Preconstruction Drawing Review
Read the Drawings Before Bid and Before Plan Check.
A fire code read of the drawing set while the design can still move, so fire comments don't turn into change orders after the number is set.
Fire Comments Are Cheapest on Paper
On most industrial and commercial projects, the fire code questions that hurt the schedule are not exotic. A rack plan that pushes storage into high-piled requirements nobody priced. A sprinkler basis of design written for a lighter commodity than the tenant will store. A battery charging area drawn into an open warehouse with no separation. Each one is easy to fix on a drawing and expensive to fix in the field.
A Preconstruction Drawing Review puts a Fire Captain-led read on the set before those questions reach plan check or the job site. Our team works through the architectural, fire protection and storage sheets against the fire code and the operation the building is meant to hold, then writes comments the way a plan reviewer would. The design team gets them while there is still room in the schedule and the budget to answer them.
The review pairs naturally with a Permit Plan Package when the operation will need a high-piled or operational permit, and with a Battery Storage Site Review on projects that include energy storage.
The Sheets That Drive Fire Comments
From Drawing Set to Written Comments
Scoping Call
We cover the project, the drawing set and where it sits in the schedule: schematic, design development, bid set or plan check resubmittal.
Fixed Fee on a Written Scope
A written scope and price based on the sheets and disciplines in the set, agreed before any work starts.
Drawing Read
Our credentialed fire plans examiners and senior code professionals work through the set.
Written Comments
Comments keyed to sheet and detail, written the way plan check writes them, with the items most likely to cost money ranked first. Engineering questions are flagged for your licensed fire protection engineer.
A fire comment on a drawing costs an hour. The same comment after the slab is poured costs a change order.
Nick Anthony
Principal · Fire Captain
What Precon Teams Ask
When in the design process should the review happen?
The best window is before bid, while the design can still move without a price attached to it. A second read before plan check submittal catches anything that changed during pricing. We also review resubmittals when a project is already stuck in fire comments.
Do you replace the fire protection engineer or the architect?
No. The design team owns the design. We read it against the fire code the way the jurisdiction will and give the team comments to resolve. Where an answer needs hydraulic calculations or an engineered determination, we flag it for the licensed fire protection engineer of record.
Who usually engages you for a drawing review?
Builders and preconstruction teams before bid day, owners and developers who want fewer surprises in plan check, and tenants who need to know their racking, charging and storage plans will clear before they commit to a buildout.
What do we receive?
Written comments keyed to sheet and detail, ranked by the cost and schedule risk they carry, plus a short summary for the owner and the estimating team. It is written to be handed straight to the design team.
Start With a Scoping Call
Get the Fire Comments Before Bid Day.
Send us the set and the schedule. You get a written scope and a fixed fee before any work starts.