When clients consider outsourcing 3D drafting to a drafting firm, many ask how we safeguard quality once the work is no longer done on their own premises. We solve that with at least three review layers. A drafter draws, a second team member checks that work, Sam, our team leader, then reviews it, and Barry, our project manager, looks over it last before we send anything.
We do not use that structure for show. With a set of Revit families that has become clogged up, or a revision round on existing DWGs that has to be correct in several places at once, a single glance will not catch every error.
Our team consists of people with more than ten years of CAD experience, led by Sam, who has more than fifteen years of background in architecture. We work in Revit, AutoCAD and Rhino, with Inventor and Grasshopper, and we deliver in DXF, DWG, Revit formats or STEP. We do the work remotely from our office, with the Netherlands as our area of operation, and you are always welcome to visit and meet our team.
Cable tray routing in the model, built with parametric families that carry the material schedule with them.
What a drafting firm delivers when you outsource 3D drafting
When you are considering outsourcing 3D drafting, the first question is what exactly a drafting firm delivers. With us, the delivery consists of 2D drafting where needed and, where the project calls for it, 3D modelling, as-built drawings and revisions of existing material. That might be a completely new model, a set of components that comes back in high volume, or a file that was printed incorrectly and partly drawn by hand, which we therefore first sort out properly before making it usable.
Our main software is Revit, AutoCAD and Rhino, supplemented by Inventor, Grasshopper and, to a limited extent, Dynamo and Vault, always in the latest versions. We deliver the output in DXF, DWG, Revit formats or STEP, or in virtually any other common CAD format you work with. For parametric work we also build smart Revit families that adapt to a new size, so we do not have to redraw a component by hand each time and the material schedule updates automatically.
Our large, variable team scales with the volume of each assignment, so we can absorb a peak in your drawing office without other ongoing work being delayed. Every piece of work goes through at least three review layers before we deliver it. That way you know in advance not only what we draw, but also in which format, at what level of detail and with what checks we hand it back to you.
Collaboration and communication with the drafting firm
When you outsource 3D drafting to a drafting firm, the collaboration counts just as much as the drawing itself. With us, Barry is usually the first point of contact for a new request. As soon as the project takes shape, Sam takes over the technical side and guides the execution, so you always deal with the same people rather than changing contacts. We agree the rhythm of catch-ups with each client, from every two days to weekly contact, depending on how fast the project needs to run and how complex the subject matter is.
For standalone AutoCAD drafting, we usually exchange files by email, in a clear rhythm of delivering and getting feedback. On larger projects, such as in greenhouse construction, we use an environment you can log into to follow the project's progress live, without us having to send a separate message each time. Day-to-day contact runs through email, phone or a short meeting, and a visit is always an option, even though we carry out the work itself remotely from our own office. We work in our own environment and with our own licences, not logged into your systems, which keeps coordination simpler.
Thanks to that fixed rhythm and fixed point of contact, we are not an anonymous party at a distance, but a team where you know who is responsible for what and when the next delivery is due. New clients usually notice that rhythm by our first partial delivery, which quickly builds trust in the collaboration.
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.
Ownership and confidentiality when you outsource 3D drafting
When you outsource 3D drafting, ownership plays a role that clients often want to settle in advance. The intellectual property of what we draw and model belongs to you, even when it is a parametric Revit family we build specifically for a project. You can therefore use the result without restrictions in your own process, even after we have completed the project. On confidentiality, we have not signed a non-disclosure agreement so far, simply because clients have not asked for one to date, but we are fully open to an NDA if you would like one. We exchange files by email or, on larger projects, through an environment that only those involved can log into. We work with our own software and our own licences, in our own environment, not in your systems, so we always know where the files are.
When revising existing drawings, such as an as-built file that was partly drawn by hand, we take the original as our starting point and do not deviate from it without consulting you. We record agreements on ownership, format and delivery in the first conversation, together with the CAD standard you use. That way you know exactly where you stand in advance, with no small print that only surfaces later, and we can simply get to work with no disputes afterwards about who may use which file. If you want extra certainty, you can put those agreements on paper with us before we share the first file.
From first conversation to delivery with a drafting firm
We always start a project to outsource 3D drafting to a drafting firm with a conversation. In it, you map out the details of the project and usually also supply existing drawings that need revising, for example a file that was printed incorrectly or partly drawn by hand. Based on that, we decide together which CAD standard and drawing conventions apply, so the result matches what you need further down the line.
Once that is clear, our team gets started, from a single drafter on a smaller assignment to a larger crew when the volume or deadline requires it.
We do not deliver one large package in one go, but in stages, so you can review and adjust along the way before we pick up the next piece. Each partial delivery is followed by feedback, which we process before the project continues, and we repeat that rhythm until the project is complete. Every component goes through at least three review layers, from the drafter who produces the work to Sam as team leader and Barry as project manager, who look at it last.
We reply to a new request within 1 to 2 working days, and as soon as we have enough information, we start on the first work. If you first want to see how our team works, a short, smaller assignment is a logical first step, before we scale up to a larger, ongoing project with more available capacity and a fixed rhythm of catch-ups.
Frequently asked questions about outsourcing 3D drafting to a drafting firm
Hand your 3D drafting over to our firm
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.