Equipment General Arrangement
Equipment GA
An Equipment General Arrangement (Equipment GA) drawing is the EPC engineering deliverable that shows the major dimensions, nozzle locations, support points, and physical configuration of a process equipment item. Equipment GAs support layout decisions, piping isometric routing, civil foundation design, electrical cable routing, and equipment installation. Every major equipment item (vessels, exchangers, columns, pumps, compressors) carries an Equipment GA.
Full Definition
An Equipment General Arrangement (Equipment GA) drawing is the structured engineering deliverable showing the physical configuration of a process equipment item. The drawing covers major dimensions (overall length, diameter, height), nozzle locations (with orientation, elevation, projection), support points (saddles, lugs, skirts), trim and internals (where relevant), and installation interfaces (foundation bolt locations, lifting lugs, transport orientation). Equipment GAs are produced by mechanical engineering for vessels and exchangers, by rotating equipment engineering for pumps and compressors, by process engineering for columns and reactors.
Context & Detail
Equipment GA content
A typical Equipment GA shows: equipment number and tag, overall dimensions (length, diameter, height), nozzle schedule with nozzle ID, nozzle size, orientation, elevation, projection, and connecting line, support points with foundation interface details, lifting lugs and transport orientation markers, weights (empty, operating, hydrotest), and reference to vendor drawings.
Equipment GA lifecycle
Equipment GA drawings go through revisions in the EPC project lifecycle: IFR (Issued For Review), IFA (Issued For Approval), IFC (Issued For Construction), AFC (As-Built). The vendor's submitted Equipment GA drawing is reviewed against the project specification through Technical Bid Evaluation (TBE) and revised through clarification cycles. The approved Equipment GA forms the basis for piping isometric routing, civil foundation design, electrical cable routing, and equipment installation.
Equipment GA in cross-discipline coordination
Equipment GA drawings are the primary cross-discipline coordination artefact for mechanical, piping, civil, and electrical disciplines. Inter-discipline check (IDC) reviews verify that piping isometrics correctly reference Equipment GA nozzle orientation and elevation, civil foundation design matches Equipment GA support points, and electrical cable routing accommodates Equipment GA constraints. Cross-discipline inconsistencies are common sources of construction overrun.
EPC Usage
- 01
Every greenfield refinery, petrochemical plant, fertiliser plant, and gas processing facility produces Equipment GA drawings for every major equipment item (typically 100-500 GA drawings per project).
- 02
Indian PSU refineries maintain Equipment GA drawings across the asset register. Brownfield revamp projects produce fresh GA drawings for new equipment scope and reference existing GAs for unchanged equipment.
- 03
Vendor-supplied Equipment GA drawings dominate the engineering review effort during TBE and post-PO engineering verification. EPC contractor engineering teams spend significant cycles reviewing vendor GA drawings against specification.
- 04
Equipment GA drawings are the primary cross-discipline coordination artefact for mechanical, piping, civil, and electrical disciplines.
- 05
Brownfield digitisation projects extract structured data from legacy Equipment GA drawings to populate digital twin platforms with structured asset configuration data.
How Pathnovo Handles It
Pathnovo's engineering document intelligence platform handles Equipment GA drawing extraction alongside P&ID and isometric extraction. The product extracts equipment tag, dimensions, nozzle schedule, and support points from Equipment GA PDFs and DWG files. Combined with cross-document verification, Pathnovo verifies Equipment GA consistency against P&ID nozzle definition, piping isometric routing, and civil foundation specification.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an Equipment GA?
An Equipment General Arrangement (Equipment GA) drawing is the EPC engineering deliverable showing the physical configuration of a process equipment item: major dimensions, nozzle locations, support points, and installation interfaces. Equipment GAs support layout decisions, piping isometric routing, civil foundation design, electrical cable routing, and equipment installation.
What does an Equipment GA show?
An Equipment GA shows equipment number and tag, overall dimensions (length, diameter, height), nozzle schedule with size, orientation, elevation, and projection, support points with foundation interface details, lifting lugs and transport orientation, equipment weights, and reference to vendor drawings.
Who produces Equipment GA drawings?
Equipment GA drawings are produced by mechanical engineering for vessels and exchangers, rotating equipment engineering for pumps and compressors, and process engineering for columns and reactors. The vendor supplies the as-fabricated Equipment GA after PO award, which is reviewed and incorporated into the engineering package.
Why is Equipment GA important for piping?
Equipment GA nozzle orientation, elevation, and projection drive piping isometric routing. Inter-discipline check (IDC) reviews verify that piping isometrics correctly reference Equipment GA nozzle definitions. Inconsistencies between Equipment GA and piping isometric are common sources of construction overrun.
Can Pathnovo extract Equipment GA data?
Yes. Pathnovo's engineering document intelligence platform handles Equipment GA drawing extraction alongside P&ID and isometric extraction. The product extracts equipment tag, dimensions, nozzle schedule, and support points from Equipment GA PDFs and DWG files.
Related Pages
Engineering Document Intelligence
Equipment GA drawing extraction alongside P&ID and isometric.
Cross-Document Verification
Equipment GA vs P&ID vs piping isometric consistency verification.
Datasheet Standard
Engineering datasheet that complements Equipment GA.
TBE Standard
Technical Bid Evaluation including Equipment GA review.
MR Standard
Material Requisition that includes Equipment GA scope.
See what your documents actually contain.
Send us 10 documents from your current project. We extract, reconcile, and show you exactly what we find in 48 hours, before any contract.
If the accuracy isn't what we promised, you owe us nothing.