If meeting your drafting deadline is at the top of your schedule, you soon start looking at the software the work is done in. We draft in Revit, AutoCAD and Rhino, and also use Inventor and Grasshopper. We use Dynamo and Vault to a limited extent, where the process benefits from them.
We always run the latest versions, in our own environment with our own licences. We deliver in DXF, DWG, Revit formats and STEP, and otherwise in any common CAD format.
That choice is not a detail when a date is fixed. A set that comes back in the wrong format costs you a day you do not have. That is why, before the first drawing, we agree which package, which version and which format are leading. We then divide the work across the team and deliver in stages. That way your project lead can see well before the date whether the pace is right. When it is urgent, we scale up immediately with extra drafters.
Cable tray routing in the model, built with parametric families that carry the material schedule with them.
From first conversation to partial delivery on a tight deadline
The process starts with a conversation in which we go through the project and the deadline. We want to know which drawings exist, what is still to come and where the pressure lies. You then supply the documents, usually existing drawings that need revising. We go through that set and point out what is missing before the drafting begins. Next, we divide the work into blocks that can run independently of each other. We deliver those blocks in stages rather than everything at the end. On each part we gather feedback, make adjustments and move on to the next block.
That order is a deliberate choice, because an error in block one would otherwise end up in every block. The meeting rhythm depends on how urgent it is. With a tight deadline we speak every two days, on a calmer project weekly. Contact runs via email, phone and meetings, and we visit you or welcome you at our office. For standalone AutoCAD drafting, files go back and forth by email. On larger projects, such as greenhouse construction projects, we work with software you log into to follow progress.
That way nobody has to guess how many sheets are finished. If the volume increases, we add drafters from our large, flexible team. Barry, our project manager, is the first point of contact for the enquiry, after which Sam, our team leader, takes over the technical side. That set-up keeps the lines short and prevents questions from being left unanswered just as the deadline approaches. We respond to a new enquiry within 1 to 2 working days.
An as-built file where the deadline could not move
Our work for Firefly now spans more than twenty projects and hundreds of drawings. One of those files came in as as-built material that was barely legible. The existing drawings had been printed incorrectly and parts had been drawn by hand. Dimensions were skewed on the sheet and the structure was messy. We could have called the client about it constantly. We did not, because every question causes a day's delay. Instead, we worked it out ourselves and still delivered the set neatly.
What we take from that is simple: unclear source material is no reason to wait. We solve what we can solve ourselves and only put the real decisions to you. On another project, there was a date that could not move. The team worked evenings and weekends, with days of fourteen to fifteen hours. That work even carried on during a planned holiday of Sam, the team leader. We do not call that standard practice, but it shows what we do when a deadline is fixed. Revision work on existing DWGs is the most common type of work in this context.
We strip out old layers, correct dimensions and bring the set back to a workable structure. After that, updating changes goes considerably faster. Part of that file consisted of details that came back in dozens of variants. We built those as smart components, so a change does not mean twenty rounds of manual work. For the client, it meant the final round of corrections was a matter of pushing through rather than redrawing.
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.
Drafting work to your own standard
We work according to your standard and drawing conventions. You give them to us, and we adopt them as they apply within the project. That covers layer structure, line weights, hatching, scales, title blocks and sheet naming. If templates and families are available, we continue drafting in them. If some of those conventions are missing, we derive them from the existing set and put our proposal to you. That costs half an hour of discussion at the start and saves an entire round of corrections later. With a tight deadline, that is the difference between making it and just missing it. We regularly see sets in which the layer structure has silted up over the years. Old revision layers, duplicate blocks and manual lines of text are then all mixed up.
We clean that up at the pace at which we are going through the drawings anyway. What we do not do is impose our own house style. The set has to fit what you already use internally, even if we would set it up differently ourselves. We do, however, work in our own environment with our own licences. Exchange therefore runs via file formats, not via an account on your systems. In DWG, DXF, Revit formats and STEP, the work comes back in the form the next stage of the process requires. We agree that form in advance, so nothing needs to shift at the end. If something in the standard changes halfway through, we incorporate it in the ongoing blocks. We tell you straight away if a change affects the pace.
Three review layers that keep the drafting right and on time
At OutsourceCAD, work passes through at least three review layers. A drafter draws it, a second team member checks that work and Sam then reviews it as team leader. Barry, as project manager, gives it a final check before the set goes to you. As a result, errors stay minimal in practice. With a fixed date, that matters more than it might seem.
An error that only surfaces during your final check costs an extra round. That round falls in exactly the week when there is no slack left. Our checks mainly catch the things that repeat. A wrong layer in a detail that comes back fifty times, a title block with an old revision code, a dimension that was not updated with a change.
The second reader looks at the drawing with different eyes from the person who made it. Sam also pays attention to the technical consistency between sheets. He has more than fifteen years of background in architecture and still works as an engineer. Every drafter we deploy has well over ten years of CAD experience. Combined, the core of our team has around twenty-five years of experience.
Because we deliver in stages, the results of those checks also reach you along the way. That leaves time to adjust something before the deadline comes into view. We record for every sheet who checked what, so any question afterwards can be traced quickly. That record-keeping costs little and prevents searching in the busiest phase.
Frequently asked questions about meeting your drafting deadline
Let us help you hit your drafting deadline
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.