Most defects that surface on site were not created on site. They were created months earlier, when architecture and the engineering disciplines progressed in parallel with no formal clash reviews, and the conflict only became visible when someone had to cut through a beam.
What design coordination actually is
Coordination is not collecting files. It is making sure every discipline works from the same architectural revision, that decisions are recorded, and that clashes are resolved on paper, where they cost hours, instead of on site, where they cost weeks.
In practice it rests on three simple disciplines:
- A single reference version. All disciplines work from the same dated and numbered architectural revision. Later changes require reissue and explicit notice to everyone affected.
- Scheduled clash reviews. Final deliverables are not enough. Interim reviews must overlay structure, services and finishes and produce a clash list with an owner and a deadline.
- A decision record. Every change of solution should be written down: what changed, why, who approved it, and the cost and programme consequences.
The most frequent clashes
- Structure against services. Unplanned penetrations through beams and slabs, later requiring strengthening or ceilings lower than the architectural design assumes.
- Real floor-to-ceiling height. Slab, floor build-up, service voids and ducts absorb height that early sections do not account for.
- Plant and technical spaces. Panels, plant units, ventilation and meters rarely have reserved space with usable dimensions and maintenance access.
- Waterproofing and junctions. Terraces, thresholds and parapets are set out in general drawings but without construction details, so the decision ends up being made by the site foreman.
A check to run before freezing the design
- Compare architectural sections against real structural and duct dimensions, with a declared tolerance.
- Verify maintenance access to every item of equipment: room to pull filters, open panels and replace components.
- List the critical construction details and require a scaled drawing for each.
- Confirm that written and drawn documents describe the same solution, including finishes schedules.
- Close the clash list with a recorded status of "resolved", not merely "notified".
Why it pays for itself
A clash resolved in design costs office hours. The same clash on site costs stoppages, variations, contractual argument and often a worse solution than the one that was available. Coordination is not administrative overhead added to the design: it is what turns a set of drawings into a buildable project.
At DINAMESTRIA, design coordination is run with formal clash reviews and a written decision record, linked to the site supervision that later follows construction. If you are preparing a development and want to stabilise the design before going to site, talk to our Project Management unit.