Our CAD drawing service starts with a realistic estimate of the lead time. We first look at the number of sheets, the degree of repetition and the state of the material the client supplies. Then we decide how many drafters to put on it. Our large, flexible team is already in place and scales with whatever each project needs.
If a set is urgent, we add people straight away instead of letting a queue build up. That makes the difference between a peak that clogs up your own drawing office and a peak that simply gets cleared.
We do drafting and modelling, not engineering. The work is done remotely from our own office, in our own environment and with our own licences. The client supplies the details, the existing drawings and the drawing conventions, and we turn them into a clean set. You will receive our response to a new enquiry within 1 to 2 working days.
Cable tray routing in the model, built with parametric families that carry the material schedule with them.
What we deliver when you use our CAD drawing service
Requests to have a CAD drawing made reach us in different forms. Sometimes it is about floor plans, sections and details in 2D, sometimes about a 3D model from which those sheets are derived. We deliver 2D drafting and, where needed, 3D modelling, as-built drawings and revisions on existing sets. A large part of that work is repetitive. Hundreds of similar sheets, the same detailing in different dimensions, or a change that runs through an entire set. That is where our focus lies, because volume and repetition are easy to organise when an established team is working on them.
We deliver output in DXF, DWG, Revit formats and STEP, and in practice in any common CAD format. If the client works in AutoCAD, the set stays in AutoCAD. If the project runs in Revit, we build the model and generate the sheets from it. For free-form shapes and surface work we use Rhino, while Inventor comes in for parts that are machine-made. We use Grasshopper where geometry can be driven by parameters, and Dynamo and Vault to a limited extent.
We always work with the latest versions. Exactly what the deliverables include is agreed in advance, from the sheet layout and scales to the layer structure and naming. After all, an as-built file calls for something different from a revision round on DWGs that have already been modified twice. For Revit work we also build parametric families: smart components that adapt to a new size and whose material schedule updates automatically.
Communication and contacts in our CAD drawing service
When you have a CAD drawing made by us, you deal with a few fixed points of contact. Barry, our project manager, is usually the first point of contact for a new enquiry. He takes in the request, looks at the documents supplied and makes sure the project is scheduled properly. After that, Sam, our team leader, takes over the technical side. He manages the CAD team, safeguards the drawing conventions and answers questions about the content. This gives you a fixed line of contact, so you do not have to explain to a different drafter every week how the set fits together.
We decide the rhythm of meetings together. For work that needs to move fast, we speak every two days. If the pace is calmer, a weekly meeting is enough. Day-to-day contact runs through email and phone, and we visit the client or welcome them at our office. For standalone AutoCAD drafting, files go back and forth by email. On larger projects, such as greenhouse construction projects, we use software the client can log into to follow the project's progress.
Looking over our shoulder is then not an extra report, but simply insight into the current state of the ongoing drafting. What we do not do is let a set sit idle because a single question is still waiting for an answer from the client. When Firefly's material turned out to be hard to read and partly hand-drawn, we sorted it out ourselves instead of handing every unclear point back to the client. That saves phone calls and keeps the project moving.
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.
Ownership and confidentiality in our CAD drawing service
The client owns the intellectual property of everything we produce. If you outsource your CAD drawings, you do not want a discussion afterwards about rights to files, models or families. With us, that discussion does not arise. The drawings, the models and the associated source files belong to the client, even when we have built them in our own environment and with our own licences. We deliver in editable formats, so your own team can carry on without us. So no dependency is left behind that only we can resolve. We are just as direct about confidentiality. So far we have not signed a non-disclosure agreement, simply because clients have not asked for one. We are, however, open to it. If sensitive material is involved, such as a product line that has not yet been launched or a tender that is under way, we sign an NDA before the first file is exchanged.
Beyond that, we keep things practical. We do not work in the client's environment but in our own, so no client login details are needed. Files are sent by email or through the project software the client can log into. At the end of a project, we deliver the complete set in the agreed formats, including the families and templates we built along the way. The exact agreements that apply are recorded before the work begins, together with the CAD standard and the method of delivery. That way everyone knows where the files end up and who is allowed to do what with them.
From first conversation to partial delivery and feedback
Every project starts with a conversation. In it we go through what is there, what needs to be done and which standard applies. The client supplies the details and usually also existing drawings that need revising. We review that set before drawing up a schedule, because the state of the source material often determines the pace more than the number of sheets.
A clean DWG with a consistent layer structure is processed faster than a file that is half hand-drawn and printed incorrectly. We then divide the work among the drafters. We deliver in stages, collect feedback, make adjustments and move on to the next batch.
That approach prevents a misunderstanding in the set-up from only becoming visible on the last sheets. Every delivery passes through at least three review layers. A drafter draws, a second team member checks that work, Sam then reviews it as team leader and Barry, as project manager, checks it one final time. As a result, the number of errors stays minimal in practice and you do not have to act as proofreader yourself. When a date cannot move, we organise the project around it.
For a fixed deadline, our team worked through evenings and weekends, with days of fourteen to fifteen hours, even during a planned holiday of Sam's. That is not our standard rhythm, but it does say something about how we handle a hard deadline. If you are considering our CAD drawing service, you can also start with a small first assignment to judge our speed and accuracy.
Frequently asked questions about our CAD drawing service
Hand your CAD drawings 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.