Architectural Drafting Services: Floor Plans, Elevations, Sections and Details

Floor plans, elevations, sections and details drafted from your sketches and markups.

Architectural drafting services turn sketches, markups, field measurements and design intent into clean CAD floor plans, elevations, sections and details. Bid Sharp provides architectural drafting for architects, designers, contractors and owners across the United States, working remotely from your files with a firm price confirmed before work starts.

Key takeaways

We draft floor plans, elevations, sections, reflected ceiling plans, schedules and details from your sketches, PDFs or measurements.
Drawings follow your layers, title block and sheet numbering, or the US National CAD Standard if you have none.
We prepare the drawings; where a jurisdiction requires a seal, the licensed architect or engineer of record reviews and seals them.
Files are delivered as DWG and PDF, with a revision log for every issue.

What do architectural drafting services include?

Architectural drafting is the production of the drawings that describe a building: what goes where, how big it is and how it is put together. A drafter works from the designer's direction. Typical sheets we prepare:

Sheet type	What it shows	Typical input from you
Floor plans	Walls, doors, windows, rooms, dimensions and tags	Sketch, existing PDF or field measurements
Exterior elevations	Heights, materials, openings and roof lines	Photos, sketches or design markups
Building and wall sections	Assemblies from foundation to roof, insulation and heights	Wall types and the intended assemblies
Reflected ceiling plans	Ceiling heights, grids, fixtures and soffits	Lighting layout or ceiling markups
Details	Enlarged conditions: stairs, thresholds, flashing, millwork	Reference details or sketches
Schedules	Door, window, finish and room schedules	Product selections and finish legend
Site plan	Building footprint, setbacks, parking and access	Survey or plat

Who uses outsourced architectural drafting?

Architects and design firms who need extra production capacity for a deadline while the design team keeps control of the design.
Contractors and design-build firms preparing drawings for small commercial fit-outs, additions and remodels, or redrawing existing buildings before a renovation.
Owners and developers who need as-built floor plans of an existing building for leasing, renovation planning or a permit application.
Interior designers and millwork shops who need plans and elevations drawn to scale.

How does the architectural drafting process work?

Send your files. Sketches, PDFs, photos, measurements, a survey, or the existing CAD files and your markups.
Scope and price. We list the sheets, the standard to follow and the turnaround, and confirm a firm price before work starts.
Drafting. We draw the sheets on your title block and layers, and note every assumption where the input is unclear.
Review. You or your architect mark up the first issue; we revise and update the revision log.
Issue. You receive DWG and PDF files ready for review, sealing, pricing or submission.

Architectural drafting vs architectural design

Design decides what the building should be: layout, appearance, code strategy and materials. Drafting documents those decisions accurately. We do not replace your architect of record. In the US, many building departments require plans for commercial work and some residential work to be prepared or sealed by a licensed architect or engineer; the requirement depends on the state and the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ). Check with the AHJ early. If you need a full permit set, see our permit drawing services, residential permit drawings and commercial permit drawings.

Drawing standards we follow

Your office CAD standard first: layers, pen tables, text styles, dimension styles and title block.
If you have none, the US National CAD Standard (NCS) sheet naming and layer conventions.
Imperial units and US architectural scales (for example 1/4" = 1'-0" plans and 1/2" or larger details).
Consistent door, window and room tags that tie the plans to the schedules.

Common problems we fix

Plans and elevations that disagree on window sizes or heights; we cross-check every opening between sheets.
Scanned PDFs with no CAD files; we redraw them as clean, scaled DWG files (see CAD drafting and PDF-to-CAD conversion).
Dimension strings that do not add up; we check running totals against overall dimensions.
Missing schedules that leave the contractor guessing at door hardware or finishes.

Worked example (illustrative)

A contractor plans a remodel of a two-story office building with no usable drawings. They send field measurements and photos of each floor. We draw existing floor plans and elevations, flag three areas where measurements do not close, and the contractor re-measures those. The architect then marks up the new layout on our existing plans, and we draft the proposed plans, a door schedule and the reflected ceiling plans for the architect's review and seal. The same drawings are then used for the construction estimate and quantity takeoff.

What you receive

DWG files on your layers and title block, plus plot-ready PDFs
A sheet index and revision log
A list of assumptions and open questions
Revisions from your markups

Related services

Architectural drawings often feed the rest of the project: structural drafting from the engineer's design, shop drawings for the trades, and general drafting services for as-builts and detail sheets. Upload your sketches or plans for a free quote.

Frequently asked questions

What are architectural drafting services?

Architectural drafting services produce the CAD drawings that describe a building: floor plans, elevations, sections, reflected ceiling plans, details and schedules. A drafter works from the design direction of an architect, designer, contractor or owner and from sketches, PDFs, photos or field measurements. The result is a set of scaled DWG and PDF drawings that can be reviewed, sealed where required, priced by contractors or submitted with a permit application.

Can a drafting service prepare drawings for a building permit?

Yes, a drafting service can prepare the drawings, but whether they can be submitted without a seal depends on the state and the authority having jurisdiction. Many US building departments require commercial plans, and some residential plans, to be prepared or sealed by a licensed architect or engineer. Check with your local building department first. Bid Sharp prepares the drawings and coordinates with the architect or engineer of record who seals them where that is required.

What do I need to send for an architectural drafting quote?

Send whatever describes the building: hand sketches, existing PDFs or CAD files, photos, field measurements, a survey for site work, and markups of the changes you want. Tell us which sheets you need, the title block and CAD standard to follow, and the date you need them. With that we can list the sheets, confirm the turnaround and give a firm price before any drafting starts.

What is the difference between architectural drafting and CAD drafting?

CAD drafting is the general skill of producing drawings in software such as AutoCAD for any discipline, including as-builts, conversions and fabrication layouts. Architectural drafting is CAD drafting applied to building design: plans, elevations, sections, details and schedules that follow architectural conventions, scales and sheet organization. Our CAD drafting service covers as-builts and PDF-to-CAD conversion; architectural drafting covers building drawing sets.

Which file formats do you deliver?

We deliver DWG files that open in AutoCAD and most CAD programs, together with plot-ready PDF sheets. Drawings follow your layers, text styles and title block when you provide them, or the US National CAD Standard conventions if you do not have an office standard. A sheet index and revision log are included so everyone works from the current issue.

Bid Sharp at a glance: 3 steps, 50 states

Bid Sharp prepares construction estimates, takeoffs, shop drawings, structural and permit drawings and schedules for contractors and homeowners in all 50 states, on public and private projects. Typical turnaround is about 48 hours; the turnaround and a firm price are confirmed before any work starts.

1. Upload plans. Send PDF, DWG or a plan-room link with your bid due date.
2. Get a firm quote. Scope, price and turnaround in writing, with no obligation.
3. Receive deliverables. Excel and PDF files, plus DWG for drawings, checked by 2 team members.

Standards and official sources

Rules, wage rates, codes and procurement procedures change and differ by agency. Confirm the requirements that apply to your project with these primary sources and with the solicitation itself.

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Last updated October 1, 2026 by the Bid Sharp estimating team.