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 Flagged the Structure and MEP Clashes
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 how to review construction drawings, AI for construction drawings, 2D clash detection, bay area mixed-use drawing review, portland apartment drawing review, and pennsylvania manufacturing drawing 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.
“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.”
Frequently asked questions
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.
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.
- Construction project delivery and preconstruction
- RFI and change order economics
- Owner and GC workflows for drawing QA/QC
- Estimating risk and bid-stage scope assessment
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