When it comes to mechanical construction, FT Williams & Associates utilizes its highly trained staff of CAD/BIM designers, engineers, project managers, plumbers, pipe fitters, sheet metal workers and service technicians to constantly deliver projects on time and on budget.
Successful mechanical construction projects begin with the depth of our engineering and project management talent and their experience in all the markets we serve, with advanced engineering tools such as Building Information Modeling and with detailed knowledge of LEED (USGBC’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and Energy Star standards.
Our goal is to not only provide you the delivery option that works best for your project but to make certain that the implementation exceeds your expectations.
We’re happy to discuss how we can manage various types of project deliveries to meet your needs.
MEP is not exactly a type of project delivery such as Design-Build, but it is a style of project delivery. Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP) in a building may account for more than 40% of the total construction cost. Having all three types of MEP work provided by a single contractor has numerous advantages because of areas of overlap as well as natural efficiencies. For example, the heating, ventilation and air condition system requires all three areas of work throughout a large building.
Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) is a highly collaborative type of project delivery. Many project delivery types such as Design-Bid-Build are based on creating silos of independent work, responsibility and risk such as owner, designer, contractor and subcontractors. Even if a project is a failure, one or more of the parties can be successful. IPD, on the other hand, brings together all parties working on a project in a super-collaborative fashion where communication and trust are paramount. Owner, designer, contractor and subcontractors must all share in the management, risks and rewards of the project with IPD.
Industrial Solutions are specialty capabilities used in industrial applications. Many industrial facilities require installation tools or processes or specialized hardware not needed in most other applications. Markets such as food processing, pharmaceuticals, chemical processing, biotechnology and semiconductors, for example, often demand pipe welds with very high-quality and/or safety. Such welds require a special process: orbital TIG welding. Some of the same markets also require ultra-high purity (UHP) process piping prepared in special clean rooms.
Process piping is typically found in refineries, chemical, pharmaceutical, textile, paper, semiconductor, cryogenic and similar types of plants. Process piping design is often far more complicated than building steam or water service piping. Complexities of process pipe design include proper material selection, routing long piping runs indoors and outdoors, designing freestanding pipe support systems, handling high flow volumes and minimizing multiple stresses.
Design-Build is a type of project delivery under which a single entity contracts to undertake both the design and construction. This compares to Design-Bid-Build where the owner contracts with designer and contractor separately.
Under a Design-Assist project delivery, engineers from the MEP contractors are engaged by the owner’s designer prior to completion of the project design. The early utilization of the subcontractors’ engineers is intended to minimize issues of constructability, design overlap and scope confusion, thereby reducing change orders and schedule slippage.
