How much does 3D drafting cost? We can only answer that question properly once we know which file format and which CAD standards you work with. We can deliver DXF, DWG, Revit formats and STEP, and in practice any common CAD format. We adopt your layer structure, naming and title blocks, because those conventions come from you.
If a firm works with its own template, we follow it rather than adding a layout of our own alongside it. That saves the drawing office post-processing, and post-processing is exactly where hours leak away.
We model in Revit, Rhino and Inventor and also draft in AutoCAD, always in the latest versions. For volume work that makes a difference, because a cleanly built model needs fewer corrections later on. We do the drafting and modelling work, not engineering or calculations. We respond to an enquiry within 1 to 2 working days. We then go through the documents with you in a conversation.
Cable tray routing in the model, built with parametric families that carry the material schedule with them.
What we deliver within 3D drafting
Within 3D drafting, we create models and derive from them the drawings you need. That starts with the model itself, built in Revit, Rhino or Inventor, depending on the type of object and the software in which you will continue working. From that model we extract floor plans, sections, elevations and detail drawings. Where parts are concerned, we also deliver part drawings and assemblies, including the associated material schedule. As-built work is part of it as well, as are revisions to an existing set that no longer matches reality.
We deliver 2D drafting and 3D modelling where needed, and in many assignments the two overlap. A manufacturer might, for example, want a 3D model for production as well as flat drawings for the shop floor. The output is delivered in DXF, DWG, Revit formats or STEP, exactly as the receiving party wants it. On larger projects we deliver in stages, so the project leader can adjust course along the way. We deliberately keep the model structure logical, with components that can be reused later.
That pays for itself as soon as a variant is added or a dimension changes. What we do not do is carry out structural calculations or advise on permits. We draft and model; the engineering stays with you or your consultant. That clear boundary keeps the assignment manageable and the costs predictable, because everyone knows which part sits with us. If you want to know exactly which drawing types you need, send us your existing set. We will then tell you what we can get out of it and in what order.
The 3D drafting process step by step
Every project with us starts with a conversation. In it we go through what is already there, what needs to be produced and when it needs to be ready. You supply the details and usually existing drawings that need revising. Based on that, we decide on the structure of the model and the order of the drafting work. We then deliver in stages. We do this deliberately, because a first partial delivery shows whether our interpretation matches what you had in mind.
If something turns out to have been meant differently, we correct it on a few drawings rather than on a hundred. We actively gather feedback and process it, after which the next part follows. The meeting rhythm differs per client. Some project leaders want contact every two days, others are happy with a weekly check-in, depending on how urgent the work is. On larger projects such as greenhouse construction projects, we work with software that you can log in to and follow progress. For standalone AutoCAD drafting, the files go back and forth by email.
Before a file leaves our office, it has been through at least three review layers. A drafter draws, a second team member checks, then Sam reviews it as team leader and finally Barry, as project manager, checks the whole. As a result, the number of errors remains minimal in practice, and that saves you rounds of corrections. We start as soon as we have enough information. If you supply the material complete from the outset, you shorten the start-up phase considerably. If something is missing, we would rather work it out ourselves than call your drawing office every day.
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.
When outsourcing 3D drafting makes sense
Outsourcing is not the best choice in every situation, and we say so when that is the case. It makes sense mainly when there is volume and repetition. If there is a series of hundreds of similar drawings, or a complete as-built set needs to be rebuilt, there is little reason to tie up your own team with it. The same applies to a peak that lasts six weeks. Hiring a permanent drafter for six weeks of work leaves you with idle capacity afterwards, and training up a temp takes time you do not have at that moment. Revision rounds on existing DWG sets also lend themselves well to outsourcing, because the work is easy to define. Your own team is better off keeping what sits close to the design decisions. Where choices about structure, building services or execution are made continuously during drafting, the knowledge is in the heads of your own people.
After all, we do draft, but we do not do engineering. Work that requires daily consultation with the project leader costs unnecessary coordination on our side. A set without any CAD standards is also tricky, although we solve that by recording the conventions in advance. In practice, clients often split the work. The conceptual part stays in-house, while the detailing and revisions come to us. That division keeps costs low and lead times short. We are happy to help you decide where to draw that line in the first conversation, even if it means less work for us. An honest division of work pays off more in the long run than an assignment that does not fit.
A freelancer, a new employee or our team
A drawing office that is short of capacity has roughly three options. Hire a freelancer, take someone on permanently, or hand the drafting work to us. A freelancer is one person. If they drop out, the work stops, and with a peak of two hundred drawings they simply run out of capacity. We have a large, variable team of drafters and scale up or down per project, depending on what the project requires.
If someone on our side is off due to illness or holiday, we replace them and the work carries on. A new permanent employee is a different consideration. That involves a recruitment process, an induction period and then ongoing salary costs, even in months when there is less drafting to do.
Those costs do not keep running with us, because you only pay for the hours we spend on your drawings. What also makes a difference is the checking. With an individual contractor, you do the checking yourself. With us, the work passes through at least three layers before it goes out. As a result, quality does not depend on one person on one day. We also provide a fixed point of contact, so the project leader does not have to deal with changing faces.
The intellectual property of the work belongs to you, just as it would with your own employee. In terms of cost, the comparison cannot be made in a single sentence, because a permanent employee also brings overheads and equipment. We work in our own environment with our own licences, so none of that is added on our side.
Frequently asked questions about how much 3D drafting costs
Hand your 3D 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.