An enquiry to outsource drafting for concrete construction usually starts with a set of floor plans, sections and details that must be finished before construction begins. We take over that drafting in 2D and, where needed, in 3D, so your own team keeps room for the work that cannot be handed over.
We draw up what you supply. Calculations, structural decisions and engineering stay with you; we turn those decisions into neat, consistent drawings. All of our drafters have more than ten years of CAD experience and work in Revit, AutoCAD and Rhino, always in the latest versions.
The work runs from our own office, on our own licences, and you have one fixed point of contact with us. Clients are welcome to visit, but we carry out the work remotely. We scale with the volume, from a single drafter to as many drafters as needed from our large, variable team, and when it is urgent we add people straight away. We respond to a new enquiry within 1 to 2 working days.
Cable tray routing in the model, built with parametric families that carry the material schedule with them.
What we deliver when you outsource concrete construction drafting
In concrete construction, the drafting we take over revolves around repetition and accuracy down to the last detail. We produce floor plans, sections, elevations and detail drawings in AutoCAD, and build the same project in Revit if that is what you work in. We incorporate openings and penetrations supplied by the MEP contractor throughout the whole set, so the floor plan and section stay in step with each other. We draw up reinforcement drawings based on the data supplied by the structural engineer; we do not touch the calculations themselves. For precast components, we produce element drawings and convert the set into production-ready output.
We also take care of as-built drawings, including the investigative work when the material supplied comes in messy. When you outsource drafting in concrete construction, revisions are often the largest block of hours. A wall opening shifts by half a metre, and that change runs through the floor plan, the section, the detail and the schedule. We carry out a round like that in one go, so the set is consistent again after the revision. Our output leaves in DWG and DXF, in Revit formats and where necessary as a STEP file, and in any other common CAD format.
We also build parametric Revit families for components that keep recurring, such as a series of column heads or a standard detail in several sizes. We create a smart component like that once, after which it adapts to a new size and the material schedule updates automatically. We draft; we do not do engineering, we do not give structural advice and we do not handle permits. We deliberately keep that division sharp, because you remain responsible for the content and we for the execution of the drafting.
A fixed point of contact and meeting rhythm during the drafting
With us, you keep one fixed point of contact from start to finish. Barry, our project manager, picks up a new enquiry first and discusses what is on the table, after which our team leader Sam takes over the technical side. Sam has more than fifteen years of background in architecture, worked in Iran for seven years, ran his own design practice in the Netherlands and still works as an engineer. He directs our CAD team and handles project supervision, so the project lead on your side does not have to deal with five people at once. We decide the meeting rhythm together.
On a concrete construction project with a tight schedule, we often meet briefly every two days; on calmer projects, a weekly meeting is enough. Day-to-day contact runs via email and phone. We visit you when that helps, and if you want to see our office you are welcome, although we carry out the work itself remotely. For one-off drafting, we simply send files back and forth by email. On larger projects, we use software you can log in to and follow progress per component, something we use in greenhouse construction projects, for example, and which works just as well for an extensive concrete set.
We deliver in stages and gather feedback after each partial delivery. We process that feedback before we continue drafting, so an incorrect assumption does not run through a hundred sheets. If you change course in the middle of the project, we adapt without our drafting team having to start over. That keeps the drafting predictable and leaves you in the driving seat.
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 in outsourced drafting
All the drafting work we deliver remains your intellectual property. We create the files, you own them, and you can use them without restriction in your own supply chain. That applies to individual DWG files, to a complete Revit model and also to the parametric families we build along the way. A family set like that remains yours, even when we are no longer working on the project. We take confidentiality seriously, because in concrete construction, price build-ups, detail solutions and client data are often in the same folder as the drawings. So far, we have not signed a non-disclosure agreement, simply because our clients have not asked for one, but we are open to an NDA. If you use a standard agreement, send it to us and we will sign it before the first file reaches us.
We work in our own environment with our own licences, so we do not ask for access to your network or server. That saves an IT project and keeps the separation between the two organisations clear. We use material we receive solely for the project you supplied it for. We do not share drawings with third parties and we do not reuse one client's work for another. We do not hold certifications or quality marks, so we do not claim them either, and we think it is more honest to simply say so. What we do offer is a fixed way of working, a check on every sheet and agreements we put in writing in advance. We would rather discuss those agreements at the start than halfway through.
From first conversation to partial delivery in concrete construction
Every project with us starts with a conversation in which we go through the project. You tell us what is there, what schedule is attached and which documents you already have, and we keep asking questions until we have a clear picture. We usually receive existing drawings that need a round of revisions, supplemented with details, principles and a drawing convention or standard.
On that basis, we tell you how many drafters we will deploy and how we will divide the set. Then we begin, because as soon as we have enough information we can start. We work to your standard, meaning your layer structure, title block, naming and hatching, not to a house style of our own.
We deliberately schedule the first partial delivery early. We would rather show five sheets the project lead can assess than a hundred sheets that all contain the same deviation. We process their comments and then continue with the next part, at the same rhythm, until the set is complete. When you outsource drafting in concrete construction, this approach brings peace of mind, because nobody faces surprises at the end. If a deadline that cannot slip is looming in the meantime, we scale up.
Our team has previously worked through evenings and weekends for this, with days of fourteen to fifteen hours, to meet a delivery date. If someone is off sick or on holiday, we bring in a replacement and the work simply carries on. A short job is fine too, such as a single revision package, so you can first judge our speed and accuracy before handing over a larger set.
Frequently asked questions about outsourcing drafting for concrete construction
Hand your concrete construction drafting 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.