Custom drawing revision management software for architects
Appfront builds drawing revision management for architecture practices: every drawing with a number, a status and one valid revision; issue to contractor, structural engineer and client with a receipt confirmation; a drawing register that updates itself; and changes between two revisions made visible. So the contractor builds to revision D, and nobody has to dig last month's drawing out of their inbox.
What is drawing revision management software for architects?
Drawing revision management means keeping track of which version of which drawing applies, to whom, and since when. Each drawing has a number and a status per phase, from preliminary design through to construction-ready design, and every change becomes a revision with a description. Issue to the contractor, structural engineer or client is recorded with who received what and when. The drawing register is therefore no longer a separate document, but a view of the register itself.
Without such a system, the drawing register lives in a spreadsheet that someone updates when they remember, revisions are emailed to a list of addresses, and the contractor builds to whichever version they last opened. In a dispute over a misplaced opening, the project architect searches sent items for the email containing revision C, and the structural engineer turns out to still be working from revision B.
We build custom solutions because the management has to match how your practice draws and issues: which numbering and phasing you use, whether you draw from a BIM model, which partners review, and how the client gives approval. A generic document platform knows no drawing number, no phase and no issue.
Register and revisions
Every drawing with its number, phase, status and one valid revision; every change recorded as a revision with description, date and drafter, and the previous revision readable but no longer valid.
Issue with receipt
An issue to partners with the list of drawings and revisions, a link to the files and a confirmation per recipient. The issue list is the proof of what was sent and when.
Comparison and comments
Two revisions side by side with the change highlighted, and comments from partners on the drawing itself, linked to the revision they relate to.
How we build your drawing revision management software for architects
We start with a completed project: which drawings, how many revisions, where the issue went wrong and which dispute followed from it. The register follows from that.
Which numbering and phasing you use, how you draw, who issues, which partners receive and how approvals are currently recorded. We look at the projects with the most revisions.
The drawing register per project, with your numbering, phases and statuses, with the revision at its core. Linked to the project in your project administration.
Issue to partners with receipt confirmation, comments on the drawing and the comparison between revisions. Partners work in the browser, without software.
The integration with the BIM model and file storage, the client's approval, and afterwards maintenance and new project types.
What drawing revision management software for architects actually does
The sections below come up in almost every architecture practice. Which ones you need depends on your projects and on how your partners work.
Drawing register
All drawings per project with number, title, scale, phase and status, in a list that updates itself with every revision and issue.
Revision management
Every change is a revision with a description, date and drafter; one current revision per drawing and the history behind it.
Handing out
An issue to chosen partners with the drawings and revisions, a receipt confirmation per person, and the issue list as proof.
Comparison between revisions
Two revisions overlaid with the change highlighted, so a partner sees what has changed without reading the whole drawing.
Comments and approval
Partners and the client add comments to the drawing and approve a revision, recorded with name and date.
BIM and file integration
Drawings from your BIM model or CAD package are added as revisions to the register, and the files are kept in your own storage with the correct naming.
Who we build drawing revision management software for architects for
The software is intended for practices where drawings pass through many hands and where working out which version applies takes time and sometimes money.
Architecture firms
Projects with hundreds of drawings and partners who review and mark them up. The register, the issue and the comparison are the core.
Architectural drawing offices
Drawing work for several clients, with issue to their contractors. The issue list as proof and the approval per revision matter most.
Practices working in BIM
Drawings derived from the model, with revisions that follow from model changes. The link with the model and the naming conventions are what is needed.
Developers with an in-house design team
Multiple projects with changing practices and contractors. An overview of the current revision per project is the core.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
With OneDayBuild, we turn your idea into something tangible in one day for €1,150, so you can see whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we credit the full cost.
Explore OneDayBuild →Technology and integrations
This page covers revisions and the issue of drawings. For the planning application in which those drawings are submitted, see our page on a planning permission application file; for working from the model, our page on BIM software; and for drawings with client sign-off in the manufacturing industry, our page on a digital file for client drawings. You can read about our way of working under getting software built.
For the building site, where the current revision is always on the phone, there is our app for drawing revisions on the building site.
Why Appfront for your drawing revision management software for architects?
Revision management comes down to one question: which version applies, and who has it. We build on that: one register, one current revision, one issue list.
One valid revision
Each drawing has one current revision, and that is recorded in the register. Older revisions remain readable, but nobody works from them without being able to see that.
Issue is proven
Who received which revision and when is fixed by a confirmation. In a dispute the issue list is the answer, not the mailbox.
The change is visible
Two revisions overlaid with the change highlighted. The structural engineer can see at a glance whether their calculation still holds.
Security and privacy in drawing revision management software for architects
Drawings are the intellectual property of your practice and of the partners who contribute to them. Access is set up by role and by project: the project architect manages, a partner sees only the drawings issued to them, the client only the revisions submitted for approval. Every issue, download and change is logged with name and time.
The software runs in a European data centre, with encrypted storage and daily back-ups; the files themselves can remain in your own storage. Integrations with the BIM model, CAD and the project administration use their own keys, which can be revoked per integration.
Frequently asked questions about drawing revision management software for architects
Questions architectural practices ask before getting started with this.
It keeps a register per project of all drawings with their number, stage, status and current revision; records every change as a revision with a description; issues drawings to partners with a receipt confirmation; shows the changes between two revisions; and records comments and approvals from partners and the client against the revision they relate to.
Yes. The numbering, stages and statuses can be configured to your practice's standard, even where this differs per client. A drawing that moves to a different stage keeps its number and receives the new stage in the register.
Through an issue: they receive a message with the list of drawings and revisions and a link to a browser page where they can view and download the files. Receipt is recorded per person, and it is visible who has opened or downloaded a drawing.
Yes. Two revisions of the same drawing are overlaid with the changes highlighted, so a partner can see what has changed. The revision description and the comments that led to the change sit alongside it.
Drawings that come out of the model are placed in the register as a revision, using the naming convention you follow, so a model change leads to a new revision of the affected drawings. Whether this happens automatically or via an export depends on the package you use; we connect to what you already have.
Yes. The files can remain in your own storage, named according to the register. The software manages the register, the revisions and the issuing, and refers to the files; there is no need to move your archive.
Check that first. Such a platform works well when the contractor or client prescribes it and everyone works within it. Custom development makes sense if you want to prove issuing across projects and platforms yourself, if your numbering and stages must be leading, if the client has to approve each revision, or if the register is currently kept alongside the platform in a spreadsheet.
Every partner on the current revision, with proof of issue?
Tell us which package you draw in, how many drawings an average project has, and how often in recent months someone worked from an outdated revision. We will show you what the register, the issuing and the comparison look like.