What “coordinated MEP estimating” actually means
Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing scopes don’t live in separate worlds. A single decision in mechanical design — say, switching from a packaged rooftop unit to a chilled-water system — cascades through electrical (different service size, different motor controls, different feeder routing) and plumbing (additional condenser water lines, makeup water, condensate drain). When three different estimators produce three independent estimates with three independent assumption sets, you get coordination gaps that show up as change orders during construction.
Vortex MEP estimating is built around a single source of truth. One project lead reads all three sets of documents, owns the assumption log, and produces estimates where the mechanical equipment schedule is reconciled against the electrical panel schedule is reconciled against the plumbing fixture count.
What’s included in a Vortex MEP estimate
Mechanical
- HVAC equipment schedule with model, capacity, efficiency, cost
- Ductwork by gauge, pressure class, and material (galvanized, stainless, aluminum, FRP)
- Hydronic piping (chilled water, hot water, condenser water) by size and material
- Refrigerant piping for VRF and split systems
- Equipment connections, isolators, balancing
- Controls (BACnet, LonWorks, proprietary)
- Testing, adjusting, balancing (TAB)
Electrical
- Equipment schedule (gear, transformers, panels, MCC)
- Conductor and conduit by size, type, and run
- Lighting fixtures, devices, branch circuits
- Fire alarm where in scope
- Emergency power (generator, ATS, paralleling)
- Power distribution down to receptacle and dedicated circuit level
Plumbing
- Fixture schedule
- Domestic water piping by material (copper, CPVC, PEX) and size
- Sanitary and storm piping by material (cast iron, PVC, no-hub) and size
- Gas piping by material and size
- Specialty systems (medical gas, compressed air, lab gas)
- Pumps, water heaters, heat exchangers, expansion tanks
- Insulation and trace heating
Coordination check we perform on every MEP estimate
Before delivery we run a checklist of cross-trade coordination items:
| Check | Reconciles |
|---|---|
| Sum of mechanical equipment FLA × motor service factor = electrical panel load | Mechanical vs electrical |
| Plumbing fixture count drives domestic water demand calc | Plumbing internal |
| Plumbing fixture count drives sanitary DFU calc | Plumbing internal |
| Equipment connections in P-trap/condensate matches mechanical schedule | Mechanical vs plumbing |
| Fire pump electrical service matches FP equipment schedule | Electrical vs FP |
| Service entrance equipment ampacity ≥ summed connected load × demand factor | Electrical internal |
| Emergency-power loads match emergency panel schedule | Electrical internal |
| Gas demand from kitchen + mechanical = gas service sizing | Plumbing/mechanical |
Discrepancies surface as RFIs to the design team or as documented assumptions in the estimate — they don’t surface as scope disputes mid-construction.
Software we estimate in
- Trimble Accubid Pro for electrical takeoff and labor
- Trimble Accubid Quote for full MEP project rollup
- FastDUCT and FastPIPE by FastEST for sheet-metal and piping takeoff
- ConEst IntelliBid for alternative electrical workflows
- PlanSwift + Excel for plumbing where the contractor doesn’t use a dedicated tool
- Autodesk Quantification and Navisworks for BIM-based extraction from Revit MEP models