffusers, sprinklers, and structural. Make sure to determine their locations by RF coverage modeling, not convenience.
4. Coordinate security camera placement with sight lines and lighting. Camera positions need clear sight lines to their coverage areas and appropriate lighting for image quality. Cameras placed for wiring convenience rather than surveillance need frequently miss their purpose.
5. Design cable tray or J-hook infrastructure in ceilings. Above-ceiling cable pathway infrastructure requires formal design in DD, not field improvisation during construction. This includes main runs, branches, and drops to devices.
6. Coordinate rough-ins with millwork and FF&E. AV devices like displays, cameras, microphones, speakers, and control panels have to coordinate with millwork, ceiling grids, and furniture. Set rough-in locations during DD to prevent field changes during construction.
7. Establish structured cabling standards. Confirm your Cat 6A/Cat 6 mix, fiber types (OM4 multimode, OS2 singlemode), backbone strategy, and horizontal distribution approach. These decisions drive both cost and future performance.
8. Define horizontal distribution zones per TIA-568. TIA-568 governs how horizontal cabling is distributed from telecom rooms to work areas. Lay out zone-based distribution on floor plans to size closet locations and pathway densities.
9. Coordinate access control device schedules. Coordinate every controlled door's card reader, request-to-exit (REX) device, door position sensor (DPS), and electric strike or maglock. Coordinate early with door hardware, electrical, and life-safety.
10. Determine DAS and in-building cellular strategy. Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) for cellular coverage or public-safety radio need infrastructure decisions in DD – locations of head-end equipment, antenna placements, and coordination with the building's structural elements.
11. Coordinate power requirements with electrical. UPS backup, standby generator loads, Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) budgets for devices, and dedicated technology-panel circuits all need to be coordinated with the electrical engineer as loads become known.
12. Establish grounding and bonding strategy per J-STD-607. Telecommunications bonding and grounding is its own discipline (governed by ANSI/TIA J-STD-607). Design it in DD, not as a construction-phase question.

"During design development on a new government building, the original pre-design architecture called for a dual backbone fiber ring of both multimode and singlemode fiber. Multimode has distance limitations that wouldn't work in the proposed multi-story building, so we eliminated it from the backbone and avoided a change order that would have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars."

— Ted Siska, Design Principal, CTS, TMC

Construction Documents: 12 Essentials

During CD, every device gets a schedule entry, every cable gets a pathway, and every system gets a diagram. This is where errors become more expensive – anything missed here will eventually turn into an RFI, change order, or field improvisation.

1. Complete detailed device schedules by space. Spaces with technology devices need a schedule that lists each device, quantities, mounting heights, and rough-in coordination.
2. Finalize cable pathway diagrams and cross-sections. Pathway drawings must show the full cable plant, including capacity, routing, and MEP coordination details. Cross-sections at critical points like main risers and congested ceiling zones help to prevent field conflicts.
3. Complete AV signal flow diagrams. Document every AV system's source-to-destination signal flow – that means video, audio, control, and network paths. These diagrams will drive the integrator scope, wiring, and commissioning.
4. Finalize security system riser diagrams and device counts. Security system documentation should include riser diagrams, panel schedules, device counts by type, and integration points with access control, video, intrusion, and life-safety. Make sure to count and specify every element before moving on.
5. Coordinate Division 27 and Division 28 specifications. Division 27 covers communications infrastructure, including structured cabling, wireless, AV, and DAS. Division 28 covers electronic safety and security – access control, video, intrusion, mass notification. Both must coordinate with Division 26 (Electrical) and each other.
6. Complete equipment room enlarged plans with rack elevations. Data rooms and IDFs need enlarged plans showing rack layout, cable management, cooling, power distribution, and service clearances. Rack elevations show what equipment goes in which rack unit.
7. Establish labeling and identification standards. Every cable, port, device, and panel needs an identification scheme that supports installation, testing, commissioning, and long-term maintenance. Reference ANSI/TIA-606-C to ensure yours are accurate.
8. Add penetration and firestopping for cable pathways. Firestopping is required wherever cable pathways penetrate rated assemblies. Include these details in the CDs so that the installers can use approved systems, not improvisations.
9. Set cable testing and acceptance criteria. Structured cabling requires acceptance testing (permanent link, channel, fiber loss) per TIA/EIA standards. Specifying these criteria ensures unambiguous acceptance.
10. Establish system integration and cutover strategy. For renovations or phased projects, the cutover from existing to new systems needs a documented strategy – which systems come online when, what interim states look like, and how downtime is managed.
11. Add commissioning requirements. Technology systems need commissioning like MEP systems do. Specify functional testing, performance verification, and documentation requirements for each one.
12. Set as-built documentation requirements. The building owner needs to receive complete as-builts, including cable records, device schedules, system diagrams, warranty documentation, and O&M manuals. These requirements go into the CDs, so they're contractual.

"Architects understand that technology will have an impact on HVAC and power requirements, but there's way more to it. Even MEP systems themselves are IP-enabled now, and we regularly deal with change orders because the number of IP connections those systems need was never adequately provided for."

— Ted Siska, Design Principal, CTS, TMC

Construction Admin & Post-Occupancy: 8 Essentials

CA is where the design phase technology coordination pays off. A good technology consultant for architects will stay engaged through installation, testing, and commissioning – not because the design was incomplete, but because integration questions tend to surface as trades interact on site.

1. Attend coordination meetings with trade contractors. Kick-off meetings with the low-voltage, security, and AV contractors ensure the design intent is understood and installation sequencing is coordinated with other trades.
2. Review technology submittals for design-intent compliance. Review contractor submittals not just for spec compliance, but for design-intent match. Substitutions and “or equal” proposals will need technical evaluation, not just cost review.
3. Address RFIs on system integration. Integration points between systems, such as AV control talking to lighting, or security systems connecting with fire systems, tend to generate RFIs during construction. Fast, technically grounded RFI responses help keep the project moving.
4. Conduct rough-in and pre-cover inspections. Inspect cable pathways, box locations, penetrations, and rough-ins before closing up the ceilings and walls. Errors caught pre-cover cost hundreds; errors caught post-cover cost thousands.
5. Witness cable testing per TIA/EIA standards. Witness and document structured cabling acceptance testing (Cat 6A permanent link, fiber loss testing). This protects the owner against substandard installation.
6. Verify commissioning and punch list. Every tech system needs functional commissioning and a documented punch list. Verify that punch items get addressed before final acceptance.
7. Coordinate owner training and transition documents. The owner's operations team will need training on the systems they're inheriting, plus documentation to support ongoing operation.
8. Establish post-occupancy warranty and support plan. Technology systems usually need vendor support arrangements for at least the first year of operation to fulfill warranty obligations. Set these expectations before the building opens.

"We've had architects tell us after the fact that they didn't know what they didn't know. That's exactly where TMC earns its place on the project."

— Cheryl O'Brien, Principal and Founder, TMC

Frequently Asked Questions

When should an architect bring in a technology consultant?

Schematic design. Every item in the SD section of this checklist becomes so much more expensive to address later. Engaging a technology consultant in SD costs a fraction of what the same coordination costs in construction, and the design decisions available at each phase narrow rapidly as the project progresses.

What's the difference between Division 27 and Division 28?

Division 27 (Communications) covers structured cabling, wireless infrastructure, AV systems, and distributed antenna systems. Division 28 (Electronic Safety and Security) covers access control, video surveillance, intrusion detection, and electronic mass notification. Both require design phase technology coordination with Division 26 (Electrical) and each other.

What is MEP coordination and where does technology fit in?

MEP coordination is the process of resolving conflicts between Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing systems as they share limited space in ceilings, walls, and risers.

Technology (low-voltage, AV, structured cabling, security) is usually the fourth trade in that coordination – sometimes called MEP-T or MEPT coordination. It needs pathway space, riser space, room space, and power, so it coordinates with the three others.

What does a technology consultant for architects do that a low-voltage contractor doesn't do?

A technology consultant designs the system before it's built, including:

• Systems engineering
• Pathway design
• Capacity planning
• Integration architecture
• Specification

A low-voltage contractor installs what's been designed. Bringing in the contractor without a consultant means the design happens in the field during construction, where cost and coordination problems add up.

How much does technology coordination add to a project budget?

Technology design services typically run 0.5–2% of project construction cost, depending on how much technology will be in the building. A design-phase technology consultant is normally cost-neutral or better because the coordination they provide prevents change orders, RFIs, and field improvisations that would otherwise cost multiples of the design fee.

About TMC

Technology Management Corporation (TMC) is a vendor-neutral architectural technology design firm founded in 1987. TMC coordinates technology across Divisions 27 and 28 for design teams working on stadiums (U.S. Bank Stadium with HKS, Target Center), airports (Orlando International, Minneapolis-St. Paul International), government facilities (City of Minneapolis Public Service Building, Hennepin County Sheriff Facility), healthcare, and education projects.

Learn more about how TMC works with architects.