Architecture Careers

General Overview

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Drafters prepare technical drawings and plans used by production and construction workers to build everything from manufactured products, such as toys, toasters, industrial machinery, or spacecraft, to structures, such as houses, office buildings, or oil and gas pipelines. Their drawings provide visual guidelines, showing the technical details of the products and structures and specifying dimensions, materials to be used, and procedures and processes to be followed. Drafters fill in technical details, using drawings, rough sketches, specifications, codes, and calculations previously made by engineers, surveyors, architects, or scientists. For example, they use their knowledge of standardized building techniques to draw in the details of a structure. Some drafters use their knowledge of engineering and manufacturing theory and standards to draw the parts of a machine in order to determine design elements, such as the number and kind of fasteners needed to assemble it. They use technical Handbooks, tables, calculators, and computers to do this.

Traditionally, drafters sat at drawing boards and used pencils, pens, compasses, protractors, triangles, and other drafting devices to prepare a drawing manually. Most drafters now use computer-aided drafting (CAD) systems to prepare drawings. Consequently, some drafters are referred to as CAD operators. CAD systems employ computer workstations to create a drawing on a video screen. The drawings are stored electronically so that revisions or duplications can be made easily. These systems also permit drafters to easily and quickly prepare variations of a design. Although drafters use CAD extensively, it is only a tool. Persons who produce technical drawings using CAD still function as drafters, and need the knowledge of traditional drafters—relating to drafting skills and standards—in addition to CAD skills. Despite the near-universal use of CAD systems, manual drafting still is used in certain applications.

Drafting work has many specialties, and titles may denote a particular discipline of design or drafting. Aeronautical drafters prepare engineering drawings detailing plans and specifications used for the manufacture of aircraft, missiles, and related parts.

Architectural drafters draw architectural and structural features of buildings and other structures. They may specialize by the type of structure, such as residential or commercial, or by the kind of material used, such as reinforced concrete, masonry, steel, or timber.

Civil drafters prepare drawings and topographical and relief maps used in major construction or civil engineering projects, such as highways, bridges, pipelines, flood control projects, and water and sewage systems.

Electrical drafters prepare wiring and layout diagrams used by workers who erect, install, and repair electrical equipment and wiring in communication centers, powerplants, electrical distribution systems, and buildings.

Electronic drafters draw wiring diagrams, circuitboard assembly diagrams, schematics, and layout drawings used in the manufacture, installation, and repair of electronic devices and components.

Mechanical drafters prepare detail and assembly drawings of a wide variety of machinery and mechanical devices, indicating dimensions, fastening methods, and other requirements.

Process piping or pipeline drafters prepare drawings used for layout, construction, and operation of oil and gas fields, refineries, chemical plants, and process piping systems.