How Drawing Review Fixed $300K+ at a Wisconsin Senior Living Facility

Curbless Showers, Memory Care Doors, and I-Joists Repeated in Every Unit

An architecture firm was finishing construction documents for a senior living community in Wisconsin. The building had assisted living and memory care units, wood floor framing over a concrete podium, and a secured memory care wing. The set ran 188 pages.

Senior living drawings repeat. One unit plan shows up dozens of times per floor, so a conflict drawn once is built in every unit. Several of the requirements also come from state licensing, which the surveyor checks before residents can move in.

The firm wanted the coordination gaps between its own drawings and its consultants' found before the set went to permit and to the contractor.

Helonic Flagged $150,000 in Curbless Shower Conflicts Before Permit

The firm uploaded the full CD set and specifications. Helonic compared the unit plans with the structural framing, the code analysis with the door hardware and fire alarm drawings, and the plumbing and technology drawings with their spec sections.

The costliest finding was curbless showers with no recess. The unit plans called for curbless roll-in showers in every assisted living and memory care bathroom, which residents with walkers and wheelchairs need. The structural drawings showed a flat podium slab and standard joists above, with no depression for the mortar bed and slope to drain.

Fixed in the field, that means reframing or thresholds at every shower, at least $150,000.

The second was ducts and drains across I-joists. The unit floors were framed with I-joists, and the supply duct and bathroom drain lines ran perpendicular to them through holes the manufacturer does not allow. No soffits were drawn on the unit plans or ceiling plans.

Found in the field, that means cut joists with engineered repairs or added soffits in finished rooms, at least $50,000.

The third was the memory care doors. The code analysis classified the wing as I-1 and used the controlled egress provisions, which require locks to release on fire alarm, on loss of power, and by staff. The hardware schedule listed locks that did not meet that, and the fire alarm, electrical, and security drawings showed no release, no power, and a keypad tied to nothing.

Fixed after drywall, that is about $30,000 or more, and the wing could not be licensed until it passed.

The fourth was nurse call coverage. The spec called for a UL 1069 listed system with stations at the bed, bathroom, and shower, corridor dome lights at every unit, and wireless pendants. The drawings showed bedside stations only, with no shower stations, dome lights, backboxes, or conduit.

Adding those devices in finished walls would have cost at least $50,000.

The fifth was domestic hot water. The plumbing riser fed every unit from a central water heater set high for Legionella control, while the spec and state licensing rules limit the temperature at resident fixtures. The drawings showed no thermostatic mixing valves and no access panels.

Adding them after finishes meant opening walls in every unit, at least $20,000.

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$300,000 or More in Field Rework Fixed Before Permit

The architect resolved each finding with its consultants before the permit set was issued.

The structural drawings picked up depressions at the showers, and the drains were located to slope within them. The duct and drain routes were reworked against the joist layout, with soffits drawn where they were needed.

The memory care doors were brought to one design across hardware, fire alarm, electrical, and security. Nurse call devices and their rough-in were added to the drawings, and mixing valves with access panels were added at the resident fixtures.

Found in the field instead, the five findings would have cost at least $300,000 and as much as $1.17 million, with the shower conflict alone repeated in every unit.

“We ran our CD set through Helonic before issuing for permit. It found that our unit plans called for curbless showers but the structural drawings had no slab depression, and that our memory care door hardware didn't match what the fire alarm drawings could actually release. Those are coordination gaps between us and our consultants that normally surface as RFIs during construction, with the owner asking why they weren't caught. This time we fixed them before the contractor ever saw the set.”

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