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Pricing CAD Drawings


Skilla

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Thank you for this information. I will contact you for some back tax owed as we will assess your income for the last 5 years as being ----- your ip number is-----------

 

Lesson learned

 

Im not suggesting anyone try to get away with not paying taxes....theres just certain amounts that you must report and other times where it isnt necessary.......if you just do this on the side OCCATIONALLY then forget about it........as for the IRS, they can assess away, it'll be a waste of their time

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I'm currently doing some plans for a renovation and pricing has been a big issue. The clients are receiving a 50k grant from the VA for the renovations and they don't plan on putting up any of their own cash so you'd think they'd plan accordingly. Due to input from the VA I'm doing this job for not nearly enough (1500$) because I figured it would be a fairly simple job.

 

HARDLY!

 

Never assume you know what a job is going to be. I finally sent off the floor plans for approval after four different versions. The client has no concept of current housing and construction pricing and refuses to believe anyone who tells her differently. Instead of just doing the simple renovations required by the VA she has me drawing up plans to convert her modest 2000 sq ft house into a mini-mansion. Even though I appraised the VA of this clients desire to create a mansion with only 50k they approved the plans and now I can finally get to work on the other eight sheets.

 

-Crom

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  • 4 months later...

As for the time buffer. I always do this at work. If i think something is going to take me 2 days, I tell them 4 days. 2 hours = 6 hours etc. This way when I get done early, I look like a genius. Even though I am far from it =]

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I have a question...for most of you that do freelance work. Do you purchase AutoCAD for your self...or do you use your office's license on your home computer. I am looking to start freelance work and I want to use...do you use LT..or the full version?

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I think you should have your own ACAD for many reasons.

 

One of them what do you think that will happen if suddenly you got fired and you also had a deadline in your freelance work? you wouldn't have ACAD to continue it and then you would have lost 2 jobs in the same day.

 

Another would be that the company you're working for buys ACAD licenses for its own benefit and if they catch you, you might get fired unless you get permission.

 

$0.02, Alex.

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zars...do you buy the full version or LT...just to do floor plans, but I use the wall styles and such. I've always used the full version and not sure what LT really is, but I have seen that it is way cheaper.

 

Also, anyone know of a really good vendor...and if you can get past versions...like 2005?

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for me, an electrical designer, $75 per sheet would be working for just about nothing. my most common project is a tenant improvement from 2,000-10,000 sq. ft. my design for this type of project is usually 4-6 sheets and takes me 10-20 hours. i charge $50 per hour and give my clients a good idea of what my invoice will look like. usually $800-2000 depending on complexity.

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Is there insurance involved?

I'm a draftmans, who works for the Government, and I work with Engineers. They put their stamp on all of the drawings and declare it suitable for building after we go through it with a fine tooth comb. I have only two projects while I was in the private sector that I've done, It was good money, but the projects themselves weren't that plentyful.

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zars...do you buy the full version or LT...just to do floor plans, but I use the wall styles and such. I've always used the full version and not sure what LT really is, but I have seen that it is way cheaper.

 

Also, anyone know of a really good vendor...and if you can get past versions...like 2005?

No you can't get older versions from any reseller. And you can't "purchase" older versions from another individual.... it's all in the EULA. but yes, LT is the way to go for your own package, if you're gonna do "some" freelance CAD work on the side. it'll definitely suffice.

 

I've done 2 freelance jobs, and both times I asked my boss if I could use the license from my work, and he didn't mind at all. Of course, this happened because it was a small company, and my boss (the owner) has known my family for years. Doesn't usually happen that way in most situations.

 

If you're going to do a big job for someone, then sometimes you can get them to buy the software for you, and that would be considered payment. I knew a guy who did a whole set of electrical plans for a guy, and that's what he did. so basically, you're getting paid a full version of AutoCAD for the price of all your labor, and if you DO actually get an oppurtunity like that, by all means do it. because then you can legally do all the freelance work on your own. :)

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StykFacE, thats a good idea. maybe its also a way to receive a payment that Uncle Sam doesnt get a part of, except for sales tax of course.

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Uncle Sam can't tax you if you work for free. and yes, buying the software alone will cover all of Uncle Sam's needs with the sales tax. :wink:

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Uncle Sam can't tax you if you work for free. and yes, buying the software alone will cover all of Uncle Sam's needs with the sales tax. :wink:

 

That would be an awesome way to do it...I've been looking at different places to buy LT and its looking to be around $800.00

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That would be an awesome way to do it...I've been looking at different places to buy LT and its looking to be around $800.00

Nice... I can't seem to find it less than $900 here in Dallas. Good way to do business, tho. :)

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Freelance work would be something that I would love to do while in my last year of college, it would be so much easier to work around my class schedule and set my own hours, what's stopping me is I'm afraid that I won't get enough work. I already have a contact person who would be willing to give some work, but he hasn't committed to how much work yet.

 

But he had suggested to me that I start an LLC business, that way there is a better legal description of the work relationship and I couldn't accidentally be defined as somebody's employee by the government. I was planning on charging $35 a hour and giving an estimate of how many hours it will take me and being specific about the scope of work IN WRITING.

 

But I'm kinda scared to do it (eventhough i could spend more time on my homework and less time sitting in an office twidling my thumbs because I have no work to do). I work for architects, btw.

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Penny...can you just buy the student version..and work off of that?

 

And how do you go about being a LLC business?

 

Styk...800 is close..and I found that on the internet...give or take $50-$60.

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Student version is a bad idea because anything printed from it will have a watermark lableing it at student version, and anything copied from it to a full version will copy over the watermark. So I would probably try to obtain a LT version, or I can go to the school lab and work there.

 

And to become an LLC, you would have to write Articles of Organization (requirments vary with each state) and then file it at the appropriate state office to establish the business. This can be done by either hiring a laywer or buying a book at barnes and noble with a CD of standard templates. The templates can be modified to be more applicable to the intended business while still leaving wiggle room to work with. In my state, the filing fee for an LLC business is somewhere around one hundred dollars. Not really that difficult. (but i'm sure you can tell I've researched the subject)

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There's plenty of jobs that a draftsman can do, like contract for hire. I was approached by a private engineering firm, they didn't have an office in the state I was working in, but they wanted to do work there. And they asked if I would be willing to do work on the side for them. I told them i was unable to do it. I didn't have the time to do it.

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