Freelance CAD Designer Needed – Heat Trace Isometric Drawings

Thermco is a specialty industrial contractor seeking an experienced CAD designer or drafting firm to develop a complete set of heat trace isometric drawings for a power generation facility.

Project Overview

The project consists of approximately 45 individual heat trace circuits, each requiring a professional heat trace isometric drawing suitable for submission to the plant owner.

Thermco will provide:

Required design and circuit information
Field-verified isometric piping sketches
Piping line numbers and equipment identification
Heat-trace heater and component information
A sample field sketch illustrating the information available
Technical coordination and clarification as needed

The selected freelancer will convert this information into consistent, accurate, and professionally formatted project deliverables.

Required Information on Each Drawing

Each heat trace isometric drawing must include:

Line locations
Piping line numbers and piping configuration
Identification of all freeze-protected valves, pumps, flanges, and instruments
Heater circuit number
Calculated heat loss and heater output
Electrical load and operating voltage
Heater catalog number and installed length
Heater termination points
Applicable design parameters
Insulation type and thickness
Locations of all heat-trace components
Material schedule listing all components used
Circuit breaker size
Start-up current

Drawings must clearly identify applicable items such as power connection kits, end seals, splice kits, tees, thermostats, junction boxes, cable routing, and other circuit components.

Thermco Standard Drawing Template

In addition to completing the project drawings, the selected freelancer will develop a reusable Thermco standard heat trace isometric drawing template for future projects.

The template should include:

Professional Thermco title block
Revision block
Drawing and circuit identification fields
Design-data table
Electrical-load information
Heater schedule
Component material schedule
Symbols and legend
Notes and approval fields
Consistent layer, lineweight, text, and dimension standards
Fields that can be efficiently updated for future circuits

The template must remain fully editable in AutoCAD.

Required Deliverables

The final deliverables will include:

Approximately 45 completed heat trace isometric drawings
Native, fully editable AutoCAD .dwg files
Individual and/or combined PDF drawing package
Reusable Thermco heat trace isometric drawing template in .dwg format
Any supporting blocks, fonts, external references, plot-style files, or other resources needed to reproduce the drawings
Final files organized using an agreed-upon drawing-number and revision system

All DWG files must open correctly without missing references, fonts, or linked resources.

Preferred Qualifications

Ideal candidates will have experience with:

Industrial piping isometric drawings
Electric heat-tracing systems
Power generation, petrochemical, refinery, or heavy-industrial projects
AutoCAD drafting and drawing standards
Reading and interpreting field piping sketches
Heat-trace components, circuit schedules, and electrical data
Preparing owner-ready or construction-ready drawing packages

Experience with manufacturers such as nVent RAYCHEM, Thermon, Chromalox, or Nelson is beneficial.

Proposal Requirements

Please include the following in your response:

Summary of relevant experience
Examples of similar piping, electrical, or heat-trace drawings
AutoCAD version and drafting software used
Proposed price structure: per drawing, hourly, or lump sum
Estimated schedule for the template and all 45 drawings
Number of review and revision cycles included
Confirmation that native DWG and PDF files will be provided
Availability for periodic coordination calls
Suggested Work Process

We anticipate completing the work in stages:

Develop the Thermco standard drawing template.
Complete one representative heat trace isometric drawing.
Review and approve the template and sample drawing.
Produce the remaining drawings in batches.
Incorporate consolidated review comments.
Submit the complete DWG and PDF drawing package.

Accuracy, consistency, responsive communication, and industrial drafting experience are important. This assignment may lead to additional heat-trace and industrial drafting work on future Thermco projects.