At its core, the question behind getting 2D drawings drafted is always the same. Who can take over this volume without quality slipping and without adding a fixed cost? Our answer is short. We take over the drafting work, we do not do engineering, and we work to the drawing conventions you supply.
Our large, flexible team scales with each project, and everyone who drafts for us has more than ten years of CAD experience.
Every piece of work passes through at least three review layers before it leaves the office. We charge by the hour or a fixed price per project and only bill actual working hours, so there are no ongoing payroll costs. Where it gets really interesting is the repetition in sets like these. That is exactly where we cut time with smart components rather than more hands. We respond to an enquiry within 1 to 2 working days.
Cable tray routing in the model, built with parametric families that carry the material schedule with them.
Where the time saving lies in repetitive 2D drawings
Most of the work that comes in is not complicated, but there is a lot of it. A product line with dozens of variants, a series of connection details that differ slightly per situation, a piping diagram in which the same components keep coming back. In an in-house drawing office, that kind of work sinks to the bottom of the pile, because it poses no intellectual challenge and there is always something more urgent. That is exactly the part we pick up. Our gain does not come from clicking faster, but from the way we set up the work.
Before we produce the first drawing, we look at the whole series. Which components come back in every variant, which dimensions vary, and which parts differ only in name? We build a solid foundation for that once, and that foundation then carries the rest of the set. A concrete example from our own work comes from greenhouse construction. Companies there often work in AutoCAD, and AutoCAD is not smart at building components such as valves in piping systems. If you need a valve in 90 and in 110, you draw it by hand every single time.
With a smart component, it is placed in a single action. In that kind of work, this approach saves at least seventy per cent of the time. For a client considering getting 2D drawings drafted, that is the real calculation. Not a drafter's hourly rate, but the number of actions left once the work has been set up properly. We show you that trade-off at the start, with the time each route takes. That way you can make the choice yourself.
Parametric families behind 2D drawings
We build smart components in Revit as parametric families. A component like that adapts to a new situation or a different size, without anyone having to draw it again. We create the component once and then place it anywhere. Material schedules are linked, so if the component changes, the schedule changes automatically. In practice, that is often more important than the drafting itself, because a schedule that lags behind the drawing immediately causes problems in purchasing and work preparation.
For existing families and templates, we take care of clean-up or rebuilding. We decide which is wiser based on the existing set. If a family set is very messy, with duplicate variants, stray parameters and names nobody recognises any more, rebuilding is sometimes faster than repairing. With a reasonably organised set, cleaning up and adding to it is enough. We set those two routes side by side in advance with the time they take, so you can make the choice yourself.
If a firm works entirely in AutoCAD, part of that gain is still achievable through a tight block and attribute structure, although the link with the schedule is less straightforward there. We use Grasshopper when a series of variants calls for a genuinely parametric build, and we use Dynamo to a limited extent. We build this for you, not for ourselves. The intellectual property belongs to you, so your own team can then carry on with it independently. We also explain how the parameters are set up, so a colleague who joins later understands why a family is built the way it is.
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.
What is included in the delivered set of 2D drawings
You receive workable source files from us, not just a PDF to print. Depending on the package, that is DWG, DXF, a Revit format or STEP, and any other common CAD format the next process requires. It includes everything you need to carry on without us: the blocks or families used, the layer structure customary within your firm, and the title blocks in your own layout. We build that set to the standard we receive from you, so no second drafting style creeps into your existing collection. For us, connecting to the next process mainly means that the set can go straight on. To work preparation, to production, to the contractor or to the next firm in the chain. That is why we ask in advance who will receive the drawings after us and for what purpose.
A set that goes to a cutting machine requires a different export from a set that goes into the archive as a revision file. We deliver in stages, so you can see the structure while the work is in progress and adjust it before the pattern is fixed. If a change turns out to be needed later, we pick up that revision in the same structure. That is exactly why companies that get 2D drawings drafted look for a regular partner, rather than training someone new in their conventions every round. Our agreements simply remain in place between rounds, which saves start-up time with every new request.
Scaling up as soon as volume increases
With this kind of work, volume is rarely constant. A request comes in, a delivery date shifts, or a client suddenly wants twenty variants instead of five. We absorb that by letting the team size move with it. Our team is already in place, so we deploy what the project requires instead of recruiting first. For an ongoing stream, a limited team that knows the rhythm is often enough.
When a peak comes in, we expand that team with as many people as needed from our large, flexible team. When things are urgent, we add people straight away and do not redistribute existing work, because that only costs handover time. We handle absences internally.
If a drafter goes on holiday or falls ill, a colleague takes over with the same agreements and the same CAD standards. You do not have to arrange anything and pay no ongoing payroll costs. Sam, our team leader, keeps things on track in both cases. He has more than fifteen years of background in architecture, worked in Iran for seven years, ran his own design firm in the Netherlands and still works as an engineer. He leads the CAD team and is responsible for the technical side.
Barry, our project manager, picks up new enquiries and remains the first point of contact. So you will not notice from the number of people you deal with that more people are involved. Even with many drafters working at once, the review line stays the same, and every piece of work passes several pairs of eyes before it leaves our office and appears on your screen.
Frequently asked questions about getting 2D drawings drafted
Let us draft your 2D drawings
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.