CAD Drafting & Floor Plans in Lebanon: How to Hire a Drafter

There is a job almost nobody writes about and a great many people in Lebanon need: turning something that exists on paper, or in a room, or in somebody's head, into a proper drawing. A grandfather's blueprint that is folding along the creases. An apartment nobody has measured since 1974. A layout a contractor needs before he can quote. This is CAD drafting, it is one of the more affordable things you can hire, and it is also where people are most likely to buy the wrong thing, because the words "engineer", "architect" and "draftsman" get used interchangeably in conversation and mean very different things on a document. This guide sorts that out: what a drafter does, what only a licensed professional can do, what the work costs, and which files to insist on.

What a CAD drafter does, and what they are not

A CAD drafter produces accurate technical drawings. Give them measurements, a photograph of an old plan, or a sketch, and they will give you back a clean, dimensioned, to-scale drawing that other professionals can read and work from. That is a real, valuable, well-defined skill.

What a drafter is not is the person who certifies that a design is safe, legal or permitted. Structural sizing, load calculations, seismic considerations and anything submitted to an authority belong to a licensed engineer or architect, and no amount of drafting skill substitutes for that licence. A good drafter will tell you this themselves, unprompted. Treat anyone who offers to "get the permit sorted" for a drafting fee as a warning sign, not a bargain.

So before you hire, write down one sentence: what is this drawing for? An answer like "so my carpenter can build the wardrobe" or "so I can see if the two flats can be joined" points at a drafter. An answer like "so I can submit it to the municipality" does not.

Permits in Lebanon run through the Order of Engineers and Architects

This is the part that saves people money, and it is specific to Lebanon rather than generic advice. Building permits here are not a matter of handing drawings to an office. The Order of Engineers and Architects issues the forms and documents specific to the permit process, including the assignment, the agreement, the commencement order and the related declarations, and the chief engineer's statements must be registered at an Order office. In other words a permit file is built around a licensed engineer who takes responsibility for it, registered with the Order, and that person's involvement is not an optional extra you can draft your way around.

What follows practically is a clean division of labour. Hire a freelance drafter for drawings that inform decisions, quotes, fabrication and coordination. Engage a licensed engineer or architect, registered with the Order, for anything that will be submitted, stamped or built structurally. The two are not in competition, and the sensible sequence is often to use the affordable drafting work to reach a decision, then bring in the licensed professional once you know what you are actually doing. The price catalog on Furrsati reflects that boundary: drafting excludes permit work and stamping unless the freelancer is qualified for it and you have agreed it explicitly.

The five jobs people actually hire a drafter for

1. Redrawing an old plan into CAD. You have a paper blueprint, possibly damaged, possibly in French, and you need an editable digital version. The most common request there is, and the most satisfying to receive.
2. An as-built plan of a space nobody measured. Someone takes dimensions on site, or you send them, and the drafter produces a plan of the space as it stands today. This is the drawing everything else depends on.
3. A furniture or layout plan. Where things go, to scale, so you can tell whether the idea works before buying anything. Often paired with design work, which our guide to interior design cost in Lebanon covers.
4. Drawings a contractor can quote from. Vague scope is why quotes come back high and vary wildly. A dimensioned drawing makes three quotes comparable.
5. Shop drawings for a maker. Details for a kitchen, a wardrobe or joinery, at a level a carpenter or metalworker can fabricate from.

Testing which of the five you need is worth five minutes, because it changes the brief entirely.

What it costs

On Furrsati, 2D CAD drafting for a small task is priced as a project, typically $50 to $250. Inside that band the price is driven by the complexity of the drawing and the quality of what you supply.

That second factor is the one you control, and it is dramatic. A clear, legible plan with readable dimensions that simply needs redrawing sits near the bottom of the range. A damaged paper original with faded dimensions, or a set of site measurements that do not add up and have to be queried back and forth, sits near the top and takes longer for everybody. If you want the drafter to visit the site and measure, that is separate work with travel and time attached, so ask for it as its own line rather than assuming it is included.

Larger drawing packages are a different purchase altogether, and once a project reaches plans, elevations and sections, you are in the territory where a licensed professional should be involved anyway.

What to send, and the measuring that comes first

Nothing improves a drafting quote more than sending complete information first. Send:

• What the drawing is for, in one sentence, plus who will read it.
• The source material: the old plan as a flat, straight, well-lit photograph or scan of the whole sheet, not a photograph taken at an angle with a thumb across the corner.
• Every dimension you have, including ceiling height, and the positions and widths of doors and windows.
• Wall thicknesses, which people almost always forget and which change the plan noticeably.
• Fixed services: where the water comes in, where the drains are, the electrical panel, the generator feed, the water tank, the AC units.
• Which units you work in, centimetres or metres, and stick to one. Mixed units are the single most common cause of a drawing that is silently wrong.
• The output you need: DWG, PDF at a stated scale, or both.

If nobody has measured the space, that has to happen first, and doing it properly is not hard. Measure every wall individually rather than assuming rooms are rectangles, because in older Lebanese buildings they frequently are not. Also measure each room corner to corner diagonally: if the diagonals are unequal, the room is out of square and the drafter needs to know rather than guess. Note ceiling height in more than one spot. Photograph each wall. Our guide on how to write a freelance job brief is a good template for packaging all of it.

Files, scale and layers: what to insist on

Agree the deliverables in writing before you pay, because "the drawings" means different things to different people.

• The editable CAD file (usually DWG), not only a PDF. This is the equivalent of the source file in design work, and it is what lets anyone else continue.
• A PDF at a stated scale, so it can be printed and measured off correctly.
• Real dimensions on the drawing, not measurements you are expected to scale off with a ruler.
• Sensible layers: walls, dimensions, furniture and text separated, so changes are possible without redrawing.
• The units and the scale written on the sheet. A drawing that does not say whether it is in centimetres or metres is a drawing waiting to cause an expensive mistake.
• A title block with the project name, date and revision number, so that six weeks later everyone is looking at the same version.
• The fonts or text style, if anything unusual was used, so the file opens correctly elsewhere.

Ask which CAD version the file is saved in, too. A file saved in a very recent format can fail to open for a contractor running older software, and asking for an additional copy saved back a few versions costs nothing at the time and saves a day later.

Checking the drawings before you pay

Do not approve a drawing by glancing at it. Three checks catch nearly everything.

Add up the room dimensions along one wall and confirm they equal the overall dimension of that wall. They frequently do not on a first draft, and it is the fastest way to find a transcription error. Second, check the doors: every door should have a width, and it should swing somewhere possible rather than into another door or a wall. Third, print the PDF at the stated scale and measure something you know, a door width or a window, with a ruler. If the printed measurement does not match, the scale is wrong, and finding that out now rather than after the carpenter has cut is the whole point.

Pay in milestones tied to those checks rather than on delivery of a file: as-built plan approved, then the detail drawings. Our guide on how to set milestones when hiring a freelancer covers how to phrase them.

Hiring and paying safely

Look for a portfolio of actual drawings, not renders. They are different skills and the presence of beautiful 3D work tells you nothing about whether someone dimensions cleanly. Ask to see one sheet at full size, including its title block and dimension style, because a drafter's habits are visible in thirty seconds to anyone who has read a drawing before. Ask directly whether they are licensed, if your job touches anything structural or submittable, and accept a straight no as a good sign rather than a problem. Browse freelancers to see who is available, and if you also need visuals, our guide to 3D interior render cost explains how the two pieces of work fit together.

This is where Furrsati removes the risk. You post your project, compare proposals from verified freelancers, fund a milestone, and release payment only once you've approved the work, with milestone funds held by Stripe until you release them. The service fee comes off the freelancer's side, so only standard card processing is added to your bill, and wallet-funded milestones carry none. Freelancers verify their identity before they can withdraw; as a client you need no verification. Payouts reach the freelancer inside Lebanon by OMT, Whish, bank transfer or USDT.

Your next step

Write one sentence saying what the drawing is for. Get the space measured properly, wall by wall, with the diagonals. Send the source material flat and legible. Demand the editable CAD file, a scaled PDF and dimensions on the sheet. Keep permits and stamping with a licensed professional registered with the Order of Engineers and Architects. When you're ready, hire a CAD drafter on Furrsati and keep your payment protected until the drawings check out.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does CAD drafting cost in Lebanon?

On Furrsati, 2D CAD drafting for a small task is priced as a project, typically $50 to $250, with the complexity of the drawing and the quality of what you supply deciding where it falls. A legible plan that needs redrawing is at the bottom of that range; a damaged original or site measurements that contradict each other is at the top. A site visit to measure is separate work.

Can a freelance drafter get me a building permit?

No. Building permits in Lebanon are built around a licensed engineer, and the Order of Engineers and Architects issues the permit-process documents, with the chief engineer's statements registered at an Order office. Hire a drafter for drawings that inform decisions, quotes and fabrication, and engage a licensed engineer or architect registered with the Order for anything submitted or structural.

What is the difference between a drafter and an engineer?

A drafter produces accurate technical drawings. An engineer or architect carries a licence and the professional responsibility that goes with it: structural sizing, code compliance, and signing off work submitted to an authority. Both are legitimate; only one of them can stamp a drawing.

What files should I receive?

The editable CAD file, usually DWG, plus a PDF at a stated scale. Insist on real dimensions written on the drawing, separated layers for walls, dimensions, furniture and text, the units and scale stated on the sheet, and a title block with date and revision number. Ask for a copy saved in an older CAD format too, so a contractor with older software can open it.

How do I measure my apartment for a floor plan?

Measure every wall individually instead of assuming rooms are rectangles, and measure each room corner to corner diagonally: unequal diagonals mean the room is out of square, which the drafter must know. Record ceiling height in more than one place, wall thicknesses, door and window positions and widths, and the location of drains, water supply, the electrical panel and AC units. Photograph each wall, and use one unit throughout.

How do I check a drawing before approving it?

Add the room dimensions along one wall and confirm they match the overall dimension of that wall. Check that every door has a width and swings somewhere possible. Then print the PDF at the stated scale and measure a known object, such as a door width, with a ruler. If the printed measurement is wrong, the scale is wrong, and you want to know before anything is cut.