Mechanical coordination is the process of resolving spatial and sequencing conflicts within and around the mechanical (HVAC) system’s ductwork, piping, and equipment, both within the mechanical scope and with other trades competing for the same building space.
Ductwork’s physical footprint drives most of what makes mechanical coordination demanding. Trunk ducts take up a significant amount of free space. On average, they can be two or three feet tall. Bending ductwork requires more clearance than bending a conduit in an electrical system. This is because ducts can’t be bent without affecting the airflow of a system and subsequently degrading the system’s performance. That relative inflexibility is why mechanical routing tends to get locked into the coordination sequence relatively early, with other trades routing around it rather than the reverse.
Internal mechanical coordination, resolving conflicts within the mechanical system itself, such as two duct runs crossing paths, is generally the more straightforward half of the job. The harder half is external coordination among structural steel, electrical conduit, plumbing lines, and fire protection sprinklers, all competing for the same ceiling cavities, which is where most weekly coordination meeting time on MEP-dense projects is actually spent.
Equipment room layouts deserve particular attention within mechanical coordination, since the density of equipment, piping, and required service clearances in a typical mechanical room can make even routine future maintenance access a real challenge if it isn’t planned for deliberately, rather than simply fitting equipment into whatever space happened to be available during design.
