How Much Does a Drafter Cost? [2024]

If you are building a new home or doing renovations that require a building permit, your plans will probably have to be made by a drafter, architect or building designer to obtain council approval. 

A drafter, otherwise known as a draftperson, draws plans and specifications for building projects.

In most cases, a drafter will be less expensive than an architect, but how much will they charge for their services?

Read: Is a drafter cheaper than an architect?

What does a drafter do?

Sometimes also called architectural drafters, drafters create scale drawings of everything from house plans to extensions and granny flats. Drafters often work behind the scenes for architects, flushing out the details of the architect’s plans. 

Many drafters also choose to work for themselves, and will often do the preliminary and final drawings for private clients and builders.

Read: Architect, building designer or draftsperson?

How much does a drafter cost in Australia?

So how much can you expect a drafter to cost? Unless you go through an architect, which is more expensive, drafters are usually private contractors and set their own fees.

Depending on their location, level of experience, workload and other factors, drafters base their fees on hourly rates ranging from $80 to $200+ per hour. 

In many cases, the quote you receive from a drafter will be a fixed price, often expressed as a percentage of the cost of the total project. Some drafters may charge on a per square metre basis. For this expect to be charged in the region of $18 to $30 per square metre.

For a ballpark idea of costs for some typical renovation projects, expect to be charged:

• $2,800 for plans of a small/medium single-room extension
• $3,200 for plans of a medium/large extension, adding two rooms
• $5,000 - $10,000 for plans of a full custom redesign/renovation of a large house 

How much does it cost to draw up house plans?

Expect drafters to charge anywhere from $2,500 to $6,000 for house plans. This should include initial concept drawings, one or two rounds of revisions and final working drawings.

What affects the cost of a draftsman? 

Several factors will affect the cost of a draftsman. These can include:

• The location of your property 
• Size of the house
• The expertise and experience of the draftsman
• Preliminary plans will cost less than detailed plans
• There will be additional charges if the plans need to be altered
• If you need help with submitting your plans to the council, completing a development application and/or other services outside the scope of drafting alone, these will cost extra.
• In some cases, you or your drafter will need to hire a structural engineer for some aspects of the plans

Additional costs for a drafter

Additional costs not included in the above estimates include a soil test, surveyor reports and any input from an engineer. Few will include town planning or building permits, which they will outsource. 

Generally, it can cost anywhere from $3,000 to $15,000 for a custom home design to be created and submitted to the council.

Choosing your drafter

Drafters are not legally entitled to oversee a building project, so if you need the person who designs your house to manage the project, you will need to hire an architect. If you only need plans to submit to the council and for your builder to follow, hiring a drafter can be the most cost-effective solution.

If you want a design service, but don't want to pay the higher cost of an architect, a building designer might be a better choice. Their portfolio of previous work should tell you if they are a good match for your project.

One drafter may give you a quote of $8,000 while another may quote half that price. Ask yourself or the drafter what services are included in their quote and you can often find that the higher quote is offering more services. If you don't need all the services they list on their quote, you can ask for an amended quote. If all your quotes offer the same services and come from reputable local drafters, then you can confidently choose the lowest quote.

Get a sense of how much your project will cost by getting quotes from local drafters. This will give you an idea of what market rates currently are.

Does my drafter need to be licensed?

It depends on where you live. Currently, only Victoria and Queensland require drafters to be licensed.

In Victoria, there are three classes of registration; drafters producing working drawings for the construction of domestic buildings; drafters producing designs and working drawings for interior fit-outs and drafters developing working drawings for services such as water, sewerage, hydraulics, lighting and fire protection systems.

Most drafters will have completed a tertiary course, such as a Diploma in Building Design or an equivalent but it always pays to check before committing to one. It is also worth checking to see if your drafter is a member of an industry association, as they are more likely to keep up to date with developments in their sector.

Drafters are less expensive than architects and can be better suited to smaller, simpler jobs.

Hiring a drafter

The more your drafter knows about your project the better. Likely questions they will ask you include:

• What is the scope of your project?
• Do you have an idea of how you want your project to look?
• Do you have a concept design for me to work from?

Ask them about their fee structure. One drafter may charge more per hour than another, but be willing to do one or two revisions at no extra cost.


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