Bishara

Very seldom I am seeing MEP coordinators being utilized on projects.  GCs, think twice; no no, think three times!  Let me be clear, you may think cost is being saved, but your reputation is taking a big hit.  People talk behind the scenes!  The talk is about your project being painful and unproductive.  This is a perfect penny smart and dollar foolish mentality.

In some cases, I am seeing general contractors having the project manager or engineer with very little MEP systems experience fulfilling the role of an MEP coordinator.  It does not work.  Here are some real life outcome I experienced with this approach:

a. A request was sent for the BAS controls drawings, one week later we received fire alarm drawings.  The project engineer did not understand the difference between fire alarm and BAS.

b. Project startup reports were requested for review, we received a two line memo on subs letterhead stating that startup was complete.  

c. We received PFC (Prefunctional Checklists) forms with 30% of the fields left blank.  When the GC PM was asked for an explanation; his answer was “Subs are difficult to deal with”.

d. I call it the “Bucket” approach.  They have no idea what field reports they are submitting, so they submit as many files they can gather with no clear filename identifiers.  Makes perfect sense, some will stick and some will not!  Keep in mind that we provide the project team with detailed required field reports. 

This approach will waste time and offer frustration to everyone.  IT DOES NOT WORK.

I have also seen GCs think they can use MEP sub resources in-lieu of having an MEP coordinator.  No matter who the sub is, they have one objective in mind, to increase profits.  A sub cannot be expected to perform multi-discipline coordination.  Again, IT DOES NOT WORK. 

My recommendation is to hire or contract an MEP coordinator to support your project team.  Offer this value service to your client as mandatory for the project.  Here are my thoughts on when to involve and MEP coordinator: