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Design & Projects

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
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  • Part of SHV Energy
  • ISO 50001
Engineers in workwear and gloves reviewing a detailed technical drawing on a plant floor
What we do

What This Service Is

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

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.

  • 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
An engineer and a manager reviewing technical blueprints in a steel-processing plant
Our method

How EM3 Delivers It

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

What you receive

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.

Proven 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.

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A cleanly installed modern heating and manifold system with neatly routed pipework in a mechanical plant room
An engineer in a hard hat and safety glasses working at an electrical switchboard with a tablet on an industrial 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

How We Engage

Typical durationAbout three to five months
Engagement model

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.

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Where it applies

Where It Applies

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

What does IFC mean?

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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