On many industrial projects the MEP contract is awarded after the building is already under construction. By then the slab is cast, the trenches are in the wrong place and the pump room is too small. Fixing it costs far more than planning it would have.
Parag Technobuild delivers MEP as a standalone package and as part of turnkey projects — for plants, campuses, hotels and an airport terminal. This article sets out the MEP decisions that should be made before the civil drawings are frozen.
The rules that shape plant MEP in India
Three sets of rules set the frame for most industrial MEP work:
- National Building Code of India 2016 — Part 4 (Fire and Life Safety) sets the requirements for fire detection, hydrants, sprinklers and escape; Part 8 covers building services such as electrical, air conditioning and plumbing.
- Central Electricity Authority safety regulations — govern electrical installations, earthing, clearances and the safety of switchgear and transformers.
- Local fire authority approvals — the state fire service usually has the final word on the fire-fighting system before occupation.
Industry-specific rules — for chemicals, food or pharmaceuticals — and the insurer's requirements often add to these.
Fire fighting: decide the tank and pump room first
A hydrant system needs a large water store, a pump room with main, standby and jockey pumps, and a ring main around the buildings. All three are civil structures as much as MEP items. Decide early:
- The size of the fire tank and whether it is underground or overhead
- The pump room location — close to the tank, with access for maintenance
- The hydrant ring main route, so it does not clash with roads, drains and future expansion
- Whether sprinklers or detection are needed in storage areas, which affects roof structure and ceiling heights
At Mapei's plant in Kosi, Mathura, our scope included the fire-fighting system with an underground fire tank and an external hydrant network. Because we also built the civil works, the tank and pump room could be built to the fire layout instead of being adapted to it.
Power distribution: room for panels and trenches
Electrical rooms are routinely undersized. Panels need front access, cables need trenches or trays with spare capacity, and transformers need clearances and ventilation. Plan the substation or electrical room, the main cable routes and the trench sizes before the floor is designed — and leave space for the load the plant will have in five years, not just on day one.
We have delivered electrical panels and power distribution for Mapei, Air Liquide, India Exposition Mart (including transformers), Vert Equipment and New Inc Internet Services in Noida, and electrical installation for general power, lighting and ventilation at Ashok Leyland's COE building in Lucknow.
HVAC and ventilation
Offices, control rooms and labs need comfort cooling. Production halls usually need ventilation and sometimes process cooling. The early decisions are where outdoor units and air-handling units will sit, how ducts will cross the structure, and how much roof or wall the HVAC will need. Leaving these late often means outdoor units ending up wherever space happens to be left.
Our HVAC work includes Mapei's Kosi facility, Air Liquide at Kosi and Ocean Inn Hotels in Jaipur, where we also delivered the fire hydrant and plumbing works.
Plumbing, drainage and STP
Sewage treatment plants, storm drains and process drains are best designed with the site levels. An STP placed at the low point of the site with gravity drainage is cheaper to run than one fed by pumps. At Mapei, the plumbing and STP were part of our MEP package. At Beumer's factory in Jhajjar, Haryana, the turnkey scope included MEP, compressed air and fire fighting.
MEP checklist before the civil drawings are frozen
- Fire tank, pump room and hydrant ring main shown on the civil drawings
- Electrical room and substation sized for future load, with trench routes fixed
- Sleeves and cut-outs for every service through slabs, walls and footings
- HVAC equipment locations and roof loads agreed with the structural designer
- STP location and drainage levels set with the site grading
- One coordinated services drawing, owned by one party
