In practice, getting structural drawings drafted is mainly a question of volume. A set rarely consists of a few special sheets; it is usually dozens of variations on the same theme. The same connection, the same section, the same build-up, each time in a different size or position.
We take over that repetitive part from companies that lack sufficient in-house drafting capacity. Our work is drafting and modelling, not engineering. Calculations, structural decisions and advice stay with you or your structural engineer, and we work out the starting points you supply.
Our large, flexible team scales with each project, and everyone has more than ten years of CAD experience. We work remotely from our own office with our own licences, for clients throughout the Netherlands. Sam, our team leader, leads the drafting work and keeps an eye on the technical side. We respond to a new enquiry within 1 to 2 working days. We then look together at where the volume in the set lies.
Cable tray routing in the model, built with parametric families that carry the material schedule with them.
The repetitive part of structural drawings
A set of structural drawings almost always has a core that repeats itself. Think of a connection detail that comes back in five sizes, or a grid that runs across ten axes. That work does not call for creativity, but it does call for accuracy and stamina. That is exactly where an in-house drawing office gets stuck, because the permanent drafters also have to handle the special work. We take over that volume and leave the in-house expertise free for the difficult part. The time saving comes from two things. First, we put several drafters on a divided series at the same time.
Second, we build the repeating component properly once, after which it can be used anywhere. Greenhouse construction offers a telling example. 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, and in that kind of work that saves at least seventy per cent of the time.
The same principle applies to repetitive structural components in other sectors. That is why, at the start, we identify which components come up frequently. That conversation is short, but it shapes the rest of the project. If you get structural drawings drafted without that step, you end up paying for the same manual work a hundred times. We deliver the volume in batches, so work preparation does not have to wait for the last sheets. Meanwhile, the rest of the series simply carries on.
What we deliver when you get structural drawings drafted
We deliver structural drawings as 2D sheets, with floor plans, elevations, sections and detail sheets at the scale you use. Where the project calls for it, we first build a 3D model and generate the sheets from it. That model comes with a material schedule that stays in step with what has been drawn. We also carry out revision rounds on existing sets and update as-built drawings until they match the built situation. We include part numbering, positions and references the way you are used to. What we do not deliver is a structural calculation or advice on section selection.
We receive those starting points from you and draft them. If a drafter sees something that does not seem right, we flag it and wait for an answer. We do not fill anything in ourselves, because that would blur the responsibilities. Delivery is in DWG, DXF, Revit formats or STEP, including source files. We arrange a print set as well if the site team needs one. For standalone AutoCAD work that runs by email, and on larger projects through software you log into.
When you get structural drawings drafted, you also want to know what happens to ownership. It lies with you, including the families and templates we build along the way. We do not hold back a library that you cannot access later. Every set we deliver has passed through at least three review layers. A drafter draws, a second team member checks, Sam assesses it as team leader and Barry, our project manager, signs it off. In practice, that keeps errors to a minimum, even with large numbers of sheets.
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.
Parametric working and smart Revit families
We build parametric Revit families, in other words smart components. A component like that adapts to a new situation or a different size. The idea is simple: build the component properly once and then place it anywhere, without drawing it again. When the component changes, the linked material schedule updates automatically. That not only saves drafting time, it also prevents a schedule and a sheet from drifting apart. We can clean up existing families and templates or build them from scratch. Depending on the state of the existing set, one approach will be wiser than the other. If a family set is very messy, with duplicate variants and stray parameters, rebuilding is sometimes faster than repairing. We make that trade-off visible before we start, because it affects the planning.
For a client getting structural drawings drafted in Revit, this is often the biggest gain. The first sheets take a little more time, after which things move quickly. Across a series of a hundred variants, that difference adds up considerably. If your organisation works in AutoCAD, the gain is smaller, because AutoCAD builds components less intelligently. Even then, we look for blocks and standards that reduce the manual work. We use Grasshopper where geometry can be described with rules. We use Dynamo and Vault to a limited extent, depending on what is already in place. We do not impose a new way of working on a team that is getting on fine with its own set-up. We do show what is possible, so your project leader can make the choice.
Software, versions and formats for structural drawings
Our main software is Revit, AutoCAD and Rhino. We also work with Inventor and Grasshopper and, to a limited extent, Dynamo and Vault. We always run the latest versions, and there is a practical reason for that. A file saved in a newer version does not always open in an older one. That is why we ask at the start which version you use, and we deliver in that format.
We exchange files in DXF, DWG, Revit formats and STEP, and in practice in any common CAD format. A STEP file is useful when a supplier processes the part further by machine. We work in our own environment with our own licences, not in yours.
So you do not need to arrange a workstation, licence or external access. We do adopt your drawing conventions in full, from layer structure to title block and numbering. You supply those conventions to us at the start of the project. If nothing has been defined, we propose a set-up and only continue drafting once it is approved. With structural drawings, we pay extra attention to how the sheets relate to each other.
A position number that differs between two sheets causes immediate confusion on site. That is why we also check the consistency of the set as a whole, not just the individual sheet. Files go back and forth by email, and on larger projects through software in which you can follow along. When you get structural drawings drafted this way, you stay in control of both the content and the files.
Frequently asked questions about getting structural drawings drafted
Let us draft your structural 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.