An integrated virtual design and construction and lean (IVL) method for coordination of mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) systems

MEP systems on modern technical projects account for 20 to 40 percent of project cost. The MEP coordination process involves a multitude of Specialty Trade Contractors, the General Contractor, the Designers, and the Owner. MEP coordination bridges the gap between the design, fabrication, and installation phases of a construction project. The process involves accommodating and organizing complex systems within small interstitial spaces and needs to involve both building and operations knowledge in coordination. The MEP coordination process addresses the reciprocal dependencies in design to enable a sequential and pooled construction process and varies from project to project in terms of the organization of the team members, the time and involvement of key team members, and the tools used in coordination. Although MEP coordination is important, in current practice the effectiveness of MEP coordination is only measured in terms of outcomes during construction. The measurement of MEP coordination in terms of outcomes is not useful from a process management perspective. Project teams performing MEP coordination typically control factors related to the representation of MEP systems (product factors), organization of the team performing MEP coordination (organization factors), and process-related factors such as Work Breakdown Structure and schedule for coordination (process factors). A framework based on these controllable factors, instead of outcomes, will provide a useful management tool for managing the MEP coordination process. In this research, based on observing the MEP coordination process and outcomes of MEP coordination on four retrospective case studies and building upon Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) Theory, Lean Construction Methods, coordination Theory, and Economic Measurement Theory, I present the following:1. A framework for MEP coordination based on Product, Organization, and Process factors that project teams can control. 2. A quantitative method to measure MEP coordination based on this framework. The method to measure effectiveness is correlated with the outcomes in four retrospective case studies and acts as a leading indicator for measuring the effectiveness of MEP coordination. I claim that the IVL framework for MEP coordination, based on controllable factors of Product, Organization, and Process that project teams can control, andthe method to quantitatively measure the effectiveness of the MEP coordination process based on this framework are contributions to VDC Theory, specifically for managing the MEP coordination process. This research provides a way for General Contractors and project teams to manage the MEP coordination process based on factors they control versus relying on outcomes, and it has the potential to alter the way project teams performing MEP coordination measure effectiveness of coordination.