Taking over a project mid-construction means accounting for what was already installed. As the incoming Engineer of Record, we had to go back through every device, zone, and circuit to confirm that what was in the building matched what was designed and what FDNY expected to see, before the building could reach its Certificate of Occupancy. The building's change of occupancy triggered a full fire and life safety upgrade: smoke, heat, and CO detection, sprinkler alarm, smoke purge, stair pressurization, and voice communication, all coordinated through FDNY. The site sits below the design flood elevation, which shaped the electrical and standby-power design. Con Edison delivers service into a cellar that floods, while code requires the electrical equipment to sit above the flood line on the second floor. The rooftop carried its own problem: cooling towers, a 10-foot emergency generator, a 22,300-gallon fire reserve tank, exhaust clearances, and drainage, all competing for space on a roof that was never built to hold them.