We produce revision drawings; we do not produce structural calculations. We set out that boundary at the start of every conversation, because it defines what you as a client can expect from us. We are a drafting partner. We process changes in existing sets, update models, work up as-built material and keep the revision status in order.
What we explicitly do not do is engineering. We do not carry out calculations, give structural advice or prepare documents for permit applications.
Design decisions stay with you, and we carry out whatever follows from them. That sharp boundary works in both parties' favour, because it prevents confusion halfway through a revision round about who is responsible for what. All of our drafters have more than ten years of CAD experience, and the core of the team has around twenty-five years of experience between them. The work is done entirely remotely, in our own environment and on our own licences, while you simply keep working to your own standard.
Cable tray routing in the model, built with parametric families that carry the material schedule with them.
The volume behind a revision drawing and where the time savings lie
Most of the work around a revision drawing is not complicated, but there is a great deal of it. In a file of hundreds of sheets, the same kind of information changes again and again: an altered dimension, a relocated opening, a different type of component, an updated status in the title block. Each sheet on its own takes little time. Added together, a round like that can tie up a drawing office for weeks. That is exactly why clients hand this work over to us. We are set up for high volumes with a lot of repetition, and we draft at pace without getting sloppy.
The time savings come from three directions. The first is capacity, because we put several drafters on a set at once instead of tying one person to it for months. The second is routine. Someone making the same change for the tenth time works faster than someone who has to pick it up again in between other work. The third is preparation. At the start we agree how a recurring change will be processed, and that agreement then applies to the whole set. For Firefly we have now completed more than twenty projects and hundreds of drawings, and it is precisely at those numbers that you see consistency makes more difference than sheer effort.
What is left for your own team are the sheets that involve a substantive decision. That is usually a fraction of the total, and that part goes faster once the rest is already done. So at the start we look at which changes lend themselves to a fixed, repeatable approach and which sheets genuinely call for your own judgement.
What we deliver with a revision drawing
We deliver a revision drawing as an updated file in the format you continue working in, not as a loose export that still needs converting afterwards. In 2D, that means DWG or DXF with the layers, linetypes and blocks as they appear in the existing set. For Revit work, we receive the model and return the updated model, including the sheets, views and schedules that come out of it. Where only a flat set is available, we can convert it into a 3D model, for example when a file is being modernised during the revision round anyway. The drawing types vary.
Floor plans, sections, elevations, standard details, assembly drawings, piping diagrams and overview sheets all come across our desks. We also process part drawings from a machine building environment, using STEP files for exchange. We keep track of the revision status the way your firm is used to, so in the title block, in the revision table and in the file name according to the agreed system. We mark changes in the way already used in the existing set, so that a reader can see at a glance what has changed. With large packages, we deliver in batches, with a short note on what has been done and which points we have referred back to you.
What is not included are calculation results or strength justifications. We draft, and where something remains unclear we ask a question rather than work on an assumption. For you, that means a package that slots straight into your own folder structure and that your own team can continue working in without any detours.
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.
Smart Revit families that speed up a revision drawing
A lot of time in a revision round is lost on components that are drawn by hand again and again. That is where parametric working helps. We build Revit families, in other words smart components, that adapt to a new situation or a different size. A component like that is made once and can then be placed in a single action, in any size. The material schedule follows along, so if the component changes, the schedule changes automatically without anyone having to update a list by hand. With a revision drawing, that difference is plain to see. A change to a component carries through to every place where that component appears, instead of a drafter working through a hundred sheets. One example from our own work comes from greenhouse construction. Companies in that sector often work in AutoCAD, and AutoCAD is not smart at building up components such as valves in piping systems.
There, a valve in 90 and in 110 means the drafter draws it by hand every single time. With a smart family, it is in place in a single action. As a result, work like this takes at least seventy per cent less time. We clean up existing families and templates or build them from scratch. Which is the wiser choice depends on the state of the existing set, because if it is very messy, rebuilding is sometimes quicker than repairing. We make that call at the start, because it determines the lead time for everything else. A well-built family set also pays for itself in every subsequent revision round, because the one-off effort that goes into it is put to use again each time.
Software, versions and fitting in with the existing set
Our main software is Revit, AutoCAD and Rhino, supplemented by Inventor and Grasshopper, and to a lesser extent Dynamo and Vault. We always work with the latest versions, which means a file from an older version opens without any trouble and can be returned in the format you need. The formats we handle are DXF, DWG, the Revit formats and STEP, and in practice any common CAD format.
For a revision drawing, fitting in with the existing set matters more than the software package itself. So we start by looking at what is already there. How are the layers named, which linetypes are used, how is the title block built up, are there external references and are those paths still correct.
If a block or a font is missing, we flag it before we continue drafting, because otherwise a missing definition copies itself right through the whole set. You supply us with your drawing conventions. If nothing has been set down, we derive the system from the existing drawings and put that assumption to you for confirmation.
We work in our own environment on our own licences, not in yours. Files go back and forth by email, and on larger projects we use software that you can log into to follow the project. The intellectual property of everything we draw belongs to you. If your firm works with its own template, we continue drafting in it and deliver in the same set-up, so that the set remains one coherent whole after delivery.
Frequently asked questions about revision drawings
Hand your revision drawings 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.