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AI drafting for mechanical

AI Drafting for Mechanical and HVAC Engineering

A mechanical engineer can finish the load calc and zoning in a day and then wait a week for ductwork to be drawn around the structure. Nomic drafts the duct and piping plans, places diffusers and equipment, and builds the schedules in CAD from your engineer's criteria, then checks the sheets against the IMC and ASHRAE editions you name.

Start for freeAll drafting work
Last reviewed: November 2026

You send

  • Architectural backgrounds, reflected ceiling plans, and structural framing
  • Your engineer's load calc export, zoning sketch, and sizing criteria
  • Selected equipment cutsheets
  • Your CAD standards and past mechanical sheets as precedent
  • The IMC, ASHRAE 62.1, and ASHRAE 90.1 editions the project follows

Nomic hands back

  • Ductwork, diffuser, and equipment plans as DWG files
  • Hydronic and refrigerant piping plans and flow diagrams
  • Equipment schedules in Excel and on the sheet
  • Revision clouds on every change and a list of open questions
1234567ABCOPEN LAB301LAB302LAB303OPEN LAB304LAB SUPPORT305LAB SUPPORT306LAB SUPPORT307LAB SUPP308LAB SUPPORT309LAB SUPP310LAB SUPP311STAIRS224x14AHU-127'-3"27'-0"27'-3"27'-3"27'-0"27'-3"94'-8"1AHVAC PLANSCALE: 1/8" = 1'-0"N1234CONSULTING ENGINEERSREVISIONS1ISSUED FOR REVIEWPROJECTWESTFIELD LABSSCALE1/8" = 1'-0"DATE06/19/2026KEY PLANSHEET TITLEHVAC PLANSHEET NUMBERM-101

On the sheet

HVAC Plan, annotated

A mechanical plan with supply and return ductwork, diffusers, and the equipment that serves each zone.

  1. 1Main supply duct, sized width by depth
  2. 2VAV box feeding the zone
  3. 3Supply diffuser at the end of the branch
  4. 4Return grille

The problem

The ductwork is drawn three times before it fits

Supply mains get routed on the first pass, then rerouted when the structural set shows W21 beams where the architect promised a clear plenum, then rerouted again when the ceiling height drops to 9'-0" in the corridor. Each pass means redrawing double-line duct, fittings, dampers, and every diffuser tag with its CFM, and the drafter does it by hand each time.

The schedules fall behind the plans. A rooftop unit gets resized after the load calc changes, the tag on M-201 updates, but M-601 still shows the old tonnage, and the electrical engineer circuits the unit from an MCA that no longer exists. Outdoor air intakes end up 6 ft from a plumbing vent because nobody overlaid the roof plans.

01 / Layout

Duct and piping plans from your zoning and airflow

Give Nomic the architectural backgrounds, the structural framing, and your engineer's zoning sketch or load calc export. Nomic places the equipment and terminal units, routes supply and return mains under the structure, places and tags diffusers with their CFM, and draws hydronic piping on your layers.

  • Double-line ductwork with fittings, dampers, and duct sizes tagged
  • Diffusers and grilles placed from the reflected ceiling plan
  • Chilled water, heating hot water, and condensate piping drawn to scale
02 / Schedules

Equipment schedules built from the cutsheets

Nomic reads the equipment cutsheets your engineer selected and fills the schedules with airflow, capacity, static pressure, and electrical data. The same values go to the electrical engineer, so the breaker on the panel schedule matches the unit on the roof.

  • RTU, AHU, VAV, fan, pump, and boiler schedules in your format
  • MCA, MOCP, and voltage carried to the electrical sheets
  • Gaps between the schedule and the plan tags flagged
03 / Check

Checked against IMC, ASHRAE, and the other trades

Nomic checks its own sheets against the mechanical code, ASHRAE 62.1, and ASHRAE 90.1 editions you name, and overlays them on the structural, plumbing, and architectural sets. Your engineer starts the review with clouded changes and a short list of conflicts.

  • Outdoor air intake separation from vents and exhausts checked
  • Economizer and fan power requirements flagged for the engineer
  • Duct routing compared to beam depths and ceiling heights

Checked against

The code and documents behind every sheet

Name the editions the project is designed to and Nomic checks its own drawing against them before handing it back. Your engineer or architect of record makes the final call and stamps the set.

  • International Mechanical Code
  • ASHRAE 62.1 ventilation
  • ASHRAE 90.1 energy
  • SMACNA HVAC Duct Construction Standards
  • Structural framing and architectural ceiling heights
  • Your firm CAD standards

How it works

From a sentence to a stamped set

  1. Step 1

    Ask for the drawing

    Say what the sheet needs to show and attach the backgrounds, markups, cutsheets, or photos. A sentence is enough to start.

  2. Step 2

    Nomic drafts it in CAD

    Nomic works in CAD on its own computer, on your layers and blocks, following how your firm drew the same thing before. It saves real DWG files to the project.

  3. Step 3

    Nomic checks its own work

    The drawing is checked against the code editions you name and the source documents. Everything Nomic drew is clouded, and open questions are listed.

  4. Step 4

    Your team reviews and stamps

    Your engineers and architects review the clouded changes, make the final call, and issue the set under their own stamp.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Yes. Nomic works in CAD on its own computer and saves DWG files with double-line ductwork, fittings, dampers, diffusers, and equipment drawn on your layers. It routes ducts around the structural framing and tags each diffuser with the airflow from your engineer's criteria.

Your engineer owns the load calculations and the sizing criteria, such as friction rate, velocity limits, and pressure class. Nomic drafts from the load calc export and sizes duct runs to the criteria your engineer sets, and the engineer reviews every size before the set is issued.

Nomic checks against the International Mechanical Code or your state mechanical code, ASHRAE 62.1 for ventilation, ASHRAE 90.1 or the IECC for energy, and SMACNA duct construction standards, using the editions you name. Each finding cites the section behind it.

No. Nomic saves DWG files and change lists. If your mechanical model lives in Revit, your modeler links the DWGs or applies the change list to the model, and Nomic does the drafting and checking around it.

Yes. Nomic fills the mechanical equipment schedule from the cutsheets and carries MCA, MOCP, and voltage to the electrical sheets, then flags any unit where the breaker or disconnect no longer matches.

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