Engineering automation · Civil & infrastructure
Drawing production, engineered to standard.
We audit how your practice produces drawings, compile your standards into one system, and build the automation that runs it: a desktop Project Hub for the people managing the job, and custom AutoCAD tools for the people drawing it.
| Drawing | Title | 12.03 | 04.04 | 22.05 | 19.06 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4102-01-HW-DR-1001 | Site access GA | P01 | P02 | – | C01 |
| 4102-01-HW-DR-1101 | Swept path analysis | P01 | – | P02 | C01 |
| 4102-01-HW-DR-1201 | Visibility splays | – | P01 | P02 | – |
| 4102-01-DN-DR-5001 | Drainage strategy | P01 | P02 | P03 | C01 |
| 4102-01-DN-DR-5101 | Longitudinal sections | – | P01 | – | C01 |
| 4102-01-DN-DR-5201 | Manhole schedule | – | – | P01 | P02 |
Configured to
ISO 19650 naming Uniclass 2015 AEC (UK) BIM Protocol SHW / MCHW Your house standards01 — Approach
We start with how you work, not with software.
Most practices already have standards. They live in PDFs, templates and people's heads, and every project drifts a little further from them. We make the standard the path of least resistance.
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01
Audit
We sit with your team and map how drawings are really produced: set-up, naming, XRefs, title blocks, revisions and issue. You see exactly where time goes and where standards slip.
Deliverable · Workflow audit report
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02
Compile
We gather your folder structures, naming conventions, templates, title blocks and revision codes into one documented standard that both people and software can follow.
Deliverable · Compiled standard
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03
Strategise
We decide with you what to automate, what to configure and what to leave alone, with the effort and the benefit of each set out plainly.
Deliverable · Automation roadmap
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04
Build
We configure the Project Hub to your standard, build the custom tools your work needs, and roll them out with training and ongoing support.
Deliverable · Tools in daily use
Two ways to put your standard to work.
Most teams start with one. Both read from the same compiled standard, so nothing has to be set up twice.
For project managers & document controllers
DraughtDesk Hub
A desktop application for setting up projects, tracking every drawing and handling incoming information, without opening AutoCAD.
Explore the HubFor the people drawing
Custom ribbon tools
AutoCAD tools built for your situation, on your ribbon, for the project-specific jobs that no off-the-shelf product covers.
See custom tools02 — Project Hub · Desktop application
The project manager's side of the drawing office.
DraughtDesk Hub runs alongside AutoCAD, not inside it. It sets each project up to your standard and tracks every drawing from first issue to supersession, so the people managing the job know where it stands without opening a DWG.
| Drawing | X-SV-TOPO-BASE | X-AR-SITE-LAYOUT | X-HW-ROAD-ALIGN | X-DN-PIPE-NETWORK |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4102-01-HW-DR-1001 | · | |||
| 4102-01-HW-DR-1101 | · | |||
| 4102-01-DN-DR-5001 | · | |||
| 4102-01-DN-DR-5101 | + | · | ||
| 4102-01-DN-DR-5201 | · | + | · |
Project set-up in one step
Folder templates, seed documents, drawing sets and XRef groups created together and named to your convention.
A drawing register that keeps itself
Drawings down the side, issues across the top, revisions in the cells. The full history of any sheet is one click away.
Revisions set per client
Each client's revision codes and revision block are set once. Revise with notes and supersede old copies automatically.
Incoming information, handled
Take a consultant's file, transfer it into the right standard-named XRef and attach it to every drawing that needs it.
Title block data as a table
One row per sheet, one column per field. Edit a whole set together and write it straight back to the drawings.
Nothing hard-coded
Naming fields, roles, folder templates and common documents are configured to your standard, never baked in.
03 — Custom tools · AutoCAD ribbon
For the jobs no template covers.
Every scheme has something awkward: a client's title block, a legacy layer system, a submission format nobody else uses. When the standard workflow doesn't fit, we build a tool that does, and it lives on the AutoCAD ribbon where your team already works.
Something specific in mind?
Describe the problem. We'll tell you honestly whether a tool, a configuration change or a process fix is the right answer.
Discuss a custom toolFrom the toolkit
- Block Scanner
- Read and edit attributes, dynamic block properties and table cells across a whole set of drawings, then write the changes back.
- Standards Checker
- Check drawings against configurable rules and get a clear pass, warning or fail summary for each sheet.
- Compliance Scanner
- Find non-Uniclass layers, suggest the correct replacement and swap them on confirmation, across open or closed drawings.
- XRef Path Manager
- Find broken references and repair them in bulk: repath to a new folder or convert between absolute and relative.
- Layer Manager
- Browse Uniclass tables, build layer sets and templates, and map existing layers to your standard.
- Viewport Planner
- Plan viewports at scale on standard sheet sizes before committing them to layouts.
- Bind for Submission
- Produce clean, self-contained submission copies with references bound or inserted, ready to issue.
04 — Engagement
Start small. Scale once it's proven.
Workflow audit
Fixed fee, agreed up front
A defined engagement ending in a written report and roadmap. Yours to keep whether or not you go further.
Licences
Per seat, per year
The Project Hub or the ribbon toolkit, configured to your standard, with updates and support included. Software is issued directly to licensed teams.
Request accessBespoke automation
Quoted per project
Custom tools and integrations, scoped from the audit findings and built to the same standard as everything else.
05 — About
Built by an engineer who draws.
DraughtDesk was founded by a practising civil and infrastructure engineer. The tools are designed around how highway and drainage drawings are actually produced: tight programmes, consultant information that arrives late, and revisions that have to go out today.
Your standard, not ours
Everything is configured to your conventions. Your naming, folders and title blocks are never forced into someone else's mould.
Your folders, your files
The Hub and the tools work on your existing project folders. There is no new platform to migrate to.
Practical first
If a template change or a short process fix solves the problem, that is what we will recommend.
06 — Contact
Book a workflow audit.
Tell us about your team and how you produce drawings today. We'll reply to arrange a first conversation. Licensed teams can request software access with the same form.
Prefer email? info@draughtdesk.co.uk