MEP Drafting Services Australia

What MEP Drafting Covers

MEP stands for mechanical, electrical and plumbing — the three building services disciplines that have to share the same ceiling void, riser and plant room without colliding. MEP drafting is the documentation of those services: the models, the coordinated layouts and the construction-issue drawings a contractor installs from.

The distinction that matters commercially is between drafting each service in isolation and coordinating them together. A mechanical layout, an electrical layout and a hydraulic layout can each be individually correct and still be unbuildable when overlaid. Coordination is the step that resolves that on screen rather than on site.

Mechanical (M)

Ductwork layouts and sections, plant room general arrangements, chilled and heating water pipework, ventilation and smoke-exhaust systems, equipment schedules and mechanical services schematics. Documented alongside our mechanical drafting services where fabrication-level detail is required.

Electrical (E)

Power and lighting layouts, single line diagrams, switchboard and distribution board schedules, cable tray and containment routes, communications and data, and essential services. Wiring rules follow AS/NZS 3000. This work runs through the same team as our electrical drafting services.

Plumbing and Hydraulic (P)

Cold and hot water, sanitary drainage and vent systems, stormwater, trade waste, gas reticulation and fire hydrant and sprinkler services. Plumbing and drainage documentation is prepared to AS/NZS 3500 and the relevant fire services standards.

MEP Coordination and Clash Detection

Coordination is where MEP drafting earns its money. The three services are federated into a single model with the architectural and structural models, and clashes are identified, categorised and resolved before the drawings are issued for construction.

Our workflow is Revit for authoring and Navisworks for federation and clash testing:

• Federate — architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical and hydraulic models combined on a shared coordinate system
• Clash test — hard clashes (services occupying the same space) and soft clashes (insufficient clearance for access, insulation or maintenance)
• Triage — clashes grouped and prioritised, since a raw clash report of several thousand hits is not a work list
• Resolve — services rerouted by discipline priority, typically gravity drainage first, then large ductwork, then pipework, then cable tray and conduit
• Re-test and issue — a clash-free coordinated set, with the outstanding items recorded rather than hidden

A worked example of this process on a live project is documented in our hospital MEP coordination and clash detection case study, and the process itself is explained in more depth in our guide to MEP coordination drawings in Australia.

Deliverables and Level of Development

What you receive depends on the level of development (LOD) agreed at the start. Specifying LOD up front is the single most effective way to avoid disputes later, because it fixes how much detail the model actually carries.

• LOD 200 — generic elements, approximate size and location. Suitable for schematic design and early services allowances.
• LOD 300 — specific elements at accurate size, shape and location. The usual basis for design documentation and tender.
• LOD 350 — adds interfaces between systems, supports and connections. This is the level real coordination requires.
• LOD 400 — fabrication-ready detail, including spool drawings and hanger sets for prefabricated services.

A typical issue set includes coordinated services layouts by level, sections through congested zones, riser diagrams, plant room general arrangements, schematics and single line diagrams, equipment and fixture schedules, and a clash report with the resolution status of each item.

Software and File Formats

We author in Revit and AutoCAD and federate in Navisworks. Incoming files are accepted as RVT, IFC, NWC and NWD, DWG and DXF, and PDF for markups and legacy documentation. Outgoing sets are issued as native RVT, IFC for open exchange, DWG for consultants working in CAD, and PDF for construction issue.

IFC is worth specifying explicitly in your consultant agreement if the project has more than one modelling platform in play — it is the vendor-neutral exchange format maintained by buildingSMART International, and agreeing it early avoids a model-exchange problem mid-project.

Standards We Document To

• AS 1100 — technical drawing, including AS 1100.301 for architectural and building services drawing practice
• AS/NZS 3000 — electrical installations (the Wiring Rules)
• AS/NZS 3500 — plumbing and drainage
• AS 1668 — ventilation and smoke control for mechanical services
• The National Construction Code, which sets the performance requirements the above standards are called up to satisfy

Turnaround and How a Scope Is Quoted

MEP scopes vary far more than single-discipline drafting, so we quote against a defined scope rather than a rate card. What changes the number:

• Which services are in scope — M, E and P together, or a subset
• Building type and services density — a warehouse and a hospital differ by an order of magnitude per square metre
• Level of development — LOD 300 documentation versus LOD 350 coordination versus LOD 400 fabrication
• Input quality — a clean architectural and structural model versus marked-up PDFs to be modelled from scratch
• Coordination rounds — how many federate-test-resolve cycles the programme allows
• Revision handling — how design changes mid-documentation are absorbed

Send the architectural and structural models or drawings, the services brief, and the programme dates. You get a fixed scope, a deliverables list, a nominated LOD and a turnaround commitment before any work starts.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between MEP drafting and MEP coordination?

MEP drafting produces the documentation for each service. MEP coordination overlays those services with each other and with the architectural and structural models, then resolves the conflicts. Drafting alone can produce three individually correct sets that cannot be installed together; coordination is what makes them buildable.

Do you work from PDFs, or do you need a Revit model?

Both. A federated Revit or IFC model is the fastest and cheapest starting point. Where only PDFs or legacy DWGs exist, we model the services from those inputs first — it adds time to the front of the programme, so it is worth identifying early.

Can you take over an MEP model part-way through a project?

Yes. We audit the incoming model first — worksets, shared coordinates, family standards and existing clash status — and report what we find before continuing. Inheriting a model without that audit is how coordination problems get carried forward silently.

Can you work as an extended team alongside our own drafters?

Yes. Our drafters are Australian-based and can be engaged per project or as an ongoing extension of your own drafting resource, working to your standards, templates and title blocks — same time zone, direct communication. See hire a CAD drafter for how that engagement model works.

Start an MEP Scope

Tell us the building type, which services are in scope, the LOD you need and your programme dates. We will come back with a fixed scope and a turnaround commitment. Related services: engineering design and drafting, structural drafting and architectural drafting.