OUTSOURCE AUTOCAD DRAWINGS: 10 UNBEATABLE BENEFITS FOR CONTRACTORS

Outsource AutoCAD drawings are a reliable way to optimize contractors’ services and simultaneously save money and time. CAD outsourcing helps construction and millwork companies to maintain complicated projects without expanding their staff.
Contents:
- Time-effective workflow
- Cost-saving solutions
- Multitasking project teams
- Round-the-clock process
- Project management system
- NDA
- Quality checking
- Flexible corrections
- Turnaround time
- Smart allocation of business activity
- What we take and what we do not
- Outsourcing AutoCAD Drawings FAQ
A construction firm got a difficult project from a leading architectural studio that involves different types of AutoCAD drawings. The problem is that contractors only have two staff draftsmen who specialize in construction drawings only. But the new project includes interior and millwork drawings as the building will be created inside and out. Moreover, even construction drawings won’t be ready in time considering the amount of work that has to be done. Unfortunately, the contractors’ company doesn’t have enough budget or time to hire more CAD specialists.
Outsource AutoCAD drawings can be a great solution to all problems of constructors – it gives an opportunity to get all the drawings done and finish large-scale projects in time, wherever you stand on outsourcing vs in-house drafting. How’s that? Let’s take a look at the advantages of outsource drawings.
#1. Time-Effective Workflow
Outsource AutoCAD drawings are a valuable solution for small and medium-sized companies that can’t hire a huge staff of draftsmen. Millwork is usually where that shortage bites first, because what a millwork package covers is broader than most people expect. Meanwhile, outsource AutoCAD drawing studios have large teams of high-class CAD drawing specialists who can work on several tasks at the same time. For example, ArchiCGI have drawing teams each comprising several draftsmen who can combine their efforts for complex tasks and finish them much faster.
#2. Cost-Saving Solutions

Outsource AutoCAD drawings are economically beneficial as clients only pay for the hourly services provided within a project and the finished result. Modeling in Revit instead of flat CAD pushes the saving further, which is the whole point of this breakdown of how Revit cuts millwork project costs. On the other hand, full-time employees need to be trained in AutoCAD drawing, paid regular salary, sick leaves, holidays and social packages. And let’s not forget about purchasing powerful computers and software that require regular updates. For if technical equipment is not good enough, contractors still have to use outsource AutoCAD drawing services for completing advanced tasks. For instance, ArchiCGI Drawings has 200 employees who use the newest software and always follow the latest technical trends to improve their skills.
#3. Multitasking Project Teams
Complicated large-scale tasks often require different types of drawing services. In order to accomplish them, contractors need a huge staff of specialists which is possible only for big companies. Outsource AutoCAD studios have experienced and skilled draftsmen with different specializations who can provide a variety of AutoCAD drawings for the most demanding assignments.
#4. Round-the-Clock Working Process

The work schedule of outsource AutoCAD drawing studios is more productive and flexible due to the difference in time zones. Very often clients and outsource specialists live in opposite sides of the world, and this factor can be easily turned into an advantage. Outsource AutoCAD teams covering all types of CAD drafts are a great way to get additional workforce and manage to process as many orders as possible without losing quality. While in-house millworkers and construction engineers complete a working day, outsource drawing specialists only start their day and vice versa which makes work process around the clock without a single break. In result working on projects all day long accelerates every aspect of contracting services.
#5. Project Management System

Poor communication is often a stumbling block on the way to the great results. Tasks that are transmitted by words, forgotten emails with assignments, unsuccessful meetings – there are a lot of misunderstandings with subordinates even if they sit in the next room. Ideally, every in-house team of specialists needs a professional organizer and communicator who will coordinate the workflow. Though it means hiring one more specialist which is not an affordable option for all firms.
Alternatively, most outsource AutoCAD drawing studios have their own Project Managers and functional customer-relationship management which allows communication 24/7. ArchiCGI Drawings, for instance, have a CRM platform that can be downloaded not only on PC but also on iPhone and iPad. And our team of PMs keeps up every client to date with the help of our online platform, which allows to follow the progress of an assignment, share files and check intermediate results.
Want to know more about CAD services our studio provides? Check out this archive with projects examples and learn more.
#6. NDA

Some contractors are afraid to use outsource services due to the lack of guarantees but in many cases employees don’t sign a legally binding contract. A member of the staff can easily include drawings in his portfolio or use in-house resources for his own purposes, and nobody will know anything. In contrast, outsource AutoCAD drawing studios take their guarantees to clients very seriously. Privacy policy is a prerequisite that can be required by any ArchiCGI client. Signing NDA is a part of the deal that ensures project drawings will not become public under any circumstances.
#7. Quality Checking
Quality checking of AutoCAD drawings can be provided only by experienced draftsmen with universal skills. The habits that separate a clean set from a sloppy one are collected in these ways to improve millwork drawings. This person has to understand all nuances of the drafting and meet the highest standards himself. Finding and hiring such an expert is not an easy task. Not to mention that such specialist do not come cheap. In contrast, reputable outsource AutoCAD drawing studios offer quality guarantees that eliminate any risks of unsatisfactory results. ArchiCGI drawings, by way of illustration, are tested in two stages before we send them to our clients. The first stage of quality checking is conducted by Mentors, and then Project Managers check the result for compliance with a technical assignment.
#8. Flexible Corrections
Small staff of draftsmen is not apt to make quick corrections, especially if employees work on several projects at once. A few drawing specialists physically can’t follow one drawing project till the final approval if there are some new tasks going on at the same time. And so, corrections may take longer than a client expects. Outsource AutoCAD drawing studios have big staff and one project team for each assignment which allow to quickly and efficiently make changes to a task at hand. Moreover, some of the changes are included in the price. For instance, ArchiCGI Drawings offers the first two rounds of correction for free, and only for the third one there will be an added fee. However, it is important to note that a fundamental change of the original technical assignment is considered a new drawing project.
#9. Turnaround Time
Contrary to popular belief, outsource services are based on deadlines. Any big outsource AutoCAD drawing studio strictly follows set turnaround time as it’s important for professional reputation. Turnaround time, or TAT, depends on a project type and requirements. ArchiCGI Drawings PMs discuss each technical assignment with drawing specialists and determine the exact TAT which has to be met except for some major changes. After finding out the exact deadlines, a client can relax and do other work until a set data instead of worrying about whether everything will be ready in time.
#10. Smart Allocation of Business Activity

Having a staff of draftsmen adds responsibilities to the main contracting work – builders or millworkers have to worry about making drawings in time, quality control, getting the approval from clients etc. Outsource AutoCAD drawing services, conversely, ease the workload of contractors. Redirecting drafting tasks to outsource specialists provides an opportunity to concentrate on the main business activities and increase its effectiveness. For example, contractors may start other projects while successfully multiplying orders, finding new clients, doing marketing campaigns and gradually expanding business.
Outsource AutoCAD drawings are an effective solution for millwork and building contractors who want to provide comprehensive services to their clients. At the same time, delegating work to a reliable contractor allows to cut project time and cost while delivering clients top-quality results. Which means bigger projects, new interesting clients and a smooth workflow.
Wonder how much high-quality drafting services cost? Check out the examples of our real projects with pricing.
Want to provide all types of CAD services without spending a lot of time and budget on hiring staff? Try our outsource drafting services and get a whole range of drawings for any project.
The wider case for handing drafting over, with the numbers behind it, sits in our guide to outsource drafting services and what changes when you use them.
What Travels Well, and What We Do Not Take
Residential and commercial work leave the office for different reasons. A home builder sends out repetition: the same plan on twelve lots, elevation options, a library that needs keeping current. A commercial contractor sends out volume and coordination, where the same cabinet run appears on an architectural sheet, a millwork package and a fabrication drawing, and all three have to agree.
What we take is the architectural and millwork side of construction documentation: plans, elevations, sections, details, schedules, shop drawings for casework, as-builts, and the Revit and BIM modelling behind any of it. Coordination between those sheets is part of the job, and so is telling you when two of them contradict each other.
What we do not take, plainly, because most studios in this market list everything: we do not draft MEP, we do not do structural, and we do not prepare permit sets. Clash detection across mechanical and structural models is not our work either. If a project needs those, they come from engineers, and we draft alongside them rather than instead of them. Any studio worth hiring will draw that line for you before the first invoice rather than after it, and asking for it is one of the checks worth running on a drafting firm.
Outsourcing AutoCAD Drawings FAQ
What does outsourcing construction drawings actually mean?
Handing the production of the drawing set to a studio outside your office while the design decisions stay with you. You send the intent, the standards and whatever exists already. Sheets come back on an agreed schedule, you mark them up, they come back corrected. The contractor on site never needs to know or care where they were drawn.
What are the three types of construction drawings?
Architectural, structural and MEP is the usual split, and a full set contains all three, produced by different people. Underneath each sit the same view types: plans, elevations, sections and details. We work on the architectural side and on the millwork that hangs off it.
What is 30, 60 and 90 percent design?
Milestones for how complete a set is. At thirty percent the layout is settled and the drawings show intent. At sixty the dimensions, materials and major details are in. At ninety it is nearly issue ready, with schedules filled and coordination done, and the remaining ten percent is review comments. Naming the milestone in a brief saves an argument later about what was promised.
Do you draft MEP and structural drawings?
No to both, and it is worth saying before anyone sends files. Mechanical, electrical, plumbing and structural drawings come from engineers who carry responsibility for them. We do the architectural and millwork sheets, and we draft alongside those engineers rather than in place of them. We do not prepare permit sets either.
Do home builders outsource differently from contractors?
Yes, and the difference is repetition. A builder is sending out the same plan across a dozen lots with elevation options and lot specific tweaks, so the win is a library that stays current. A contractor is sending out volume under a deadline, usually shop drawings and coordination views. The brief looks different in each case, and so does what you check when it comes back.
How do you keep sheets from contradicting each other?
One drafter owns the set rather than splitting it by sheet, and the same cabinet run gets checked wherever it appears: on the architectural plan, in the millwork package, on the fabrication drawing. When two of them disagree, you hear about it as a question rather than finding out on site. That is the part outsourcing gets wrong when work is scattered across a pool.
Need production-ready drawings for custom woodwork? See our millwork shop drawing services.











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