Design & Consultancy · Modelling, Coordination and Documentation
MEP design, BIM modelling and coordination for London projects
On a well-run project, the mechanical, electrical and public health services are designed together, in three dimensions – not separately in isolation and then argued into place on site. AVC Integrations provides multidisciplinary MEP design and BIM coordination for design-led buildings: we model the services in Revit, federate that model with the architecture and structure, and resolve every duct, pipe, cable route and drainage fall before the first fixing goes in.
The model is never the point in itself. The point is what comes out of it – coordinated drawings, builders' work information and technical submissions a contractor can price and build from, and a building whose ceiling voids, risers and plant spaces were proven to work while changing them still cost nothing more than a drawing revision.
Photo location: AVC-EXP-BIM-01
Engineer working on a federated Revit MEP model on a large screen – ductwork, pipework and cable containment visible in a congested ceiling zone
Landscape · 16:9 · min 2400 px wide
MEP BIM coordination is the process of designing a building's mechanical, electrical and public health services in a shared three-dimensional model, so that ducts, pipes, cables, structure and architecture are proven to fit together before anyone builds them. AVC Integrations provides multidisciplinary MEP design, Revit modelling and clash detection for prime residential and high-end commercial projects across London – producing federated models, coordinated drawings and builders' work information that contractors can build from with confidence.
The starting point
The problem: services that meet for the first time on site
Most coordination failures follow the same script. Each specialist draws their own services competently, nobody checks the composite, and the collision is discovered by the installer – a duct through a beam, a soil stack through a joinery zone, a cable tray exactly where the sprinkler main needs to run. On a prime residential project the script plays out in the least forgiving conditions there are: shallow domestic floor zones, decorated ceilings, and a density of services – cooling, Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery, heating, drainage, lighting, AV, security – that many commercial buildings never approach. The remedies are always the same too: lost ceiling height, moved grilles, notched structure, variations and programme slippage.
The traditional answer – a coordination period on site, run from 2D overlays and goodwill – no longer suits buildings this congested, and it fails completely on refurbishments where the existing structure refuses to match the survey. The economics are blunt: a clash resolved on screen costs a drawing revision, while the same clash resolved on site is paid for in builders' work, programme and tempers about whose drawing was right.
How AVC works
The AVC approach: one federated model, resolved before site
We design mechanical, electrical and public health services as one practice, model them in Revit, and combine that model with the architect's and structural engineer's information into a single federated model – one building, every discipline, in the same space. Clash detection then does something no drawing overlay can: it interrogates the whole composite and reports every place where two objects are trying to occupy the same volume. A clash is simply a collision – and the entire purpose of the exercise is to find that collision in the model, where it costs a revision, rather than in the ceiling, where it costs money. Non-technical clients grasp this instantly, because it is not a technical idea; it is a rehearsal.
We treat the model as a working design tool, not a compliance artefact. Riser strategy, plant-space planning, ceiling-void depths and service routes are developed and proven in it; design reviews and value engineering are tested against it rather than in the abstract; and the documentation that leaves it – coordinated drawings, sections through congested zones, builders' work information, technical submissions – is documentation the model has already proven buildable.
Photo location: AVC-EXP-BIM-02
Close-up of a coordinated model section through a congested corridor ceiling – ducts, pipes and containment layered without collision
Landscape · 4:3 · min 1800 px wide
What we deliver
Scope of service
AVC is appointed either to design and coordinate our own multidisciplinary MEP scope, or to model and coordinate designs produced by others. Depending on the appointment, the scope typically covers:
Modelling
- Multidisciplinary Revit modelling of mechanical, electrical and public health services
- Federated models combining architecture, structure and MEP
- Plant-space and riser modelling proven volumetrically, including access and maintenance zones
- Survey and point-cloud information incorporated on refurbishment projects
- Model management – shared coordinates, naming conventions and exchange protocols
Coordination
- Clash detection with filtered, prioritised and owned clash reports
- Service-route and riser strategy developed with the architect and structural engineer
- Ceiling-void, bulkhead and joinery zones agreed while spatial decisions are still open
- Builders' work in connection – structural openings, chases and plinths identified early
- Specialist packages absorbed into the federated model – AV, security, lifts, kitchen extract
- Design reviews and value engineering assessed against the coordinated model
Documentation
- Coordinated working drawings, with sections through every congested zone
- Plant-room and riser general arrangements
- Builders' work and penetration drawings for the structural and architectural packages
- Technical submissions and specification documentation
- Construction-issue drawings, schedules and drawing registers
Interfaces, resolved
Coordination is a conversation, not a report
A clash report changes nothing by itself. Coordination happens in the workshops where the architect, structural engineer, interior designer and specialist trades agree what moves – and the federated model is what makes those conversations short, because everyone is looking at the same building and the options are visible rather than imagined.
- Ceiling-void and bulkhead depths agreed with the architect before spatial decisions close
- Riser positions and plant spaces proven in three dimensions, not assumed from area schedules
- Structural openings and builders' work identified on drawings, not discovered by the frame
- Specialist and trade packages federated into one model rather than coordinated by email
- Clash reports grouped by zone and system, each clash with a named owner and a route to closure
- Value engineering tested against the coordinated model so savings do not create new collisions
- Construction-stage changes coordinated back through the model rather than improvised on site
Photo location: AVC-EXP-BIM-03
Installed ceiling void on site matching the coordinated drawings – services layered and supported exactly as modelled
Landscape · 4:3 · min 1800 px wide
Where this applies
Project types
Prime houses
dense services fitted into domestic floor zones and joinery without surrendering the interior
Lateral apartments and penthouses
constrained risers and slab zones where every route must be proven before commitment
Boutique developments
coordinated details repeated across units, with a common riser and plant strategy
High-end commercial fit-outs
offices, restaurants and hospitality coordinated around fixed opening dates
Delivery
How a coordination appointment runs
- 01
Scope and setup
the appointment defined – design, coordination or both – with model standards, shared coordinates and exchange protocols agreed
- 02
Strategy
riser locations, plant spaces and primary service routes established while the architecture is still fluid
- 03
Modelling
mechanical, electrical and public health services modelled in Revit to a level of detail matched to the stage
- 04
Federation and clash detection
the MEP model combined with architecture and structure; collisions found, filtered and reported with owners
- 05
Resolution
coordination workshops close clashes on drawings; the model is revised and re-checked until the composite works
- 06
Documentation
coordinated drawings, sections, builders' work information and technical submissions issued for pricing and construction
- 07
Construction support
site queries answered against the model, and changes coordinated rather than left to the installer
Timing
Why early involvement matters
Nearly everything that decides whether services will fit – riser positions, plant-room locations, floor-zone depths, ceiling heights – is an architectural decision, and those decisions close early. Bring the MEP model into the design while they are still open and the services shape the building quietly, from inside the process. Bring it in afterwards and coordination becomes an argument with poured concrete, where every resolution costs somebody a compromise they had not budgeted for.
AVC prefers to join at concept or developed design, when strategy work at this stage is disproportionately valuable, because it is where downstream correction is designed out. We also take on projects mid-stream – including coordination recoveries where services are already fighting on site – and early weeks here repay themselves for the rest of the job.
Placeholder – project evidence
Project example to follow – a genuine AVC coordination case study with model views and site photography is being prepared with the client's permission.
Photo location: AVC-EXP-BIM-04
Finished design-led interior with no visible services – only grilles and lighting positioned where the model placed them
Landscape · 16:9 · min 1800 px wide
Connected expertise
Related services
Design & Consultancy
the full design scope – mechanical, electrical and public health
Mechanical Design
heating, cooling and ventilation engineered into the architecture
Electrical Design
power, lighting and containment designed to BS 7671
Public Health Design
water supply, hot water and drainage resolved with the structure
Daikin VRV Air Conditioning
comfort cooling coordinated through the same model
From the knowledge centre
Related engineering guides
BIM Coordination for MEP: How Clash Detection Saves Projects
Every service that clashes on site costs ten times what it costs on screen. Here's how disciplined BIM coordination turns MEP from the riskiest package into the most predictable one.
Read article
The Complete Guide to MEP Design for Prime Residential Projects
On a prime home, the engineering has to be invisible, silent and faultless – in half the space a commercial building would allow. This is how experienced MEP designers actually deliver that.
Read article
10 Mistakes to Avoid Before Installing a Smart Home
Almost every failed smart home fails before a single device is fitted. The ten planning mistakes we see repeatedly on high-end projects – why they happen, their real cost, and how a properly sequenced design process avoids all of them.
Read articleQuestions, answered
Frequently asked questions
What level of detail do you model to?+
The level of detail is agreed at appointment and matched to the project stage rather than fixed by habit. Early models prove strategy – risers, plant spaces and primary routes – while construction-stage models carry the detail needed to coordinate, price and build, including fittings, insulation thicknesses and access zones where they matter. Modelling everything to fabrication detail everywhere is rarely good value, so the effort goes where the congestion is.
Can AVC coordinate designs produced by other consultants?+
Yes. Alongside our own multidisciplinary design work we take coordination-only appointments, where another consultant's mechanical, electrical or public health design is modelled, federated and clash-checked by our team. Design responsibility stays where it was appointed; what changes is that the composite finally has an owner.
How do you exchange models and drawings with the rest of the team?+
However the project is set up. We work natively in Revit with shared coordinates and an agreed exchange protocol, publish to a common data environment where the project runs one, and exchange IFC with teams on other platforms. Where the architect works in 2D only, we model from their drawings and return coordination information in a format they can use.
How are clashes reported and closed?+
A raw clash count is meaningless – a long list of trivial intersections can bury the few that matter. We filter and group clashes by zone and system, issue each with a named owner and a proposed resolution, and work through them in coordination workshops. A clash is only closed when the model has been revised and a re-run confirms the collision has gone.
Is BIM really worthwhile on a single house?+
On the houses we work on, yes – often more than on commercial projects. A prime London house carries cooling, ventilation, heating, drainage, lighting, AV and security within domestic floor zones and decorated ceilings, which makes it one of the most congested building types there is. The modelling effort is scaled to the project; the principle – find the collision before it is built – is exactly the same.
What does the contractor actually receive?+
Coordinated construction drawings with sections through the congested areas, builders' work and penetration drawings, plant-room and riser general arrangements, schedules and technical submissions – plus access to the model itself where the contractor wants it. The intention is simple: the installer should never be the first person to discover how the services fit.
We already have a 2D design – can you still coordinate it?+
Yes. We regularly build the coordination model from consultants' 2D design information, adding survey or point-cloud data on refurbishments where the existing structure is irregular. The originating designs stay with their authors; the model exists to prove – or correct – how they combine.
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