What do I need to provide to get MEP plans made?

The single most important item is a complete set of architectural plans — your floor plan, site plan, and elevations. Everything else is supporting detail that helps us produce a cleaner first draft, and most of it is optional if you simply don't know yet.

Required to start

• Architectural plans — floor plan, site plan, and elevations. The engineering is built directly on top of these, so they are essential.
• Project address — needed to confirm your California climate zone (one of 16) and any local code amendments that affect the design.

Helpful but not required

• ADU type — detached, attached, garage conversion, or JADU
• Preferred HVAC system — mini-split, ducted heat pump, or simply "unsure"
• Existing electrical panel size (e.g., 100A or 200A), which helps us decide between a subpanel and a service upgrade
• Existing utilities — sewer vs. septic, gas availability, and where the main service enters the property
• Special requirements — EV charger, panel upgrade, solar-ready conduit, all-electric vs. gas, or specific appliances

What if you don't know the technical answers?

That is completely normal, and it will not hold up your order. When information isn't provided, the engineer applies California code defaults appropriate to your climate zone and project type. For example, absent a stated preference we will typically design an efficient, code-compliant heat-pump system that satisfies Title 24, and we'll size the electrical service based on standard ADU loads.

Rule of thumb: the more detail you share up front, the more revision-free your first draft will be — but missing details are filled with safe, code-compliant defaults, not delays.

A simple intake checklist

1. Upload your architectural PDFs (floor plan, site plan, elevations).
2. Enter the exact project address.
3. Pick your disciplines — single, two, or the Full MEP Package — and whether to add Title 24.
4. Answer the optional system questions, or check "use code defaults."
5. Flag any deadline so we can recommend a turnaround tier.

File formats that work best

PDF architectural plans are ideal because they preserve scale and are easy to mark up, but we can usually work from clear scaled drawings in common formats. The most important quality is that the floor plan, site plan, and elevations are to scale and legible — a phone photo of a hand sketch is hard to engineer from, while a clean PDF lets us start immediately. If all you have is a rough concept, that's fine for a conversation, but the final MEP set will need a complete architectural base to build on.

Why two revisions take the pressure off

Every order includes two revisions, so even if a default doesn't match what you had in mind — say you wanted a ducted system instead of a mini-split, or you decide to add an EV circuit after seeing the first draft — it's straightforward to adjust without a new charge. That safety net is exactly why you don't need to have every technical answer pinned down before ordering; you can refine as the design firms up.

You can upload your files and answer the optional questions directly on the order page, and the How It Works page shows the full intake process. If you are still assembling your architectural set, reach out anyway and we'll tell you exactly what we need.