Commercial MEP and Technology Consulting and Design in Central London

MEP stands for mechanical, electrical and public health: the building services that make commercial premises work: heating, cooling, ventilation, power, lighting, water and drainage, together with the technology systems modern businesses depend on. A commercial MEP consultant designs those services around the architecture and the way the business operates, coordinates them with one another and with the base building, and produces the drawings, schedules and specifications contractors need to price and build the work accurately. Unlike an installation contractor, a consultant's role is design, coordination and protecting the client's interests, not selling a particular product.

It depends on the agreed scope, but a complete package typically covers mechanical design (air conditioning, heating and ventilation), electrical design (power and distribution), general and emergency lighting, lighting control, data networks and structured cabling, audiovisual systems, security and access-control coordination, BMS and automation, and public-health design where included, all coordinated in AutoCAD drawings and Revit models with equipment schedules, specifications and tender information. The appointment defines the final deliverables; nothing is included by default that the project does not need.

Before the space plan is frozen, ideally. Meeting rooms, teapoints, comms rooms and open-plan densities all drive cooling, ventilation, power and cabling, and every service competes for the same ceiling voids and risers. Early appointment means the test fit is checked against what the base building can actually support, landlord conversations start with real information, and the budget reflects the true scope. Appointed late, an MEP designer can only document decisions that have already been made, including the expensive ones.

CAT A is the landlord's base specification, typically raised floors, ceilings and primary mechanical and electrical services distributed for open-plan use. CAT B is the occupier's fit-out: partitions, meeting rooms, teapoints, AV, security and everything else that makes the space theirs. For building services, CAT B means adapting and extending the CAT A systems: moving diffusers, rezoning controls, adding power and cooling where the layout demands it, and demonstrating to the landlord that the base building can support the changes. Our design work covers exactly that interface.

On leased premises, usually yes: most leases require the landlord's consent to alterations, often formalised through a licence for alterations, and the landlord's technical team will expect drawings and specifications to review. We prepare design information suitable for that review, respond to technical comments and coordinate with the landlord's consultants and managing agents. The formal consent process itself is a matter for your lease and your legal advisers; our role is making sure the technical submission stands up.

Yes; it is how we prefer to work. We treat the architectural and interior-design intent as a constraint to protect, coordinate our information with theirs, attend design-team meetings where useful, and answer contractors' technical queries directly. Much of our role is translating between the design team, the landlord's consultants, specialist suppliers and the contractor, so decisions are made once, on drawings, rather than repeatedly on site.

Yes. We review existing mechanical, electrical or technology designs: including design-and-build contractors' proposals: against the brief, the architecture, the base building and buildability. The review identifies spatial conflicts, missing coordination, unclear scope, gaps between packages and quotations that are not genuinely comparable, and we issue clear comments and mark-ups the team can act on. On some projects that review is the whole appointment; on others it is the start of a larger role.

Drawings, equipment schedules, specifications and scope descriptions that let contractors price the same job, which is the point. Vague tender information produces quotations that cannot be compared and disputes that surface later as variations. We define what is in each package, how systems interface, what standards of workmanship and testing are expected and what must be handed over at completion, and, where included in the appointment, we review the returned quotations so the differences between them are visible before a contract is signed.

Yes, technology is part of the package, not an afterthought. We design and coordinate meeting-room audiovisual and video-conferencing systems, presentation spaces, background audio and the supporting infrastructure: displays, cameras, microphones, equipment locations, structured cabling, power, cooling and acoustically sensible room layouts. Designing AV alongside the mechanical and electrical services means the power, data and containment are on the same coordinated drawings, so the rooms work on day one rather than being retrofitted after handover.

AVC is a design-led consultancy that also delivers and commissions systems on selected projects. Design appointments stand on their own: many clients appoint us for design and coordination only, with installation tendered to specialist contractors, and some disciplines are always delivered by specialist suppliers we coordinate rather than replace. Where delivery is included, it is agreed explicitly in the scope of the appointment.

Yes. Much of our commercial work involves premises that stay open while the work happens, offices refurbished floor by floor, restaurants and hotels that cannot simply close. The design reflects that reality: sequencing, temporary services, out-of-hours working, noise-sensitive activities, protection of existing systems and coordination with building management. A phased project needs those decisions made in the design, not improvised on site at the occupier's expense.

By scope, not by formula. Send whatever information exists: test fits, lease plans, CAT A drawings, surveys, photographs or simply a description: and after reviewing it, with an optional discovery call, we prepare a written proposal describing the recommended scope, deliverables, assumptions and professional fees. You see exactly what the appointment covers before committing, and the enquiry form on this page accepts secure uploads of PDF, DWG, RVT, IFC and common document formats.