MEP contractors in London. Heating, power, water and controls, designed and installed by our own engineers.
A building site arrives at first fix. The structural work is done. The walls are in place.
That is when the electrician tells the architect something has changed.
The drawing said the soffit would be clean. Three hundred millimetres of clear ceiling space. That space is spoken for now. The MEP routing planned does not fit into it.
Nobody planned this. The architect designed a clean ceiling. The MEP consultant drew their routes separately. The main contractor quoted both independently. And on site, none of them fit together.
It costs money to resolve
The ceiling goes up. Or the ductwork reroutes. Or services compress.
One of these costs money. More importantly, it costs time.
All of it is avoidable. MEP coordination before first fix solves it.
Most projects do not do it.
What coordination actually is
MEP coordination is not complicated. It is a single meeting.
Everyone brings drawings. Everyone puts them on top of each other.
The architect shows the soffit heights and the zones where space exists. The MEP consultant shows where the services have to go. The main contractor shows the structural routes that carry loads.
Where those drawings do not fit, everyone knows. The conversation happens three months before pipes arrive on site. Not on site itself.
If the ceiling is too low, raise it now. If the ductwork will not fit, plan a smaller route. If services have to move, move them now. Drawings are cheap to change. Sites are not.
Why it has to happen before first fix
First fix is when services go in. It is a two-week sprint.
Everything is committed at this point. The team is on site. The materials are ordered. The programme is tight.
There is no room for the electrician to call saying the soffit is wrong.
Before first fix is two months earlier. There is time to change. There is time to reorder. There is time to revise.
Problems on site cost ten times more than on paper. A two-hour drawing reroute takes two days on a live site.
The three common failures
First: the MEP consultant plans routes only on their drawing. They never check architect’s ceiling heights.
Second: the architect designs a tight soffit. They never ask MEP where services go. They assume there is space.
Third: the contractor quotes MEP and structure separately. They do not check whether both fit.
All three happen because nobody held a meeting before first fix.
When coordination does not happen, ceilings fill with unplanned penetrations and everything costs more.
Who coordinates and what it costs
A coordination session is two hours. Six people sit together.
The architect, the engineer, the MEP consultant, contractor, client and sometimes services subcontractor.
It is the cheapest two hours in the project. Compared to rerouting services, it is invisible.
More importantly, it stops deadlock. When surprised on site, blame fills talk. When known early, solution fills it instead.
This is where you spot a good main contractor
Ask when they coordinate MEP. If they say on site, walk.
If they say detailed design phase, listen. That is the right answer.
A contractor who coordinates early knows what fails. Why your architect and contractor must work as one team shows it.
The ones who learn are usually the ones who made the mistake.
What a contractor owes to you and the architect
A main contractor owes proof coordination happened before first fix. What a main contractor owes an architect at tender lists what else is due.
MEP coordination is not technical jargon. It is the moment everyone checks drawings fit before ordering parts.
A project where that conversation happened early is a project where ceilings stay clean.
For a project where MEP is coordinated before first fix, talk to us.Start a conversation or call 020 7731 6841. Open book pricing. No surprises on site.
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Published 13 October 2026. Written by the NU Projects studio, edited since for house style and accuracy.