How Drawing Review Caught Duct Clashes on a Phoenix Hospital
- Ducts ran through beams at the nurse stations, and medical gas crossed structure with no penetration detail.
- Helonic read the 448-page PDF set for clashes between architecture, structure, and MEP.
- The contractor confirmed 632 issues on 448 pages. The clashes were what they would have rebuilt after plan check.
Phoenix, AZ. 632 issues on 448 pages.
Issues Detected
632 on 448 pages
Clashes
Ducts and medical gas
Pages Reviewed
448-page hospital set
Ducts Through Beams on a 448-Page Hospital Addition
A general contractor was pricing a hospital addition in Phoenix: a bed wing and an outpatient suite. Structure, ductwork, and medical gas all had to fit the same bays.
Ducts at the nurse stations ran through beams. Medical gas on the architectural sheets did not match the MEP risers, and several lines crossed structure with no penetration detail.
QA had one week before the plan-check set. A senior associate could not overlay 448 pages by hand.
Helonic Listed 632 Issues in the Week Before Plan Check
They uploaded the architectural, structural, and MEP PDFs. Helonic compared duct and pipe routes with the structural framing, and medical gas notes with the risers.
The list held 632 issues on 448 pages. The ones that cost money were ducts through beams at the nurse stations and medical gas through structure with no penetration detail.
Code notes were on the list. They were not the items that would have been cut out of a finished wall.
See healthcare construction drawing review, Arizona plan review requirements, healthcare construction compliance, hospital MEP coordination, penetration analysis, and the Houston hospital MEP review.
632 Issues on 448 Pages, Caught Before the Rebuild
The contractor confirmed 632 issues. The design team moved the ducts off the beams and added the medical-gas penetrations before the set left the office.
The redraw they avoided was beam penetrations and gas lines recut after the walls were closed.
Plan check still commented on finishes. It did not send back the duct clashes.
A duct through a beam is a conflict that only shows when two disciplines are read together. Across 1,000+ drawing packages Helonic has reviewed, about 8 in 10 had at least one coordination conflict between disciplines. See how often construction projects go over budget.
NFPA 99 Medical Gas and Phoenix Plan Check on a 448-Page Hospital Addition
The City of Phoenix reviews commercial permits under its building construction code, which adopts the International Building Code with local amendments. Hospitals in Arizona are also licensed by the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Medical gas falls under NFPA 99. A line that crosses structure needs a sleeve or a penetration detail, and a tested firestop system where it crosses a rated assembly. A gas line with no detail is a question the inspector will ask on site.
Ducts through beams are a structural question. The engineer of record decides whether a beam can take an opening and how it is reinforced. At a nurse station, where the ceiling is packed, moving a duct after the steel is set usually means a new route through the whole bay.
Plan check reads the set for code. It does not reliably overlay the disciplines, which is why the duct clashes were the contractor's to find first.
“We had a week before plan check and 448 pages. Helonic put 632 issues on one list. The ducts through the beams were the ones that would have cost us.”
Phoenix Hospital Drawing Review: Questions and Answers
What cost money on this hospital set?
Ducts through beams and medical gas through structure. Code notes were on the list. They were not the field rebuild.
How many issues were on the hospital set?
632 issues on 448 pages, led by clashes between architecture, structure, and MEP.
Can a general contractor run this before plan check?
Yes. This contractor ran it the week before the plan-check issue and got the duct clashes moved first.
Where did the 632 issues come from?
A completed Helonic review of that 448-page Phoenix hospital set.
What code applies to hospital medical gas in Arizona?
NFPA 99, the Health Care Facilities Code, governs medical gas installation and testing. The City of Phoenix reviews the building permit, and the Arizona Department of Health Services licenses the hospital.
Can a duct go through a steel beam?
Only where the engineer of record allows an opening and details how the beam is reinforced. A duct drawn through a beam with no opening shown is a conflict to resolve before fabrication.
Does plan check catch MEP clashes?
Not reliably. Plan check reviews the set for code. On this hospital, the plan-check comments were about finishes, because the duct clashes had already been moved.
Milind Sagaram
Co-founder & CEO, HelonicMilind is the co-founder and CEO of Helonic, where he leads product and go-to-market for AI-powered construction drawing analysis. He works closely with general contractors, project managers, estimators, and owners to understand how drawing quality drives project outcomes - and where AI can reduce RFIs, change orders, and rework. Milind has interviewed hundreds of construction professionals across project delivery roles, from preconstruction estimators at ENR top-400 contractors to facilities directors at institutional owners, and uses those conversations to shape both product direction and the way Helonic talks about the work.
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How this page was researched: Reviewed against Helonic's 2026 drawing-analysis categories, RFI workflow, and product capabilities.
Last reviewed by Milind Sagaram · September 15, 2026