When trying to see if there is sufficient clearance for an exterior exhaust fan louver: the ceiling elevation can be found on the RCP drawing, the ceiling framing size in the detail sheets, the louver size in the mechanical drawings, the steel elevations in the steel drawings (with a little more math to account for the curve in the steel), and the exterior soffit details and dimensions in the structural and architectural drawings. If you combine all of these you might discover on the Colton High School project that the 24” louver is greater than the 9” of available space.
An easier way to discover this issue was when the mechanical, structural, and architectural models were combined in BIM:
A quick snapshot of the model and a section view of the issue were created and given to the architect for review.
Finding this issue early helped to avoid any rework and cost/schedule impacts that might have happened had this issue not been noticed until after the steel, block wall, and ceiling framing were installed and louvers purchased/delivered to the jobsite.
