Revit/AutoCAD Architectural & MEP Drafter, USA Construction Plans (Part-Time / Per-Project)

LONGHORN HOME & LAND LLC
Central Texas custom home builder and land developer

We build custom homes, barndominiums, remodels, additions, and light commercial projects in the Austin, Texas area. We are looking for an experienced architectural and MEP drafter to work with us on a part-time, per-project basis.

This is ongoing work rather than a one-time job. We run multiple projects per year and we want one drafter we can rely on long term.

This is a contractor position, not employment.


WHAT YOU WILL DRAFT

Residential and light commercial drawing sets, including:

- Floor plans, foundation and slab plans, roof plans

- Exterior elevations, building sections, wall sections and construction details

- Door and window schedules, interior elevations, cabinetry and millwork layouts

- Reflected ceiling and lighting plans

- Electrical and power plans: receptacles, switches, dedicated circuits, panel locations, smoke and CO detectors

- Plumbing plans: fixtures, supply routing, DWV, stacks, water heater, cleanouts

- HVAC and mechanical plans: equipment locations, duct routing, supply and return, exhaust, thermostats

- MEP coordination across all of the above

- 3D models and interior and exterior renderings

- Full construction document sets developed from our sketches, field measurements, redlines, and existing plans

You are not responsible for stamped engineering, engineering calculations, or licensed architectural services. When those are required, we engage a US-licensed architect or engineer. Your job is accurate, coordinated, buildable drawings.


WHAT WE NEED YOU TO BE GOOD AT

This job has two halves and we need both.

First, you must be able to design and lay out a plan well. A floor plan that works, flows, and looks right matters to us and to our clients.

Second, you must understand how a building actually goes together, and catch problems before they reach the field. Ductwork fighting with beams and ceiling systems. Plumbing running through structural members. Lighting conflicting with diffusers. Equipment placed with no service clearance. MEP penetrations hitting structure.

Required experience:

- Residential and commercial drafting. We need both, not only one.

- Stick-built American wood-frame construction

- Metal buildings and steel-frame construction. Barndominiums are a large part of our work.

- US construction document standards and sheet organization

- Revit and/or AutoCAD required. Chief Architect, SketchUp, Archicad, Lumion, Enscape, or Twinmotion are a plus.

- Ability to export to the CAD formats our engineers require: .dwg, .dxf, .rvt, .ifc, .pdf

IF YOU ARE READING THIS, INCLUDE THE WORD BARNDO IN YOUR APPLICATION. There is a second word at the very end of this posting. We need both.


BUILDING CODES

You do not need to know Austin area code from memory, and you do not need to buy anything. We maintain an ICC Digital Codes subscription and give you access to the code editions we hold.

Our subscription will not cover everything. Projects land in different jurisdictions with their own adopted codes, local amendments, and requirements we do not already have on hand. When that happens, you need to be willing to go find the answer. Look up the jurisdiction, read what applies, and learn a code you have not worked with before.

If your response to an unfamiliar code is to wait for someone to hand it to you, this position will frustrate both of us.

What we do require is that you actually draft to those codes. Ceiling heights, egress, stair and landing dimensions, window sizing and emergency escape openings, smoke and CO detector placement, receptacle spacing, required GFCI and AFCI locations, fixture clearances, ventilation and exhaust requirements, and framing and header calls where we provide them.

These need to be right in the drawings, not approximated. If you are unsure whether something meets code, look it up in the access we give you, or ask us. Do not guess, and do not carry a detail over from a previous project just because it worked somewhere else.


COMMUNICATION AND AVAILABILITY

- Fluent written and spoken English. You will be on calls and video with us directly.

- Reachable by text, email, phone, and video chat.

- WILLING TO USE WHATSAPP, TELEGRAM, OR A SIMILAR MESSAGING APP WITH US DAILY. Most of our day-to-day back and forth happens by text rather than email. A quick question about a dimension, a photo from the field, a redline we need eyes on. Tell us which apps you already use.

- A VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH YOUR CAMERA ON IS REQUIRED. During the call we will ask you to read a short technical paragraph aloud and talk through your own work. This job runs on phone and video calls about dimensions and details, and we need to be sure we can understand each other. If you are not willing to be on camera, this is not the right position for you.

- YOU MUST WORK US CENTRAL TIME BUSINESS HOURS, 8:00 AM TO 5:00 PM, MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. In Philippine time that is roughly 9:00 PM to 6:00 AM. This is a night shift for you. We need you available during our workday, not the following morning. Plans move fast here, and a question that waits 14 hours costs us a day on the schedule. Please do not apply if you are not willing to work these hours consistently.

- RESPOND WITHIN ABOUT TWO HOURS during our working hours. Not the next business day. When we send a question, a redline, or an answer you were waiting on, work should resume that morning. A 24-hour round trip on every question adds weeks to a project, and our clients are not on that schedule.

- SEND PROACTIVE UPDATES ON PROGRESS. We should not have to ask where a set stands.


ASK QUESTIONS. DO NOT GUESS.

Our sketches and field notes will sometimes be incomplete or contradictory. When information you need is missing or does not add up, ask us. Do not fill the gap with an assumption and keep drawing.

We want to be very direct about why this matters, because it is the most expensive thing a drafter can get wrong.

When you guess instead of asking, the guess does not stay on paper. It gets ordered, cut, poured, and welded. We find out at the framing stage that a header is in the wrong place, an opening is the wrong size, or a beam does not land where the plan says it does. On a custom home, a single error of that kind costs between $5,000 and $30,000 to correct, and it can push a client's move-in date by weeks.

That money comes out of our business, and the damage to our reputation with that client lasts a lot longer than the invoice.

A question takes us two minutes to answer. The same question, unasked, can cost us more than you will earn from us in a year. That is why we take this so seriously, and why we would rather answer twenty questions a day than receive one set built on assumptions.

WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU GUESS ANYWAY

We are not going to send you a bill for a framing error. That is not realistic and it is not what we are asking for. What we will do is this:

- You correct every error, omission, and coordination failure in your work at your own expense, on your own time, with no extension to the deadline. This is in our subcontract agreement.

- We may charge the cost of correcting your work against amounts we owe you, as our subcontract allows.

- If it keeps happening, or if we find you have been filling in gaps instead of asking, we end the agreement immediately.

- We leave honest feedback on your OnlineJobs.ph profile, which every future employer will read, and we report serious misconduct to the platform.

- Our subcontract reserves all of our other legal remedies.

We want to be fair about this, so we will say it plainly. We are not looking to punish anyone for a mistake. Everyone makes them, and an honest error that you flag yourself is a completely different thing from a gap you papered over and said nothing about. The first one we fix together. The second one ends the relationship.

You will never be penalized for asking, no matter how many questions you have or how basic they seem.

If you do have to proceed on an assumption to keep moving, write it on the drawing so we can see it. This is an obligation in our subcontract agreement, not a preference.


CAPACITY AND SCHEDULE

Tell us honestly how many hours per week you can commit and what you realistically need for a full set.

Be straight with that number. Do not pad it to leave yourself room for other clients, and do not shorten it to win the job. We build our own estimate of how long the work should take, we compare it to yours, and we settle on a date together. A number that is padded by a week is obvious to us, and it costs you credibility on the first project.

We move fast because we have made commitments to our clients. A realistic date that we agree on together is what we will hold you to.


REVISIONS

- Corrections to errors, omissions, or missed coordination in your own work are not revisions and are not billable. They are part of the deliverable.

- Each project includes a minimum of three rounds of client-driven revisions at no extra charge.

- Scope changes and revision rounds beyond that are billable and agreed in writing first.


CONTRACT, TAX, AND CONFIDENTIALITY REQUIREMENTS

Please read this section carefully before applying. These are firm requirements and they are not negotiable. If any of them is a problem for you, this is not the right position, and we would rather know now than after two interviews.


1) YOU WILL SIGN A MASTER SUBCONTRACTOR AGREEMENT (MSA) BEFORE ANY WORK BEGINS.

The MSA is our standing contract with you. Each individual project is then issued as its own work order under it, with the scope, price, and due dates in writing. The MSA covers, at minimum:

- Independent contractor status. You are a contractor, not an employee.

- Ownership and assignment of all work product to Longhorn Home & Land

- Confidentiality and non-disclosure of client and project information

- Data security and network requirements

- Revision and correction obligations

- Payment terms and schedule

- Turnaround commitments and what happens if a committed date is missed

- Termination and file handover

You will receive the full MSA to read before you sign. Please ask questions about it. We would rather explain a clause than have you sign something you did not read.


2) FILE AND WORK PRODUCT OWNERSHIP. PLEASE READ THIS ONE TWICE.

All drawings, models, renderings, and files you produce for us are the property of Longhorn Home & Land. This includes the native working files (.rvt, .dwg, .dxf, .skp, .pln, and rendering scene files), not only the exported PDFs. Native files are delivered to us at each milestone and at the end of every project, whether or not the project is completed.

You do not retain ownership, licensing rights, or any claim to the files. You may not withhold native files for any reason, including a payment dispute. You may not reuse our drawings, plans, models, or renderings in your portfolio, on your website, on social media, or in any application to another client without our written permission.

Please do not apply if you are not comfortable with this. Some drafters keep native files as leverage or as portfolio material. That does not work here, and it is the fastest way to end the relationship.


3) W-8BEN OR W-8BEN-E IS REQUIRED BEFORE YOUR FIRST PAYMENT.

Individuals file W-8BEN. If you work through a registered company or entity, W-8BEN-E. We cannot pay you until we have it on file.


4) YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN TAXES.

We do not withhold anything, we do not provide benefits, and we do not provide equipment or software. You cover your own hardware, software licenses, and internet. We cover code access as described above.


5) CONFIDENTIALITY AND DATA SECURITY.

Our clients' plans, home addresses, and project details are private information, and protecting them is a contract obligation. You must:

- Work on a private, password-protected network. No public Wi-Fi, no shared connection, no internet cafe, no hotel or coworking network.

- Work on a device you personally own or control, password or biometric locked, with current security updates. Nobody else uses that device while our files are on it.

- Keep all project files in the shared drive we provide. Not on personal cloud accounts, personal email, third-party file transfer sites, messaging apps, or flash drives.

- Never share login credentials we issue you with anyone.

- Never paste, upload, or submit our drawings, models, sketches, client addresses, or project information into any third-party AI tool or online service that stores or trains on what you submit. This includes ChatGPT, AI drafting and rendering services, and free online converters. If you want to use an AI tool in your workflow, ask us first and we will tell you yes or no.

- Tell us within 24 hours if a device or account holding our files is lost, stolen, accessed by someone else, infected, or if you suspect it has been compromised.

- Never discuss, post, or share any client information, project location, or drawing with anyone.

- When a project ends, or when we ask, permanently delete our files from all your devices, accounts, and backups, and confirm in writing that you did.


6) BE HONEST ABOUT YOUR SCHEDULE.

Tell us the truth about your workload. If you take on more than you can deliver and our plans sit while you finish someone else's, we will find out, and we will end the agreement. We are not asking you to work only for us. We are asking you to commit only to what you can actually deliver.


PAY

$3 to $5 per hour depending on experience. We raise it as you prove out. Reliability, accuracy, and how little we have to redline your work are what move that number.

On plan sets we also pay per square foot, which is how plan work is commonly priced in the US. The rate is agreed per project before work begins, plus flat fees for assignments outside a plan set.

For the right person we are open to a salary arrangement instead of hourly, once we have worked together long enough to know what the volume looks like.

Payment is made through Wise or your preferred method. When you apply, tell us your hourly rate and your per-square-foot rate.

Please read this next part carefully, because we would rather you know it now.

On project-based work, our subcontract follows standard US construction practice. Our obligation to pay is tied to our receipt of payment from the client for that work. This is normal in US construction contracting and it applies to every trade we hire. It also means that if a client project does not move forward, payment on that work order follows what we collect.

On hourly work, payment is not tied to client payment and is made on our normal schedule.

We will tell you before each work order which basis applies, and it will be in writing in the work order. If this is not something you are comfortable with, please tell us before you sign rather than after.


DAILY PROGRESS REPORT

While you have active work with us, send a short progress note at the end of each of your working days. Three or four lines is plenty:

- What you completed

- What you are working on next

- Anything blocking you, or any question you need answered to keep moving

We are not asking for this to check up on you. We are asking because when we know where a set stands, we can answer your questions before they cost you a day. A drafter who goes quiet for four days and then delivers is a drafter we cannot plan around.


ABOUT AI

Use AI to help you learn something, look something up, or check your own work. That is your business and we do not mind.

What we will not accept is AI writing your messages to us. Not in your application, not on your first day, not ever.

Here is the reason. Almost all of our daily communication is text and email. When we ask how a set is going, we need to know what you actually think. Whether you are stuck. Whether something in the sketch does not make sense. Whether you are going to miss a date. An AI-written update is confident, polished, and tells us nothing. We find out you were stuck three days later, when the schedule is already gone.

Three broken sentences telling us you are confused about a dimension are worth more to us than a perfect paragraph that hides it.

So:

- Your application, your video, and every message after you are hired must be your own words. AI writing is easy to spot and we read with that in mind. More importantly, you will be on a live video call discussing what you wrote. If your writing is polished and you cannot talk about it in your own words, that is an immediate no, and there is no way around it.

- This applies from your first message and every day after. If your writing reads like a language model and your calls do not sound like the same person, that ends the working relationship.

- Never put our drawings, models, sketches, client addresses, or project information into any AI tool or online service that stores or trains on what you submit. This is a term of our subcontract.

TO BE CLEAR ABOUT OUR STANDARD, BECAUSE THESE TWO THINGS WORK TOGETHER:

Your English needs to be good enough that we understand you the first time, in writing and on the phone. If we have to schedule a call to work out what a message meant, or ask you three times to explain something, that costs us more time than the work saves. Strong written and spoken English is a requirement of this position.

At the same time, it has to be your English. We are not asking for perfect grammar or advanced vocabulary. Plain, clear, direct sentences are exactly right. Small mistakes are fine and we will never mention them.

We need to understand you, and we need to know that it is actually you. A polished AI paragraph fails the second test. Unclear writing fails the first. Write simply, in your own words, and you will pass both.


HOW TO APPLY

Reply with this subject line:

DRAFTER, [YOUR NAME], [WORD 1] [WORD 2]

Two code words appear in this posting. Include both, in order, in your subject line and in the first line of your message.

We do this because this job is about reading a full set of documents carefully and catching what is in them. If you cannot get through one job posting, the drawings will be a problem.

Applications missing either word, or missing answers to any question below, are not reviewed.

PLEASE ANSWER EVERY QUESTION. Number your answers so we can follow them.


Q1. How many years have you drafted US residential plans? US commercial plans?

Q2. Which software do you use daily, and which version?

Q3. Have you drafted metal building or steel-frame projects such as barndominiums, shops, or mixed-use metal buildings? Describe one.

Q4. Have you drafted stick-built wood-frame homes? Describe one.

Q5. Have you drafted full MEP plans covering electrical, plumbing, and HVAC, or only architectural? Please be honest. We ask this specifically.

Q6. Give one example of a coordination conflict you caught in a drawing set before it reached the field, and how you resolved it.

Q7. Our hours are 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM US Central, which is roughly 9:00 PM to 6:00 AM your time. Are you willing and able to work that schedule consistently? Have you worked a US night shift before, and for how long?

Q8. Are you comfortable with Longhorn Home & Land owning all work product including native .rvt and .dwg files, with no portfolio use without written permission? Yes or no.

Q9. How many hours per week can you commit to us, and how many other clients are you currently drafting for?

Q10. What is your realistic turnaround on a complete construction document set for a 2,000 square foot custom home, working from our sketches?

Q11. What is your hourly rate in USD? Do you also price per square foot, and if so, what is your rate?

Q12. Provide three references: name, company, and email or phone. We will contact them about your drafting and rendering work.

Q13. Attach or link a portfolio showing full construction document sets, not only renderings. We want to see sheets: plans, sections, details, schedules, and MEP.

Q14. Describe a project where you produced a plan set from hand sketches, field measurements, or redlines rather than an existing CAD file. What information was missing, and how did you handle it?

Q15. Are you willing to complete a paid test assignment and walk us through your file on a video call? Yes or no.

Q16. Which messaging apps do you use? WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber, or something else. We will be texting you most days.


REQUIRED: SHORT VIDEO

APPLICATIONS WITHOUT A VIDEO LINK ARE NOT REVIEWED. This is not optional and we do not make exceptions.

Record a video of yourself, 60 to 90 seconds, and include the link in your reply. Upload it as an unlisted YouTube video, or as a Google Drive link set so that anyone with the link can view it.

Requirements:

- Your face visible and well lit, speaking directly to the camera

- One continuous take. No editing, no cuts, no voice-over.

- Your own voice. Not a reading by someone else, not text-to-speech, not AI-generated.

Please do these three things, in this order.

STEP 1. Say your full name, then say both code words from this posting out loud.

STEP 2. Read this aloud, exactly as written:

"The slab is 48'-0" x 32'-0" with a 4" thickened edge at the garage openings. Wall studs are 2x6 at 16" o.c., and the top plate sits at 10'-4 1/2". The roof is a 6/12 pitch with a 2'-0" overhang. Supply the header schedule before framing, and confirm the rough opening for the 3'-0" x 6'-8" exterior door."

STEP 3. Then, without reading from anything, answer this in your own words for about thirty seconds:

"Tell me about a drawing set you worked on where the information you were given was wrong or missing, and what you did about it."

We are not judging your accent. We are checking that we can understand each other clearly on a phone call about dimensions, because that is how this job runs every day. Speak at a normal pace and do not over-prepare. Step 3 is meant to be unscripted, and we would rather hear you think than hear you recite.


SKILLS VERIFICATION: REQUIRED

Before we award any real project, every shortlisted candidate completes a paid test assignment. This is not optional and there are no exceptions, regardless of how strong your portfolio or references are.

Here is exactly what it involves:

- We send you a hand sketch, rough field measurements, and basic project notes. This is the same kind of information you will actually receive from us on a live job.

- You produce three sheets from it: exterior elevations with 3D views, a foundation plan, and a second floor framing plan with a staircase elevation.

- You also submit a written, numbered list of every discrepancy, missing dimension, and conflict you found in the sketches, with the question you would ask us about each.

- The deadline is 3 days.

- You are paid a flat fee for this assignment whether or not we hire you. We do not ask anyone to work for free. This is a fixed fee for a reduced-scope sample exercise built from rough field sketches. It is not our rate for production plan sets and you should not read it as one. Rates for real project work are negotiated with you separately, per project, before any work starts.

- You will then get on a video call and walk us through your own file, live, sharing your screen. We will ask you why you made specific decisions.

We want to be clear about why we do this. Most of the work you will do for us starts as a sketch on paper, a photo of a napkin, or a set of measurements taken in the field, rather than as a clean file handed to you. We need to see that you can take incomplete information, ask the right questions, and produce a coordinated and buildable set.

A portfolio shows us finished work. It does not show us whether you personally did it, or whether you understand it.

The screen-share walkthrough is part of the test. If you cannot explain your own drawing decisions, we will know.


LAST TWO THINGS

APPLY POINTS: please use 12 Apply Points when you send your application. Applications sent with fewer than 12 will not be reviewed. We are hiring one drafter for ongoing work, and we want to hear from people who are choosing this job rather than applying to everything.

YOU REACHED THE END. THE SECOND WORD IS PECAN. Include both BARNDO and PECAN in your application, in your subject line and in the first line of your message.

If you are sending the same application to many job posts, this is where it stops. We read every reply, and a message without both words tells us everything we need to know.

We look forward to hearing from the people who actually read this.