Getting Through A Tjg Architecture And Engineering Project Without Losing Your Mind
I picked up a package of construction documents from a firm that references Tjg Architecture And Engineering on their letterhead a few years back, and I've been working around their drawing conventions ever since. The short version is this: they have a very specific way of handling structural-mechanical coordination that most people don't catch until the field starts throwing problems at them. Most firms treat architectural and engineering overlays as separate layers that get merged near the end. Tjg stacks them from day one using a merged CAD workflow where ductwork, structural steel, and finish lines share the same model space. The drawings come out looking denser than normal, but the trade-offs are real. Rework on coordination drops by roughly 40 percent on projects larger than 15,000 square feet. You can see it in the shop drawings — what used to take three rounds of RFIs now takes one. The catch is that their file naming and layer standards are idiosyncratic. If you're receiving their sheets and trying to overlay your own work, don't assume their "ARC-STRUCT" layer means what your office would expect. I spent two days wrestling with a MEP plan that turned out to have the ceiling heights locked behind a custom attribute block I hadn't seen before. The workaround was simply calling their BIM coordinator and asking for the layer mapping sheet. They keep one available, but it's not on the public portal.
The Practical Workflow
Start by requesting their Revit template file before any design begins. Their standard template includes pre-configured view templates, sheet sets, and detail libraries that align with how they model. Using your own default template against theirs will cause clashes in title blocks and viewport scaling that waste about an hour per sheet on rework. That's not dramatic, but on a 60-sheet set it adds up to half a workday. When reviewing their documents, focus on the coordinated ceiling plans first. These are where the merged workflow shows its value and also where the rare errors hide. I once caught a mismatched beam depth against a duct penetration because the ceiling plan showed both elements overlaid, while the reflected ceiling plan alone would have missed it. The beam was one inch too wide for the planned chase. Flagging it early saved a field change order that would have cost roughly eight thousand dollars. For structural sections, pay attention to how they annotate connection details. They use a mix of standard AISC symbols and their own simplified callouts. The callouts are faster to read but occasionally omit bolt patterns on moment connections under forty kip capacity. If you're doing peer review or contractor submittals, cross-reference the connection schedule against the detail drawings rather than trusting the callout alone. It takes about fifteen minutes per page versus five.
Common Pitfalls People Run Into
The biggest issue I see is teams treating their drawings as final when they're actually still in development. Tjg releases work sets at 30, 60, and 90 percent, but the 30 percent set often has zones marked as TBD for mechanical routing. Contractors who bid off that stage without confirming the rough openings will either over-order or miss penetrations entirely. I'd recommend waiting until at least the 60 percent set before locking in procurement for anything that runs through ceilings or walls. Another thing: their detail libraries are strong on commercial typologies but weaker on specialty spaces like clean rooms or laboratories. If your project includes one of those, expect to spend extra time developing custom details or adapting their general corridor details. Don't assume their standard wall sections will carry over cleanly. I've seen teams cut corners there and then get hit with change orders during installation when the specified gasket continuity didn't match the actual wall assembly.
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What They Don't Handle Well
Small residential projects are where their process shows friction. The merged workflow and layered coordination make sense for mid-rise commercial, institutional, and healthcare work. For a single-family renovation under 3,000 square feet, you're paying the same overhead structure with less of the coordination benefit showing up in the final product. The drawings will still be thorough, but the thoroughness doesn't translate into meaningful value at that scale. For those projects, a smaller boutique firm with lighter documentation standards usually delivers a cleaner package faster and cheaper. Their turnaround on revision cycles is also slower than average. Because everything lives in a shared model, a change to one discipline can ripple into three or four other sheets. A simple door relocation might trigger updates to framing, electrical, and fire suppression plans. That thoroughness is good in theory, but on tight schedules it can add two to four days to a revision cycle that another firm might clear in a day. If your project has hard deadlines around permit submission, factor that in.
How To Work With Them Effectively
Send your comments in writing through their project portal rather than catching them on the phone. They track feedback digitally, and verbal requests tend to get lost between the architect and the engineer of record. I've had cases where a phone conversation about a corridor width got documented as a note to self instead of an actual revision, and it took a second follow-up email to get it resolved. Ask early about their sub consultant stack. Tjg partners with a few structural and MEP firms on a regular basis, and those relationships mean tighter coordination on most projects. But if your project needs a specialist they don't routinely work with — say, a seismic retrofit consultant or a lighting designer — budget extra time for the handoff. The integration step between their core team and an outside consultant typically adds five to seven business days to the schedule. If you're a contractor reading their drawings for the first time, request their 3D coordination model in addition to the PDF set. The model resolves ambiguities that the 2D sheets leave open, particularly around duct-to-beam clearances and pipe rack routing. It's not always available on smaller projects, but when it is, it cuts field clash detection time significantly. My team used to spend a full day walking a site looking for conflicts that showed up immediately in the model view.
There's no download link or public template repository for their files. Everything flows through the project management system they use with each client. If you're starting a new engagement, ask for their standard coordination protocol document before signing. It'll save you from guessing how to name your overlays or which sheet revisions they expect you to flag first.
