COST ANALYSIS
THE environment
83%
of AIA member practices have fewer than 5 staff — 67% are just 1–2 people
~11,350
practising architects across VIC + NSW — ~58% of the national profession
54%
of practices saw revenue decline in 6 months — cost pressure is the #1 challenge
THE PROBLEM
01
The principal becomes the drafter
With no team depth, founders absorb production themselves — diluting their highest-value design and business-winning hours.
02
You can’t find a Vectorworks/Revit drafter
78% of small-to-mid practices struggle to hire documentation staff.
03
The pipeline is lumpy
One month overflowing, the next month quiet. 20% of practices have only 1–2 months of work ahead — a terrible fit for a fixed salary.
04
Deadlines & RFIs pile up
Redlines carry over, DA approvals stall, and a single authority RFI can burn 10–20 senior hours. 31% of practices report regular overtime.
THE SOLUTION
01
Vectorworks/Revit-native,
Work comes back in your .vwx/.rvt files and title-block standards.
02
Australian-managed
A hybrid model: AU-based project management and QA, with a vetted production team. Your point of contact is local.
03
Variable capacity
Pay for the work you actually have. Scale up for a deadline crunch, down in the quiet months.
04
Documentation specialists
DA / BA / CC and tender sets are our core craft — so principals get their design hours back.
HOW IT WORKS
1
Brief
Share your sketch design, markups or model and the output you need (DA set, CC set, tender drawings).
2
Quote
We confirm scope and give you a fixed price or an hourly estimate before any work starts.
3
Produce
Our team drafts in Vectorworks as well as Revit to your standards; your AU project lead manages quality and communication.
4
Deliver
You receive coordinated, submission-ready .vwx files and PDFs — reviewed, on time.
THE COST REALITY
$80,000
$9,600
$14,400
$600
$2,217
$2,500
$7,500
$1,000
$12,000
$6,000
TOTAL TRUE ANNUAL COST
$135,817
1.70x
Effective multiplier on base salary
~$95/hr
Fully-loaded cost per productive hour
OUTSOURCE VS. HIRE
IN-HOUSE HIRE
DRAFLOW
Total annual cost
$135,817
$70,300
Effective cost per hour
~$95/hr
$70/hr
Pay only for work delivered?
Fixed cost
Variable
Scales up/down with pipeline?
No
Yes
Recruitment & ramp-up time
Weeks–months
Days
Software, hardware & management
Extra cost
Included
SAVE $65,517 A YEAR — 48% LESS THAN IN-HOUSE
THE HONEST MATH
400 hrs/yr
A quiet year / overflow only
$135.8k
$28.3k
1,000 hrs/yr
Typical small-studio demand
$135.8k
$70.3k
1,425 hrs/yr
A full year of one drafter’s output
$135.8k
$100.1k
SCOPE OF WORK
DA & Planning Sets
Development Application drawings ready for council submission.
Construction Documentation
CC / BA sets, details and schedules coordinated for tender and build.
Tender Drawings
Clean, consistent sets that protect your fee and reduce RFIs.
BIM Modelling
Vectorworks models built to your level of detail and standards.
Visualisation
Renders and presentation views from your VW/Revit model. Sketch Design renders through AI
Overflow Support
Surge capacity when a project or pipeline spike hits.
WHY DRAFLOW
Built for your software
The only drafting partner that is genuinely Vectorworks-native — no conversions, no compromise. Revit-native, no problem too.
Built for your size
Designed for 1–5 person studios. We get the small-practice reality.
Built for your cashflow
Often dramatically cheaper than an in-house hire, and you only pay for the work you actually have.
Built for trust
Australian-managed quality and a pilot-first offer — see the work before you commit.
Try us on one project.
Fixed quote. No lock-in. See the quality before committing.