Whether you’re designing a construction project, or you’re coordinating between construction professionals, you may rely on mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) drawings to ensure that your project runs smoothly. Without these drawings, you could waste thousands in the build phase of your project, and you could end up destroying your project completion projection. However, with clear, concise MEP drawings, you’ll have a clear path to complete your build, and you’ll save time and money along the way. In addition, your MEP drawings can serve to aid in the manufacturing of materials for the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems of your build, providing you with further savings and an even more efficient build process.

With DrafterMax, you can entrust us to complete your shop drawings so that your project is completed without a hitch. We specialize in drafting MEP drawings in addition to all other types of shop drawings, and we’d be ecstatic to help you meet your project demands. If you’re curious about what we can do for you or if you’re ready to get started, then reach out to us — we’d be happy to walk you through our drafting process. You can also continue reading to learn more about our MEP drawing services. We have additional information about MEP drawings, various types of MEP drawings that we can draft, frequently asked questions that we have answered, and the benefits of working with a professional drafting firm — all listed below.

The Purpose of MEP Drawings

MEP drawings are coordinating drawings that proactively solve spatial issues between mechanical, electrical, and plumbing components that will be installed in a building. Without these drawings, contractors may be fighting for space in the cavities of your building, which may lead to mistakes, wasted time, and a loss of money. In addition, MEP drawings ensure that your systems don’t interfere with the structure of your building itself. For example, a poorly designed HVAC system may accidentally be routed through structural beams. MEP drawings are intended to keep your building structurally sound while building in space for MEP systems.

Instead of “winging it,” you can draft MEP drawings to coordinate all of the systems to be installed, so that your contractors have information on when, where, and how to install these complex systems so that they don’t interfere with one another. Here’s a breakdown of each of the components that may be included in an MEP drawing:

Mechanical Components

For the most part, the mechanical component of an MEP drawing set surrounds HVAC design. These drawings will show how ventilation systems will link to their heating and cooling units, without interfering with other infrastructure of the building. A well-planned mechanical drawing will ensure that your HVAC system doesn’t obstruct your electrical and plumbing plans, while also ensuring that the system itself is efficient. With MEP drawings you can map out the most efficient duct routes to ensure that the zones of your building are heated and cooled efficiently, making climate control a snap once your building is complete.

Electrical

The electrical portion of an MEP drawing set will display the best routes from power sources to fixtures and outlets throughout a building. In these drawings, it should be clear where conduit should be routed during a build, and where the conduit should penetrate various building components to ensure that the structure remains sound.

Plumbing

Plumbing drawings should outline pipe layouts for warm and cold feed pipes, as well as waste water pipes. Like the aforementioned drawings, plumbing drawings should also display where pipes penetrate various building components, and how these pipes are routed without causing interference with the HVAC and electrical systems of the building. Detailed information may also include dimensions, parts, and manufacturing or installation instructions.

Types of MEP Drawings

There are numerous types of MEP drawings that may be necessary or helpful for a given build project. We can draft any and all of the following drawings:

Detail Shop Drawings

Detail drawings are crucial for various MEP components, especially when dimensions are precise. For MEP drawings that require intricate details, including manufacturing dimensions, installation instructions, and other variables, you can count on DrafterMax to provide the detailed shop drawings that you need. We strive to make detailed drawings that are precise and easily legible, showing the best angles to display dimensions and instructions.

Penetration Drawings

Your MEP systems will penetrate various wall and floor spaces throughout your building. When you need to allow for these penetrations, penetration drawings will ensure that these openings are precisely where they need to be, and their dimensions are proper. In addition, penetration drawings are intended to account for the structural integrity of your building, so you can trust that cuts made throughout the structure of your building won’t create problems in the future.

Sleeve & Block-Out Drawings

Like penetration drawings, our sleeve and block-out drawings will help you coordinate with concrete and steel contractors. These drawings display spaces that will allow for penetrations between spaces, through which MEP systems will eventually be fed. Accurate sleeve and block-out drawings will ensure that your pipes and ductwork fit perfectly through the structure of your building.

Coordination Drawings

Coordination drawings are intended to keep your MEP systems from colliding in a build. Oftentimes, unforeseen collisions occur when coordinating drawings aren’t completed. These drawings will uncover obstructions that can be caused by interacting MEP systems, such as when a duct is in the way of a wastewater pipe. Detecting these collisions before building will cut down on mistakes, manufacturing costs, and time waste.

As-Built MEP Drawings

If you’re updating a current MEP system, renovating a portion of your building, or require MEP drawings for documentation purposes, we can render as-built MEP drawings. We’ll take measurements on site, and create drawings which capture the current systems in your building. Our as-built drawings may also prove useful if you’ve lost existing MEP drawings. As-built drawings will also account for any changes that were made to initial MEP plans throughout the construction process.

Pipe Spool Drawings

For certain commercial and industrial plumbing projects, you may need to install pipe spools throughout the building, which will have to be manufactured off site, and assembled at the build. These drawings may be necessary in order to manufacture these specialized pipe spools, since they rely on precise dimensions and planning. We can create spool drawings that will make plumbing installations headache-free.

Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

MEP drawings can be rendered on a variety of CAD applications. Some CAD software is specifically designed for MEP drawings, and will aid in creating drafts more quickly and clearly. We may use AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor, Revit MEP, CADDUCT, and CADPIPE, among other software programs, in order to render your MEP drawings.

Yes. We can prepare MEP drawings that meet drafting standards, including NFPA, ASHRAE, IEEE, and SMACNA requirements. We strive to use clean, legible layouts, dimensions, and instructions so that there can be little confusion when it comes time to utilize the shop drawings for manufacture or build processes.

To draft your MEP drawings, we’ll coordinate with you to understand your needs. We work closely with a variety of professionals (from architects and MEP consultants to manufacturers and contractors) to understand their individual needs. Once we have a grip on the project at hand, we’ll draft out a coordinated MEP drawing that details all of the systems in your build. We will work to ensure that none of these systems create problematic disruptions with one another, or the building structure in which they’re installed. Once we’ve completed a main shop drawing covering all of the MEP systems to be installed, we can create supplementary shop drawings for individual systems to hand off to contractors and subcontractors. We can also create detail drawings and manufacturing drawings to see the entire process through — from design to installation.

The Benefits of Hiring a Drafting Firm

Whether you have too many drawings to draft yourself, or you need an MEP drawing to meet standards for your build, we can help. We offer a litany of benefits for industry professionals that entrust us with their MEP drafting needs. Here are a few:

We work with all sorts of building professionals: Regardless of your profession, we’d be happy to help you with your upcoming project. We work with all sorts of individuals in the design, manufacturing, and build industries, and we’ll work with you to understand your needs. We work with architects, MEP consultants, HVAC technicians, manufacturers, fabricators, contractors and other professionals.

Save money: With a clear layout of your MEP systems, contractors can work more quickly, and you won’t waste money on excessive parts and waste. That means that you’ll have a better bottom line.

Save time: If you’re facing a demanding build schedule, you should start on the right foot with MEP drawings. These drawings can shave weeks off of your schedule, since subcontractors will know precisely where and how to install their specialty system. You will reduce headaches and time wasted to accidents and obstacles.

Reduce liability: With our accurate MEP drawings, you’ll have documentation of your design intentions. That means that you won’t be held liable if components are manufactured improperly or installed incorrectly.

Get Your Project on the Right Track With DrafterMax

If you’re ready to get started, we’re here to help. As a Brooklyn-based drafting firm, we’re proud to provide MEP services for professionals throughout the design and build industry. Reach out to us to learn more about our drafting services and to kick off your project. We’d be happy to provide you with a free quote for our drafting services.

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