Detailed Design & IFC That Makes the Project Ready to Build
The selected, engineered project taken all the way to Issued for Construction: the final calculations, the full coordinated drawing set and the construction, safety and commissioning plans a contractor can actually build from.
Brings every major work package to Issued for Construction (IFC) level
Final calculations, sizing and the full multi-discipline drawing and schedule set
Constructability, health-and-safety and commissioning plans, not drawings alone
The gap between a project that is priced and one that is genuinely buildable
Detailed Design and IFC is the stage where EM3 takes an already selected and engineered project and develops it into a full design package that is ready for construction. It comes after the Basis of Design stages and tender support, and before construction support, construction management and commissioning, finalising the design ready for construction and aligned with site constraints and execution plans.
This is no longer concept design, budget design or issue-for-bid engineering. At this point we are producing the detailed technical design needed to bring all the major work packages, civil and structural, equipment, mechanical, electrical and automation, to Issued for Construction (IFC) level of detail, ready for review before construction. That is the difference that matters: the difference between a project that is priced and a project that is actually buildable.
Governing standardDetailed Design (IFC)
The challenge it solves
The Challenge It Solves
Right before Detailed Design and IFC, the client usually has a project that has already been proven viable, selected and tendered, or at least developed far enough to justify moving into execution. The remaining problem is that the project still cannot be built safely or correctly, because it does not yet have the detailed engineering definition that construction teams, vendors and site stakeholders need to work from.
The client may know what is being installed, but they still need the final design calculations, the final equipment and line sizing, the final drawings and the final coordinated package that tells contractors exactly what the intent is. The problem is not simply missing drawings. It is missing construction certainty: closing the gap between project intent and actual delivery on site.
Questions most sites can't answer with confidence
A selected, tendered project that still cannot be safely built
No final calculations, sizing or coordinated construction drawings
Contractors without a clear, single statement of the design intent
Missing construction certainty, not just missing documents
How EM3 delivers it
How EM3 Delivers It
01
Survey and gather the information
We carry out the site visits needed to develop the detailed design, including intrusive surveys of existing equipment and preparation for the construction plans and health-and-safety assessments.
02
Develop the full detailed engineering
We complete the full engineering through detailed design to IFC: all the detailed design calculations, heat and mass balances, equipment and line sizing, pump sizing, the control infrastructure and the functional design documents and sequence of operations.
03
Produce the IFC drawing and schedule set
We produce the full IFC package: P&IDs, arrangement drawings, electrical single-line diagrams, controls architecture, I/O lists, instrument lists, equipment lists, MCC schedules, cable schedules and specifications for the works packages.
04
Prepare procurement and construction
We build the handover into execution: tender clarifications, contractor negotiations, an IFC constructability plan, an IFC preliminary health-and-safety plan and an IFC commissioning plan, so the project is structured for the site, not just drawn.
05
Review and sign off
The detailed design is reviewed and signed off internally within EM3 and then submitted to you for review and approval, before it moves into procurement, manufacturing and installation.
06
Hand into execution
You receive a coordinated final design package that is ready to be used for construction, with the design intent carried all the way from the early stages into buildable detail.
The timeline
About three to five monthsTypical duration
The deliverables
What You Receive
A construction-ready design package
The full coordinated engineering package required to actually construct the project, not just to price it.
Detailed design calculations
Heat and mass balances, equipment, line and pump sizing, and the control strategy and sequence of operations.
The full IFC drawing set
P&IDs, arrangement drawings, electrical single-line diagrams, controls architecture, I/O, instrument and equipment lists, MCC and cable schedules and specifications.
Procurement and contractor support
Tender clarifications and contractor negotiations, so the package holds up through procurement and award.
Construction and commissioning plans
An IFC constructability plan, a preliminary health-and-safety plan and an IFC commissioning plan.
A reviewed, approved package
A package signed off internally and submitted to you for review and approval before installation begins.
A real outcome
Proven Outcome
5 disciplinesCivil, mechanical, electrical, automation and equipment, to IFC
18 to 20 weeksTypical detailed-design-to-IFC duration
Build-readyA package that closes the gap from intent to site
On a heat-pump project, EM3's Detailed Design and IFC scope covered the full detailed engineering for the heat-pump system, all the core IFC drawings, the construction and commissioning strategy, procurement clarifications and contractor negotiations, delivered over an eighteen-to-twenty-week scope. On another, the package took two heat pumps and the interconnection between two pharmaceutical facilities all the way to a buildable, issued-for-construction design.
That is the point of the stage. Not a recommendation, and not a priced concept, but the coordinated, multi-discipline engineering package a contractor can actually build from, with the design intent protected from the early stages right through to site.
Why EM3
Why EM3
Continuity into construction
Detailed Design and IFC is not produced in isolation. It follows the feasibility, Basis of Design and tendering stages and is reviewed internally and by you before procurement and installation, so the same technical logic is carried from early design into final construction intent.
Broad and multi-disciplinary
This is not drawings only. It includes calculations, control architecture, equipment schedules, procurement clarifications, construction and commissioning strategy, and in many cases ongoing designer support during construction. That breadth protects the design intent during delivery.
Buildable, not just priced
The whole purpose is to close the gap between a project that is priced and a project that can actually be built, safely and correctly, on a real site.
The design intent survives
Because the team that engineered the project produces the construction package and supports the build, the original design intent makes it all the way into site execution intact.
How we engage
Detailed Design and IFC is typically delivered over a period of roughly three months to around eighteen to twenty weeks, depending on the project scope and whether it is a standalone IFC package or part of a broader delivery programme. It is priced as a defined engineering package for a specific project scope rather than a flat universal rate. The exact scope, duration and fee are confirmed in a proposal. Typical duration: About three to five months.
Issued for Construction, the level of engineering detail where the project can actually be built. Every major work package, civil and structural, equipment, mechanical, electrical and automation, is taken to a coordinated, construction-ready level.
How is this different from the tender (IFT) stage?
IFT engineers the project to a level the market can price. IFC engineers it to a level a contractor can build. It adds the final calculations, the full coordinated drawing set, and the construction, health-and-safety and commissioning plans.
Is it just drawings?
No. It is detailed design calculations, heat and mass balances, equipment and control design, the full IFC drawing and schedule set, procurement clarifications, contractor negotiations, and constructability, health-and-safety and commissioning plans.
How long does it take?
Typically around three months to eighteen-to-twenty weeks, depending on the scope and whether it is a standalone IFC package or part of a broader delivery programme.
Do you support us during construction?
The package is built for handover into execution, and in many cases we provide ongoing designer support during construction so the design intent is protected on site.
Who reviews the package before we build?
It is reviewed and signed off internally within EM3 and then submitted to you for review and approval before it moves into procurement, manufacturing and installation.
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