MEP coordination is what ensures that every mechanical, electrical, and plumbing system within a building design has a defined space, clear pathways, and documented requirements before construction begins. Technology is a scope that must be coordinated alongside MEP work – because when technology systems aren’t dealt with during the design phase, they often become the primary driver of technology-related change orders.
Construction documents are complete, contractors can price the work accurately, and the field crews aren't discovering coordination gaps that should have been resolved on a drawing. In this blog, we'll break down where technology change orders come from, how coordinating technology with the MEP design prevents them, and why the timing of that coordination matters for commercial building projects.
Where Do Technology Change Orders Actually Come From?
Technology-related change orders on commercial building projects almost always trace back to the same small set of root causes. Understanding what they are makes it easy to see why coordinating the technology scope alongside MEP design prevents them.
The most common change order is a missing or incomplete technology scope in the construction documents. When the technology scope isn't defined during design – when there are no Division 27 drawings, no AV specifications, no access control design – contractors at bid are working with incomplete information. They scope conservatively, include allowances for unknowns, and look to the RFI process to resolve gaps. Every one of those unknowns is a potential change order.
The second most common cause is conduit and pathway conflicts. When conduit routes are specified without knowing what they will carry, they end up the wrong size, in the wrong location, or in conflict with mechanical or structural elements. Resolving those conflicts in the field, whether that means rerouting conduit, relocating equipment, or cutting new wall penetrations, generates change orders that proper coordination during design development would have prevented.
The third is undersized or improperly specified equipment rooms. Telecommunications rooms and equipment rooms sized without technology input routinely end up too small, inadequately cooled, or missing dedicated circuits. Correcting those conditions in the field is expensive – it may require relocating walls, upgrading HVAC, or adding electrical panels.
How MEP Coordination Prevents Change Orders
Coordinating technology scope alongside the MEP design addresses each of these root causes directly. The technology consultant is a specialized design professional who works alongside the MEP engineer, and the two work together with the architect to establish what the building's technology systems require and ensure those requirements are reflected in the construction documents.
Conduit and pathway conflicts get resolved through coordination drawings that show the exact conduit routes each technology system requires, including sizes, locations, termination points, and sleeve requirements through the structure. Those routes are coordinated with the MEP engineer's power and mechanical drawings during design development, which resolves conflicts on paper before they become field problems.
Equipment room sizing is handled by establishing the space, power, and cooling requirements for telecommunications rooms and the main equipment room during schematic design. Those requirements are incorporated into the architectural floor plan and the MEP engineering scope before they are locked into the construction documents.
Technology scope gaps close once the technology consultant produces a complete set of Division 27 and Division 28 drawings and specifications that describe every system the project requires, to what performance standard, and with what infrastructure. These deliverables are not typically covered by the MEP engineer's contract, which is why they call for a dedicated technology consultant. Contractors can price that scope accurately because it is fully documented.
MEP Coordination and Change Order FAQs
Optimize Your Construction Coordination Technology Systems
The most valuable coordination work happens during design development, when the construction documents are being assembled, and the decisions that drive future field conflicts are still open. Conduit routes, equipment room layouts, ceiling pathway strategies, and structural penetration requirements are all established during DD.
Coordination that happens after CDs are issued is reactive. The decisions have been made without technology input, and the technology consultant's role becomes one of identifying problems rather than preventing them. That's still better than no coordination at all – but it produces worse outcomes than coordination done at the right phase.
Scoping technology alongside MEP during DD means the CDs go out to bid complete. Contractors price the entire scope – and change orders that stem from undefined or uncoordinated technology requirements don't happen, because the requirements were defined and coordinated before the project went to bid.
Ready to learn more about how TMC can coordinate technology scope with your design team? Get started today.
