ServicesScan-to-CAD

CAD and Architectural Drafting Services from Scans and Markups

Drafting is the work of turning what is known about a building or a part into drawings someone else can build from. We provide CAD and architectural drafting services in every US state, in DWG and PDF, most often on the scans we take ourselves and otherwise on the drawings, markups and models a client sends. We draft the drawings; the design decisions and the stamp, where a permit needs one, stay with the client's licensed architect or engineer.

What is drafted and from what

Three kinds of source come in. The first is a laser scan, ours or yours, from which an existing-conditions set is traced: plans, reflected ceiling plans, elevations, sections and site plans, as described on the as-built drawings page, with the sheet saying which lines were measured and which were taken from other documents. The second is a set of markups, the redlines an architect or an engineer puts on a plot or a PDF, which are drafted into the CAD file so that the next revision is clean and the sheet index, the titles and the layers stay in order. The third is a model, a Revit model or a mechanical CAD model, from which sheets are cut rather than redrawn, so that a change in the model reaches every sheet; the Scan-to-BIM page describes the sheets cut from a Revit model. Drawings redrawn from old paper or PDF plans are a separate service, PDF to CAD conversion.

Architectural drafting

For a renovation or an addition, the architectural set starts from the existing conditions and goes through demolition plans, proposed plans, elevations, sections, schedules and details, drafted to the architect's design and under the architect's review. A residential set for a house or an accessory unit follows the same path on a shorter sheet list. The drafting does not decide: proposed room sizes, egress, structure and code compliance are the licensed professional's work, and where the jurisdiction requires a stamp on a set that goes to the building department, that professional's stamp goes on it, not ours. At the quote we ask who the architect or engineer of record is, and we do not draft a permit set without one where one is required.

Mechanical and structural drafting

Mechanical drafting is the drawing of a part or an assembly from its CAD model: the views, sections and details, with the dimensions and tolerances the client's engineer specifies, and the parts list for an assembly, on sheets a machine shop can quote from. It often follows reverse engineering, when a scanned part has been rebuilt as a model and now needs a drawing so that it can be made again. Structural sheets, the framing plans and sections drawn from a scan or from the engineer's markups, are drafted the same way, under the engineer who designs and signs them.

Revit drafting services

For a team that works in Revit, the sheets are produced in Revit rather than in AutoCAD: plans, sections, elevations, details and schedules set up as views of the model, annotated and placed on sheets in your template, so that a change in the model updates every sheet it appears on. When the model does not exist yet, it is built first, from a scan as described on the scan-to-BIM page or from your drawings, and the sheets are drawn from it. Firms that outsource AutoCAD drafting get the same discipline in DWG: drawings drafted to your office standard, from your markups, your model or our scan, delivered with the PDF set.

Drawing standards and formats

Sheets are drafted in the client's office standard when there is one: the title block, the layer names, the line weights and the sheet numbering of the firm that will own the files afterwards. When there is none, the layers and the sheet organization follow the United States National CAD Standard, which is made of the AIA CAD Layer Guidelines, the CSI Uniform Drawing System and the NIBS BIM Implementation and Plotting Guidelines, in its current version 6. Files are delivered as DWG with the PDF plots, in the AutoCAD version the client works in, with external references and plot styles included; when the source is a Revit model, the sheets are delivered in the Revit file as well. Where the set comes from a scan, the accuracy of the line work is stated in USIBD Level of Accuracy terms, as on the as-built page.

Price and time

A set is quoted on its sheet list: the number of sheets, the level of detail on each and the source they are drawn from. A set drawn from a scan we take is priced inside the building ranges on the as-built page; a set drawn from your own cloud, from markups or from a model is quoted on the sheets alone. The exact price comes in a quote within one business day of your sending the source files and the sheet list. A small set, a few plans and elevations, usually takes one to two weeks; a full permit set under an architect's review follows the architect's rounds. We draft from scans taken in all 50 states.

Frequently asked questions about CAD drafting

What are CAD drafting services?

Producing construction and manufacturing drawings in CAD from a given source: a laser scan, an architect's or engineer's markups, or a 3D model. The drafter draws; the design and the stamp, where one is required, stay with the licensed architect or engineer.

Can you prepare drawings for a building permit?

The sheets can be drafted. Where the jurisdiction requires a stamp, a licensed architect or engineer designs and stamps the set, and the drafting is done under that professional's review; at the quote we ask who that is.

Which software and formats do you deliver?

DWG and PDF, in the AutoCAD version your office uses, with external references and plot styles; the Revit file as well when the source is a Revit model.

What standard do you draft to?

Your office standard when you have one. Otherwise the layers and the sheet organization follow the United States National CAD Standard, version 6.

Do you draft from our redlines?

Yes. Markups on a plot or a PDF are drafted into the CAD file and returned as a clean revision with the sheet index and layers kept in order.

How much does drafting cost?

A set is quoted on its sheet list and source. A set drawn from a scan we take is priced inside the building ranges on the as-built page; other sets are quoted on the sheets alone. The quote arrives within one business day.

How long does it take?

A small set usually takes one to two weeks. A full set under an architect's review follows the review rounds.

Do you provide Revit drafting services?

Yes. Sheets, views, annotation and schedules are produced in Revit in your template and version, from an existing model or from one we build from a scan or your drawings.