Truth #1: structure type matters

I’m launching a series called “The Notorious Truth”. Welcome to my first post in this series…

Truth #1: Structure Type Matters.

Why?

Because the structure usually tells me exactly where the coordination battles are going to happen.

Here's what each structural system is trying to fight you with:

🏗 Structural Steel (Beams & Columns)
The battle is ceiling space.
Deep beams, moment connections, and transfer steel dictate your elevations early. If the gravity mains aren't planned around the structure from day one, ceilings start moving down quickly. Don’t get me started on cross-bracing. You’d be surprised how many doors I’ve seen with a large piece of steel crossing in front of it.

🪜 Open Web Steel Joists
The battle is routing priority.
Joists look MEP-friendly all systems want the same opening through the joist webbing. Can you route your duct main parallel to joists? Sure, but now we have to revise bridging and cross-bracing. Routing through the joists opening? Better make sure the joist depth can even accommodate it. Sloping roof joists? Now you’re really asking for trouble.

🏢 Concrete Beams & Girders
The battle is choke points.
Deep beams and transfer girders create areas where every trade suddenly wants the same six inches of ceiling space. One poorly located beam crossing can force multiple trades to lower ceilings or reroute entire systems.

🎯 Post-Tensioned Concrete
The battle is permanence.
PT slabs are unforgiving. Every sleeve, penetration, floor drain, and equipment anchor location needs to be right the first time. Changes later on become expensive very quickly.

🏫 Cold Formed Metal Trusses
The battle is finding pathways.
Large ducts, mains, and cable tray routes can't simply weave through the structure when the webbing varies with each truss type. It's like playing Tetris with your systems. Call me crazy, but I don't mind this type of challenge.

🏭 Pre-Engineered Metal Buildings
The battle is inconsistency.
Tapered frames, purlins, rod bracing, and sloped roofs mean your available space changes continuously across the building. A duct route that works at Grid 1 may not work at Grid 5.

🧱 Load Bearing Masonry
The battle is flexibility.
Once the walls are up, changing penetrations becomes painful. Knowing where rebar and bond beams are located is essential, so duct openings, and pipe sleeves can be coordinated early.

🏢 Flat Slab Concrete
The battle is planning ahead.
The ceiling space can be fantastic, or it could be a nightmare, since the slab is typically thicker. And don’t underestimate the issues that drop panels can create. Like any concrete slab, missing sleeves and penetrations early creates expensive problems later.

🏚 Renovations & Retrofits
The battle is reality.
The drawings are wrong.
The existing conditions are different.
The surprises are waiting above the ceiling.
Every renovation coordinator knows this one.

I think anyone in this industry would agree that structure matters.