Structural Drafting Services
Structural drafting services turn an engineer of record's design into framing plans, foundation plans and structural details, with steel and rebar detailing handed to the shop drawing team. The services start from the engineer's marked-up sketches and the architectural plans; send both for a free quote within 24 hours.
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Our structural drafting services cover the whole structural set
Our structural drafting services cover the whole structural set for steel, concrete, wood, masonry and cold-formed steel. The set's sheets are general notes and typical details, foundation plans, framing plans, sections, elevations, details and schedules. Sheet numbers follow the S series of the US National CAD Standard: S-1xx sheets are plans and S-5xx sheets are details.
The sheets in a structural set are listed below.
- 01General notes and typical details, with the design loads your engineer gives
- 02Foundation plans with footing and pier locations
- 03Floor and roof framing plans with member sizes on the grid
- 04Building sections cut through the structure
- 05Framing, braced-frame and shear-wall elevations
- 06Structural details drawn as your engineer designs them
- 07Column, beam, footing and pier schedules
- 08Residential wood framing plans with each header and beam called out
A wood-framed house and a steel warehouse take different sheets from that list, and your quote names the ones you'll get.
Structural sheets that have to sit in one package with the architectural and mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) sheets are covered by construction drawing services.Structural design stays with your engineer, and drafting follows from it
Structural drafting stops where a design decision starts. The engineer of record (EOR) designs the structure: the system, the loads, the member sizes, the connections and the reinforcing, with the calculations behind them. Our drafters turn that design into sheets, notes and schedules, and never design, calculate or change a member.
The table below splits a structural set task by task.
| Task | Engineer of record | Our drafters |
|---|---|---|
| Structural system and member sizes | Decides them | Draw them from the markups |
| Loads and calculations | Calculates them | Write the design loads into the general notes as given |
| Connection design | Designs each connection | Draw the typical connection details as designed |
| Reinforcing design | Sizes and spaces the bars | Draw the typical reinforcing details as designed |
| Sheets, notes and schedules | Marks them up | Draft them |
| Fabrication drawings | Reviews them | Drafted by our shop drawing team |
| Review and seal | Reviews, marks up and seals the set | Revise the sheets from the markups |
What if a size on the markup can't be read? It goes back to your engineer as a question, never as our guess. Every member on the sheets traces to the person who seals them.
Marked-up sketches and architectural plans start a structural set
Two things start a structural set: the engineer's marked-up sketches and the architectural plans. The sketches carry the member sizes and layout, and the plans give the base for grid lines and levels. No calculation package or analysis model is needed.
The engineer of record sees a structural set only after a lead has reviewed it
The engineer of record sees a structural set only after our three quality assurance (QA) stages. The engineer reviews the set, marks it up and seals it. We revise from those markups, with unlimited revisions within the agreed scope, until the set is ready for the seal.
The path from markup to sealed set runs in five steps.
Each step of that schedule is laid out under how a drafting project runs with us.
The general notes name one design standard for each material
The general notes name the standards the engineer of record designed to, one for each material. Steel follows AISC 360, concrete ACI 318, masonry TMS 402, wood the NDS and cold-formed steel AISI S100. Section 1603.1 of the International Building Code (IBC) requires member sizes and design loads on the construction documents, and the notes we draft state those loads as given.
Each standard's full title sits beside the work it covers.
Reinforcing details follow ACI 315R, the American Concrete Institute's guide to presenting reinforcing on structural drawings, and every sheet is numbered to the US National CAD Standard (NCS).
Structural markups come from engineering firms, architects and contractors
Structural markups come to us from the engineering firm that drew them, or from the architect, general contractor, builder or homeowner who hired that engineer. Either route covers residential, multifamily, commercial and industrial projects.
Structural drawings become shop drawings when a fabricator takes over
Structural drawings become shop drawings when a fabricator needs to know how each piece is made and placed. The typical connection and reinforcing details on our structural sheets show the engineer's design. Steel erection and fabrication drawings, rebar placing drawings and bar lists show the pieces, and our shop drawing team drafts them from those sheets.
Both kinds go back to your engineer for review before anything's cut or bent.
What structural drafting does and does not include
Three scope questions get short answers here: wood-framed houses, Revit, and checking the engineer's design.
Do you draft wood-framed houses?
Yes, when an engineer has sized the framing. We draft from that sizing and do not size members ourselves.
Can you draft structural sheets in Revit?
Yes. Structural sheets are drafted in AutoCAD, Revit or Tekla Structures, whichever the engineer's office or the project uses.
Do you check the engineer's design?
No. Our three QA stages check the sheets against the engineer's markups, and the design check stays with the engineer of record who seals the set.