Correctional & Detention
A correctional facility runs every system as a security boundary. Air paths, conduit, and piping become potential weapons, contraband routes, or escape points the moment they enter a cell. We deliver construction-ready MEP that holds the secure envelope, survives deliberate hard use, and stays on when the power fails.
Every Duct, Conduit, and Pipe Is a Security Boundary.
In a Group I-3 occupancy, occupants are under restraint and generally cannot self-evacuate, so the MEP carries life safety the way it carries security. Duct penetrations into cells need security barriers; fixtures must be ligature- and tamper-resistant; in windowless housing, the IBC requires engineered smoke control to keep the fire-origin smoke compartment tenable while staff remotely release locked doors (some state codes allow approved alternatives). We design robust, hardened systems, coordinated with the detention-equipment and security-electronics vendors and sealed by the licensed engineer of record on your project.
Most of the risk sits where those systems meet: the security barrier in a cell duct has to work with the smoke-control sequence, power-operated doors and locks need a manual release at the door plus either emergency power or a remote mechanical release (IBC 408.4.2; emergency power is not required in facilities with 10 or fewer locks that meet the 408.4.1 exception), and the chase that keeps piping out of the cell has to leave room to service it. We coordinate those interfaces in BIM with the detention-equipment and security-electronics vendors, so each one is drawn once and agrees across disciplines.
HVAC & Secure Air Pathways
Ventilation that meets cell outdoor-air and exhaust rates without becoming a breach in the secure envelope.
- Cells ducted to limit air transfer between them, sized to ASHRAE 62.1 correctional-occupancy ventilation rates
- Security duct barriers and bar grilles wherever ductwork penetrates a secure wall or exceeds the owner's security opening limit
- Wet-cell toilet/shower exhaust run to outdoors with no recirculation, balanced with transfer air
- Pressure relationships in booking, intake, holding, and medical-isolation areas set by function and infection-control assessment, with airborne infection isolation (AII) rooms where required
- Continuous-duty equipment selected for 24/7 operation and deliberate hard use
- Mechanical rooms and routing kept secure and out of inmate reach
Smoke Control & Life Safety
Group I-3 occupants generally can't self-evacuate, so the air has to stay tenable while staff unlock doors.
- Smoke compartments and smoke-barrier coordination per NFPA 101 Chapters 22/23 and IBC Group I-3
- Engineered smoke control, where required, supporting defend-in-place and horizontal evacuation between compartments
- HVAC shutdown and smoke-mode sequences coordinated with the fire-alarm matrix
- Locked-egress and remote-release interlocks coordinated with the detention security electronics
- Coordination with sprinkler and standpipe systems (designed by others), including institutional, tamper- and ligature-resistant heads
Electrical, Security & Standby Power
Power and pathways hardened so security systems ride through an outage, and nothing becomes a tool.
- Emergency and standby power per NFPA 110 (Level 1 for life-safety loads and the I-3 door locks the IBC requires), with Class (runtime) set to the ACA and state standards the facility is held to, and the security loads classified per NEC Articles 700, 701, or 702 as applicable, with the Type (pickup time) set by Articles 700/701 or, for optional standby loads, by the project requirements — covering door control, CCTV, intercom, and life safety
- Generator and ATS sizing carrying door control, CCTV, intercom, and detention-control loads
- Tamper-resistant devices and vandal-resistant, security-rated luminaires in inmate areas
- Coordinated power, conduit, and pathways for detention security electronics (PLC/networked door control, CCTV, intercom)
- Concealed and chase-routed wiring kept inaccessible from occupied secure spaces
Plumbing & Ligature-Resistant Fixtures
Security-grade fixtures and piping built to resist self-harm, vandalism, and flooding.
- Ligature- and vandal-resistant stainless-steel combination toilet/lavatory units for cells and dayrooms
- Chase-accessible valves and piping so fixtures are serviced from outside the cell
- ASSE 1070 scald protection at inmate lavatories, with ASSE 1016 or ASSE 1069 protection at showers
- Flood-control and remote shutoffs to limit fixture-blocking and intentional flooding
- Heavy-duty distribution rated for continuous, abusive use
Coordination & Water Safety
Engineered around secure occupancies, their vendors, and the standards that govern them.
- Detention-equipment and security-electronics interfaces coordinated through shop drawings and BIM
- Designed around the ACA accreditation standards the operator carries, and to the AHJ's adopted I-3 requirements
- ASHRAE 188 Legionella water-management considerations for large domestic systems and dead legs
- Domestic hot-water plants sized for shower, laundry, and kitchen peaks across the population
We duct cells to limit air transfer between them and meet the ASHRAE 62.1 correctional-occupancy ventilation rates, then add security duct barriers or bar grilles wherever a duct penetrates a secure wall or exceeds the owner's security opening limit. Wet-cell exhaust goes to outdoors with no recirculation, and routing stays out of inmate reach. The goal is code-compliant air that isn’t also a contraband route or an escape path.
Yes — emergency and standby power per NFPA 110: Level 1 for life-safety loads and the power-operated doors and locks the IBC requires in Group I-3, and standby power for security electronics, CCTV, and intercom as the AHJ and owner require. We coordinate the generator and transfer scheme so the facility stays secure and controllable through an outage, not just code-minimum egress lighting.
We specify security-grade stainless-steel combination toilet/lavatory units engineered to resist ligature anchor points, tampering, and vandalism, with concealed valves serviced from a chase outside the cell. Tempered water with ASSE 1070 scald protection at lavatories, ASSE 1016 or 1069 protection at showers, and remote shutoffs for flood control round out the design. Fixture selection is coordinated with the facility's security and behavioral-health requirements.
Yes, and in I-3 they can't be separated. Where housing is windowless, the IBC requires engineered smoke control to keep the fire-origin smoke compartment tenable while staff remotely release locks and occupants exit it (some state codes allow approved alternatives), so the smoke-mode HVAC sequences, fire-alarm matrix, and door-control system all have to agree. We coordinate those interfaces with the security-electronics and detention-equipment vendors so the building responds as one system.