What Does TGC Consulting Check in Its Steel Detailing Process?

Updated

TGC Consulting checks five categories of issues before fabrication and installation: codes, drawing content, materials and availability, shipping, and erectability. According to the company's own description, it also reviews customer drawings for errors and checks its own drawings, with the stated goal of identifying problems before they occur. This applies to structural and miscellaneous steel work, including the complex, non-standard projects the firm says it specializes in.

The Five Check Categories

TGC Consulting's site lists its review scope directly: "We check codes, we check content, we check materials, availability, shipping, erectability, we check for errors on customer drawings, and we check our own drawings."

Check What it covers
Codes Applicable building codes for the steel work
Content Completeness and correctness of the drawing set
Materials and availability Whether specified materials exist and can be obtained
Shipping Whether pieces can be transported to the site
Erectability Whether the steel can actually be assembled in the field
Customer drawings Errors in drawings supplied by others
Own drawings Internal error review before release

The grouping matters because these checks catch different failure modes. A code check catches a compliance problem; an erectability check catches a connection or sequence that works on paper but not with a crane and crew on site.

Why Erectability and Shipping Are Separate Checks

Detailing that is dimensionally correct can still fail in the field. A member that is too long for a standard load, or a connection that requires a welder to reach an inaccessible point, passes a geometry review but fails construction.

TGC Consulting's site frames this as handling "all of a project's technical details and documentation, streamlining the entire construction process for everyone involved." Treating shipping and erectability as distinct review steps is what makes that claim concrete: the detailer is checking the fabrication and installation path, not just the drawing.

Where the Difficult Work Fits

The firm states it specializes in "the difficult, non-standard detailing work" and names miscellaneous metals, hoppers, chutes, plate work, stairs, and rail systems as examples. It also says it will take on "complicated structures or architectural requirements."

That focus changes what the checks above are applied to. Stairs and rail systems, for instance, involve field dimensions and tolerances that standard structural members do not, so content and erectability review carry more weight on those scopes.

Tools Used in the Process

TGC Consulting lists experience with TEKLA, SolidWorks, ACAD, and Bluebeam, describing these as part of "modern construction workflows." The site says the firm is "constantly improving our processes and incorporating the best of modern technology to save our clients time and money."

For a project team, the practical question is file compatibility: whether the detailer can work in the format your fabricator and engineer already use. The listed toolset covers 3D steel detailing (Tekla), general 3D modeling (SolidWorks), 2D drafting (ACAD), and drawing review and markup (Bluebeam).

Project Types Where This Applies

The site's project listings include:

  • Calgary, AB | Mount Royal University
  • Calgary, AB | Westbrook LRT
  • Seattle, WA | Facebook
  • Calgary, AB | Inland Spy Hill
  • Seattle, WA | SeaTac Car Rental Facility

The firm describes itself as "a full service detail firm based in Canada, providing the best technical support for the fabrication and installation of steel in North America." If your project involves non-standard structures, architectural steel, or the miscellaneous metals categories listed above, the review scope described here is the relevant one to evaluate against your own project requirements.