TGS Drawing Checklist: Details Reviewers Expect on Every Sheet

A good TGS checklist makes sure every sheet answers four questions on its own: where is this, when does it apply, what goes on the road, and who drew and approved it. Reviewers check the title block, revision, designer details and site match first, then the layout, sign schedule and notes. Miss the basics and the plan comes back.

This guide is written for owners and operations managers of traffic control companies who issue traffic guidance schemes (TGS) to clients, councils and their own crews. It gives you a sheet-by-sheet checklist you can adopt as an internal standard, a worked example of a pre-issue check, and the common mistakes that cause returns. It does not replace your state's requirements. In NSW, Transport for NSW's TS 05492:1.0 Traffic Control at Work Sites replaced the old TCAWS manual on 25 June 2026; other states adopt the Austroads Guide to Temporary Traffic Management (AGTTM) with their own supplements; and AS 1742.3 covers the devices. A TGS must be prepared by a suitably qualified person. For the basics of what a TGS is, see our traffic guidance scheme guide.

Why reviewers read every sheet as if it were the only one

Sheets get separated. A crew leader photographs page 2 on their phone. A client forwards stage 3 to a subcontractor. A council officer prints only the layout. Each of those people needs to know, from that one page, exactly what applies and whether it is current.

That is why experienced reviewers start with the title block, not the drawing. If they cannot tell which job, which stage and which revision a sheet belongs to, nothing else on it can be trusted. And from your company's point of view, a sheet that can be confused with another job is a real safety risk: crews have set out last month's layout because the photo on their phone looked right.

The title block: the cheapest part to get right

Every sheet should carry a consistent title block. Use one template for the whole company so crews know where to look.

A revision table, either in the title block or near it, should list each revision, its date, and a short description of what changed. "Rev C: driveway access note added, sign 4 moved east" tells the reviewer exactly where to look.

The layout: what must be on the drawing itself

The drawing area is where the plan proves it was designed for this site. Reviewers look for these items.

Site features. Road names, the direction of travel, lane configuration, kerbs, medians, intersections, driveways, laneways, bus stops, pedestrian crossings, kerb ramps and anything that limits sight distance such as crests, bends, trees or structures. A north point helps readers orient the page.

The work area. Clearly hatched or shaded, with its extent and any plant or vehicle positions shown.

Every sign and device the crew will place. Each sign should have a reference that links to the sign schedule. Cones, bollards, barriers, lights, attenuators and arrow boards should be shown in position.

Distances, with their source. Sign spacings, taper lengths, buffer zones and delineator spacing come from your state's manual and AS 1742.3 for the speed and road type. Show the dimension on the drawing, and make sure the speed in the title block is the one the dimensions were chosen for.

Pedestrian and cyclist routes. Shown with arrows, including where they cross and how the route is protected.

Traffic controller positions, if any, with their escape routes in mind and the stop line shown.

Access arrangements for driveways, emergency vehicles and deliveries.

Permanent signs that conflict with the temporary layout, marked to be covered.

If you are training new designers, our guide on how to read a TGS explains these elements from the crew's side, which is a useful test: if a new controller cannot read your sheet, a reviewer probably will not like it either.

The sign schedule and legend

A sign schedule, either on each sheet or on a dedicated sheet referenced from every layout, removes ambiguity. Include for each sign the reference number, the sign code or description, size, which direction of traffic it faces, and its position or distance.

The legend should explain every symbol used. Do not assume a reviewer uses the same symbols you do, especially for devices like barriers, lighting towers or attenuators.

The schedule also does double duty for operations. The allocator can build the equipment list from the TGS and the crew can check off each sign at set-up and pack-down. When the schedule and layout disagree, you will get a call from the site at 5 am, so check they match.

Notes: what the crew and reviewer need to know

General notes are where many plans either over-explain or say nothing useful. Keep them specific to this job. Useful notes include:

• Conditions of use: hours, days and any restrictions from the approval.
• Inspection requirements: start and end of every shift, and at intervals during it, recorded on the project's forms.
• What happens to the layout outside work hours, if anything stays in place.
• Driveway and access arrangements.
• Sign covering and uncovering instructions for permanent signs.
• Night-time requirements such as lighting and illuminated devices, if used at night.
• Pedestrian management, including who manages it.
• Triggers for stopping work or changing the plan, such as queue length, weather or an incident.
• Who to contact if the site does not match the plan.

Avoid copying a page of boilerplate onto every sheet. Reviewers skim long generic notes and may miss the one note that matters.

Example scenario: a two-person pre-issue check

Here is how a pre-issue check works on a typical job. This is an example scenario.

The job. A three-sheet TGS for a single lane closure on a four-lane suburban road for a day of pit works. Sheet 1 is the layout, sheet 2 is the pedestrian arrangement, sheet 3 is the sign schedule and notes.

Step 1: the designer self-checks. The designer runs the company checklist and ticks each item. They confirm the speed zone against site photos and that every sign on the layout appears in the schedule.

Step 2: a second qualified person checks. The checker works from the printed set, not the file, and reads each sheet alone. They find three problems:

1. Sheet 2 shows "Rev A" while sheets 1 and 3 show "Rev B". The pedestrian sheet was not updated when the closure was extended.
2. The layout shows a driveway inside the work area, but no note says how the resident gets in and out.
3. The schedule lists a sign that does not appear on the layout. It was deleted from the drawing but left in the schedule.

Step 3: fixes. The designer updates sheet 2 to Rev B and extends the pedestrian route to match the longer closure. They add a note that the controller will manage driveway access on request. They remove the orphan sign from the schedule.

Step 4: final check and issue. The checker confirms each fix, signs the "checked by" field, and the set is issued as Rev B. The old Rev A files are moved to a superseded folder.

What gets recorded. The issue register shows the revision, date, who checked it, and who it went to. When the client's reviewer returns one minor comment the following week, the company issues Rev C with a single line in the revision table, and the register shows which revision the crew used on the day.

Ten minutes of checking saved a council return and a confused crew.

The printable TGS checklist

Use this before every issue. Tick each line for each sheet.

• Title block complete: job, location, drawing and sheet number, revision, date, designer and qualification, checker.
• All sheets in the set show the same current revision.
• Stage or phase labelled, if staged.
• Speed zone stated and matches site photos.
• Hours and conditions of use stated.
• North point and road names shown.
• All driveways, bus stops, crossings, kerb ramps and intersections near the work shown.
• Work area clearly marked.
• Every sign referenced and listed in the schedule; nothing in the schedule missing from the layout.
• Distances shown and chosen for the stated speed and road type from the applicable manual.
• Pedestrian and cyclist routes shown and continuous.
• Controller positions, if any, shown with stop lines.
• Permanent signs to be covered are marked.
• Notes are specific to this job.
• Legend explains every symbol.
• "Not to scale" or scale stated.
• Revision table updated with a description of the change.

Store it with your company template so every designer uses the same list. If you use a standard TGS template for common jobs, run this checklist against it too.

Common mistakes that send plans back

• Mixed revisions in one set. Fix: update every sheet's title block at once, even if only one sheet changed.
• Generic notes that contradict the layout. Fix: delete boilerplate that does not apply.
• Wrong speed zone. A copied title block from a 60 km/h job on an 80 km/h road changes every distance. Fix: confirm from site photos.
• Missing access arrangements. Fix: every driveway in the work area gets a note.
• No qualification shown. Fix: designer name and card or qualification on every sheet.

Next steps

Adopt one title block and one checklist across the company, and make the second-person check non-negotiable before issue. Check your state's current requirements with Transport for NSW in NSW, the national guidance at Austroads, and the current AS 1742.3 through Standards Australia. If your clients brief designers directly, share our traffic management designer brief guide with them.

Once a plan is issued, TrafWise handles the shift side: allocating the crew, sending shift offers, and collecting pre-start checks and SWMS sign-on in the crew app.