Anyone looking for an AutoCAD drafter on a self-employed basis is really asking one question: who will draw this up so that it is correct and fits into the set that already exists? Our answer is that we take over that drafting work as a service, not as an individual. OutsourceCAD provides outsourced CAD drafting to companies that do not have enough drafting capacity in-house.
We produce 2D drafting and, where needed, 3D modelling, as-built drawings and revisions. We draft, engineering is not part of what we do, and we keep that line sharp.
The work usually reaches us in high volumes with a lot of repetition, which is exactly the part that gets left behind in a busy drawing office. We work with the latest versions of AutoCAD, Revit and Rhino from our own office, fully remotely. What we deliver matches your CAD standards, because you give them to us beforehand and we draw to them consistently. Every file goes through at least three review layers before it is sent.
Cable tray routing in the model, built with parametric families that carry the material schedule with them.
Drawing types an AutoCAD drafter on a self-employed basis normally produces
We take over the full package that a self-employed AutoCAD drafter would usually handle, and generally in a larger volume than one person can manage. In concrete terms, that means floor plans, sections, details, schematics and layout diagrams in 2D, supplemented with 3D modelling where a model genuinely adds something. As-built drawings are a fixed category, as are revisions to existing DWGs. For us, revision work is not a side issue. Most requests start with a set that already exists and has been updated, extended or partly amended by hand over the years.
We take a set like that apart, bring it back to a consistent structure and then update it to reflect the latest situation. In piping schematics for greenhouse construction, the same component comes back endlessly, for example a valve in 90 and in 110 that is drawn by hand again every time. That is precisely where volume and repetition pay off, because we set it up properly once and then apply it consistently. We deliver output as drawing files in the format you use, with the layers, hatches and text heights that are standard in your set.
If a project calls for a model, we deliver that model with the associated elevations and sections. We also build parametric Revit families when a component keeps coming back in different sizes. Calculations, structural advice and permits fall outside our service and stay with you or your consultant. That boundary keeps responsibilities clear and keeps our pace focused on the drafting itself. We agree what falls within an assignment at the start, so there is no discussion about scope halfway through.
Software and file formats for self-employed AutoCAD drafting work
We always work with the latest versions of our software, and the core is Revit, AutoCAD and Rhino. We also use Inventor and Grasshopper, and to a limited extent Dynamo and Vault. For anyone looking for an AutoCAD drafter on a self-employed basis, that is a relevant difference, because an individual drafter is often tied to one package and one version. We exchange files in DXF, DWG, Revit formats and STEP, and in practice in any common CAD format. We draft on our own systems with our own licences.
So there is no need to set up a workstation, free up a licence or create an external account in your environment. We make sure we fit into your existing set right at the outset. At the start we ask for a representative file, ideally a drawing that serves as the internal example, and use it to work out how the set is structured. If there is a mix, for example schematic work in AutoCAD alongside a model in Revit, we work with that rather than asking whether everything can be converted. Greenhouse construction projects and other larger jobs run through software you can log into to follow the project.
For standalone AutoCAD drafting, files are exchanged by email, which also turns out to be the quickest route for most revision rounds. Because we work remotely from our own office, nothing changes in your infrastructure. When files are going back and forth in mixed formats, we keep track ourselves of which version is the latest, so no one carries on drawing on an outdated base. It is a small detail that would otherwise cost a lot of time in a revision round.
No ongoing payroll costs and no idle staff once the peak is over. If one of our people is off sick or on holiday, we replace them and the work simply carries on.
Drafting to your standard, layer structure and conventions
We work to your standard and your drawing conventions. You provide them and we do not add anything of our own. That sounds obvious, but it is exactly where outsourced drafting tends to go wrong in practice. A drawing that is technically correct but made in its own layer structure still costs the receiving drawing office hours of clean-up. That is why we adopt the layer structure, file naming, blocks, title blocks and plot settings exactly as they have been defined. If a convention is missing, we ask about it rather than making our own choice that only becomes visible at delivery. Where we do take the initiative is with supplied material that is not right. Firefly supplied as-built material in which the drawings had been printed incorrectly and were partly drawn by hand, hard to read and messy.
We sorted that out ourselves instead of calling about it constantly, and still delivered it neatly. Monitoring the standard does not depend on a single pair of eyes. A drafter draws, a second team member checks that work, then Sam, our team leader, reviews it, and finally Barry, our project manager. As a result, the number of errors stays minimal in practice, and any deviation from the standard surfaces before the set reaches you. This way of working is also the reason a large set does not fall apart with us as more drafters work on it. Everyone who works for us has more than ten years of CAD experience, so the discussion is rarely about the basics and usually about the convention that applies in this particular project.
What a self-employed AutoCAD drafter delivers and what we hand over
What we deliver is meant to be used straight away, not reworked first. The set contains the drawings in the agreed format, built according to your layer structure, with the blocks and title blocks that belong in your environment. For model work, we deliver the model plus the drawings derived from it, so elevations and sections update when something changes.
If parametric families have been built, they are included, along with the set-up that lets them adapt to a different size. The material schedule then updates too, because when a component changes, the schedule changes automatically. We deliver in stages. We send a first batch, collect feedback, make adjustments and carry on with the rest.
That rhythm prevents a wrong assumption from spreading through an entire set and the correction only becoming visible at the end. Progress meetings take place every two days or weekly, depending on how fast the project needs to move. After delivery, the intellectual property belongs to you and your own team can carry on with it without our involvement. If you bring in a self-employed AutoCAD drafter, you are often left with a file that only that one person really knows.
We deliver a set that has been produced and checked by several people, which keeps it transferable within your organisation. We discuss what the final delivery will contain in advance, down to whether you need a printable version alongside the source files. That way, your project lead knows from the start what will land on their desk.
Frequently asked questions about an AutoCAD drafter on a self-employed basis
Hand your AutoCAD drafting over to us
Send us your documents and drawing conventions and we will let you know within one to two working days what we can take on and when.