Reply within 1 to 2 working daysNo subscriptionOur own software licences
25 years
of CAD experience at the core of the team
3 layers
of review before every delivery
Large
flexible team that scales with every project
RevitAutoCADInventorRhinoDWG, DXF, RVT, STEP and every common CAD format
When clients get structural drawings produced by us, most of them are not handing over the drafting altogether; they are drawing a clear line between what goes out of the door and what stays in-house. The design, the choices about materials and structural make-up, and final responsibility remain with the client.
What we take on alongside that is the drafting itself: working it all up into a complete set of structural drawings. We are an outsourced drafting team that picks up that work, fully remotely from our own office and on our own licences.
We draft; we do not do engineering, and we do not produce structural calculations or permit applications. Everyone who works for us has more than ten years of CAD experience, and Sam, our team leader, has a background of more than fifteen years in architecture and still works as an engineer. That way you keep technical responsibility for the design firmly in your own hands, while we handle the drafting and you have one fixed point of contact with us.
Cable tray routing in the model, built with parametric families that carry the material schedule with them.
01
Getting started with your structural drawings
Before the first work can get properly under way, there are a few things we need from you. It starts with a conversation in which you walk us through the project details and explain what the structure is meant to do. Usually you will also send us existing drawings that need revising, or a model that our new drafting has to tie in with. Your CAD standards matter too: the layer structure, the way you dimension, the hatches you use and how files are named. We receive those conventions at the outset, so our work fits what is already there and nobody has to rework drawings afterwards.
A smart component with a live material schedule: a change to one part is reflected in the schedule straight away.
Barry, our project manager, is your first point of contact for a new enquiry and holds the initial conversation. After that, Sam takes over the technical side and remains your fixed link for technical coordination throughout the project. We respond to a new enquiry within 1 to 2 working days. As soon as we have enough information we can start, including with a short first assignment if you would like to see how quickly and accurately we work before committing.
We do not deliver everything in one go at the end, but in stages. We send a first batch back to you, you give feedback, we make the changes and carry on. That keeps the project under control from day one, and you do not have to wait weeks to find out whether our approach matches what the structure actually needs.
Model in Revit
Built from the documents you supply, consistently to your standard.
Drawings from the model
Floor plans, sections, elevations, details and overviews.
As-built and revisions
Updating existing sets and dossiers that have fallen behind.
Parametric families
Smart components with a material schedule that updates with them.
3D modelling
In Rhino or Inventor, converted to the format your supply chain uses.
Template clean-up
Cleaning up or rebuilding existing families and templates.
Send us your set or model and we will tell you what we can deliver from it.
Three projects under way, and the modelling for the fourth is stalling.
Manufacturers
The product line needs to become smart components, but nobody in-house can be freed up.
Contractors
The as-built dossier needs updating while the drawing office has already moved on to the next job.
Engineering firms
A peak in drafting work that your own team cannot absorb.
The clients who outsource structural drawings vary widely, but the problem on the table is usually much the same. An engineering firm is rarely short of expertise; it is short of drafting capacity when several projects move into execution at the same time. For a contractor the problem tends to surface later on, once the structure has been calculated and a complete drawing set has to be ready fast before construction can start. An architectural practice that mainly designs often has too few drafters left to do the structural detailing itself, and prefers to hand that part to us because our drafters work on it every day.
A manufacturer may find that a product line keeps calling for similar structures with small changes per order, while its own team has no time for that on top of ongoing work. The people at the table for this kind of project are usually a manager, a team leader or the owner. The trigger is almost never a lack of structural knowledge, but a lack of hours to draw everything in-house. A peak in the drawing office, a vacancy that stays unfilled or a deadline that arrives faster than the current staff can handle: those are the moments when clients call us.
Our clients are based in the Netherlands, and that is where our focus lies. What they have in common is that the work is predictable and repetitive, and that outsourcing it frees up room for the part of the project their own team was actually hired to do.
Our own office with our own licences: nothing needs to be set up or released on your side.
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.
We go through the work and receive the details and drawing conventions.
02
Reply within 1 to 2 working days
With enough information we can start straight away.
03
Delivery in stages
A first part comes back to you, you review it and we collect your feedback.
04
Check-ins at your pace
Every two days when it is urgent, weekly when things are calmer.
When you outsource structural drawings to us, we deliver a complete set, from general arrangement drawing to detail. That starts with floor plans and elevations showing the structural make-up, followed by sections that show how storeys, floors or roof structures connect. We also work up connection details, fixing the joint between two structural members down to the last dimension. Where needed we add 3D modelling in Revit or Rhino, so you can assess a structure as a whole before we finalise the drawings. As-built drawings and revisions to existing sets are part of the standard package, as is updating a drawing set as a design changes during construction. For projects with a lot of repetition, such as a series of similar connections in an industrial hall, we build parametric Revit families in which the material schedule updates automatically as soon as a component changes.
We deliver output in DXF, DWG, the Revit formats and STEP, and in practice in any common CAD format the project calls for. We always work with the latest software versions. Our set-up follows the standards and drawing conventions you supply, so the set fits what already exists and nobody has to convert anything before the drawings can be used on site. Exactly what a delivery contains, drawing type by drawing type, we agree in the first conversation, so there is no uncertainty about the scope of the work beforehand. We also take earlier revisions and additions to a set into account, so our delivery ties in with what you already have.
Your fixed points of contact
Project manager Barry leads the first conversation, team leader Sam keeps a firm grip on the technical side
You never have to explain the situation all over again. Getting acquainted takes a short fifteen-minute call.
The size of a structural drawing project can vary considerably, which is why we scale up per assignment. That can start with one drafter for a clearly defined part, and on a large project we deploy as many drafters as needed from our large, flexible team. The team we use for this is already in place, so when things are urgent we add people straight away instead of recruiting first.
Step 1
Drafter
Creates the model and the drawings.
Step 2
Second team member
Checks the work for structure and dimensions.
Step 3
Sam
Team leader: reviews the technical side of the set.
Final check
Barry
Project manager: gives it a final review before delivery.
That saves time at exactly the moment you have none to spare. You pay no ongoing salary costs and are not tied to staff who sit idle once the peak is over. If someone on our side is off sick or on holiday, we replace them so the work carries on without any delay for you.
Case study: Firefly
That is a difference from an in-house drawing office, where one person dropping out often hits the schedule immediately. How many people make sense on a project depends on how easily the work can be divided. A set with many repeating structural members can be spread well across several drafters at once, whereas closely interlinked work we prefer to keep with a smaller, fixed group, because otherwise coordination costs more time than it saves.
We decide that split together at the start of the project and adjust it as soon as the schedule requires. That way capacity moves with the project rather than the other way round, and you do not need to recruit drafters yourself for work that disappears after the peak.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about getting structural drawings produced
When you get structural drawings produced by us, the design and the structural decisions stay with you; we only take over the drafting. In practice that means the calculations, the choice of materials and the permit application remain with you or your engineer. We translate those decisions into a complete set of drawings that can be used for construction. In doing so we follow the drawing conventions and CAD standards you supply.
That keeps the division between design and drafting clear, and everyone knows who is responsible for what. So we do not do engineering and we do not give structural advice. What we do is turn that advice accurately into a usable drawing set. In the first conversation we agree together exactly which part will sit with us.
To get started we mainly need the project details and, if available, any existing drawings that need revising. Your CAD standards are also important, such as the layer structure and the way you dimension. If there is no standard, we work out a set-up with you that fits the rest of the project. An indication of the schedule also helps us decide on the right staffing. The more complete the information you send, the faster we can get the first work moving. We respond to a new enquiry within 1 to 2 working days. As soon as we have enough information we can begin, even with a small first assignment. That first conversation takes place by phone or through the contact form on the website.
Outsourcing structural drawings is mainly relevant for engineering firms, architectural practices, contractors and manufacturers that are temporarily or structurally short of drafting capacity. An engineering firm is not short of knowledge, but of hours when several projects are running at once. For a contractor the problem arises around the start of construction, when a complete drawing set has to be ready quickly. An architectural practice sometimes prefers to hand the structural detailing to us so it can stay focused on the design.
For a manufacturer it is often about a product line with repeating structures and small variants per order. The people at the table are usually a manager, a team leader or the owner. The trigger is almost always capacity, not a lack of knowledge. If this sounds familiar, the best step is to explain your situation in a first conversation with us.
Yes, connection details are a standard part of a complete set of structural drawings. In them we work out the joint between two structural members down to the last dimension, including the materials as you have specified them. Where a connection occurs more than once within the same project, we build it parametrically so we can quickly derive a variant from the original. That saves us drawing every connection separately by hand.
The material schedule updates automatically as soon as a component changes. We deliver output in the format and at the scale the contractor needs. On a set with a lot of repetition, our approach saves considerable time compared with drawing each detail individually. In the first conversation we discuss how many of these connections the project contains.
When things are urgent we add extra drafters to the ongoing work straight away, because our team is already in place and we do not have to recruit first. With our large, flexible team we scale up or down per project, depending on what the project requires. How many people make sense depends on how easily the remaining drawings can be divided. A set with many repeating components can be spread well across several drafters at once.
For a deadline that could not move, we have previously worked evenings and weekends to deliver on time. We do that by agreement, not as standard on every project. You do not have to recruit or temporarily hire extra people yourself. If you are running up against a deadline, it is best to discuss it with us as early as possible.
If someone drops out through illness or holiday, we replace that person so the work simply carries on. You will notice little of it in the schedule, because our team is broader than that one person. That is a difference from an in-house drawing office, where losing one drafter often hits progress immediately. We hand over the project knowledge internally to the replacement, so you do not have to arrange that yourself.
It does not add any ongoing salary costs for you. Sam, our team leader, keeps an eye on the technical side of the work during such a handover. On longer projects this flexibility is one of the reasons clients choose to outsource. If you have questions about staffing, we are happy to discuss them during the project.
We work to your standards and drawing conventions, which we receive at the start of the project. That means the layer structure, hatching, dimensioning and file naming match what the project already uses. If there is no standard, we propose a set-up in consultation with you that fits logically with comparable projects. That way nobody has to adjust drawings afterwards because they do not match the rest of the set.
This is especially important in a revision round on an existing set, because it lets us spot deviations quickly. During our checks we test whether the standard has been applied consistently. We use this approach on every project, regardless of size. In the first conversation we go through the required standard together.
Every structural drawing goes through at least three layers of review before it reaches you. A drafter produces the drawing, a second team member checks the work, Sam reviews the technical side as team leader, and Barry, our project manager, gives it a final look. As a result, the number of errors stays minimal in practice, even with a large set of drawings within one project. With repeating structural members we also check that the parametric set-up has been applied consistently.
We used this approach for Firefly on more than twenty projects and hundreds of drawings. We do not drop these checks under time pressure either, not even with a deadline that could not move. That keeps quality consistent, however much pressure there is on the schedule. If you would like to know more about how we work, just ask in a first conversation.
