Evacuation Diagrams Without a Site Visit: How Remote AS 3745 Delivery Works in Australia

EvacPath makes AS 3745 evacuation diagrams fully remotely, with no site visit. You send a floor plan (a PDF, a photo, a hand-drawn sketch, or a video walkthrough), we draw your You Are Here diagrams from it, and you receive print-ready PDFs in 3 to 5 business days. Pricing starts at A$70 per diagram, and you see your first draft before you pay. This guide explains how remote delivery works, when it is the right fit, and the one or two cases where an on-site visit still helps.

Do you actually need a site visit for evacuation diagrams?

For most standard buildings, no. AS 3745:2010 (Planning for Emergencies in Facilities) governs what an evacuation diagram must contain and how it must be displayed. It does not require the diagram to be produced on site. The standard cares about the finished diagram: the correct You Are Here marker, the exit paths, the fire equipment, the assembly area, the right orientation, and the mandatory legend and elements. How the diagram was drawn, whether from a site inspection or from a floor plan you supply, is not a compliance factor.

That distinction is what makes remote delivery possible. If you already have a floor plan, even a rough one, a remote provider can produce fully compliant diagrams without ever visiting the building.

What EvacPath works from instead

We work from whatever shows your layout accurately. In order of how easy they are to work with:

• A floor plan PDF or CAD drawing, the ideal starting point, from your builder, architect, landlord, or building manager
• A clear photo or scan of a printed floor plan
• A hand-drawn sketch showing rooms, corridors, doors, and exits with rough dimensions
• A short video walkthrough of the premises, narrated as you go, which we turn into a plan

If you have none of these, a simple sketch on paper is usually enough for a single-tenancy space. We will tell you quickly if what you have is workable before any work starts.

What you mark up on the plan

To turn a floor plan into a compliant diagram, we need to know where the emergency elements are. You mark these up (a photo of a marked-up printout is fine) or describe them:

• Exits and the paths of travel to them
• Fire extinguishers, hose reels, and fire blankets
• First aid kits
• Manual call points and, where present, the fire indicator panel
• Your nominated assembly area outside the building

We place every element to AS 3745 conventions, orient each diagram to the viewer per clause 3.6, and lay out the legend and mandatory text. You do not need to know the standard. You just need to know where things are.

When a site visit still helps

Remote is the right fit for the large majority of offices, shops, cafes, clinics, warehouses, childcare centres, and single-tenancy sites. There are a few situations where an on-site inspection genuinely adds value:

• No plans exist at all and the building is large or complex enough that a sketch would not be reliable
• Multiple fire compartments or unusual layouts where the path of travel is hard to read from a plan
• Heritage or heavily modified buildings where the as-built layout differs a lot from any drawing you have
• Sites where a fire safety engineer needs to assess the building itself, not just document it

For those cases, an on-site fire safety consultant is the better call. We are honest about this: if a remote diagram would not be accurate, we will say so rather than guess.

Remote versus on-site: cost, speed, and coverage

The remote model changes three things compared with the traditional on-site consultant:

• Cost: there are no travel or site-attendance fees, so remote work sits below an on-site day rate. EvacPath pricing is fixed and published: from A$70 per diagram, A$280 for up to 4 diagrams (Basic), A$420 for up to 8 (Standard).
• Speed: standard turnaround is 3 to 5 business days, and 1 to 2 business days if you have a deadline, at no extra cost.
• Coverage: because we work from your plan, we can serve any location in Australia, metro or regional, not just a local service area.

For a full pricing breakdown and how remote compares with a traditional consultant, see the evacuation diagram cost guide and the pricing page.

How draft-first removes the risk of buying sight unseen

The natural worry with a remote service is buying something you have not seen. EvacPath removes that risk by working draft-first: you see your first draft before you pay. We prepare your diagrams from the plan you send, share a proof for your review, and only invoice once you are happy to proceed. We then refine until you approve, plus 2 rounds of minor revisions after delivery. If a room name, a You Are Here position, or an exit path is not quite right, we fix it before anything is printed or mounted. You can also browse real sample diagrams before you start.

Accuracy: who signs off

Remote production does not change who is responsible for accuracy. EvacPath draws every diagram to the AS 3745 elements, but we are not an Australian fire safety consultant. Your Emergency Planning Committee or a suitably qualified person should verify the finished diagrams against the building before installation, exactly as they would with any provider. The remote workflow simply means the drawing work happens from your plan rather than from a site visit.

Can I get evacuation diagrams done remotely?

Yes. EvacPath produces AS 3745 evacuation diagrams entirely remotely across Australia. You send a floor plan and we deliver print-ready PDFs in 3 to 5 business days, with no site visit.

Do I need a site inspection for AS 3745 compliance?

No, and evacuation diagram providers do not need to inspect the building either. AS 3745 governs the content and display of the finished diagram, not how it was produced or who walked the site. A diagram drawn from your floor plan is just as compliant as one drawn after a site visit, provided it is accurate and your Emergency Planning Committee or a suitably qualified person verifies it against the building before it goes on the wall.

What if I do not have a floor plan for my building?

A hand-drawn sketch or a short video walkthrough is usually enough for a single-tenancy space. We will confirm quickly whether what you have is workable before any work starts.

Do evacuation diagram companies offer free drafts before payment?

Some do, and EvacPath is one of them. You see your first draft before you pay anything: no deposit and no upfront payment required, and no obligation to continue if the draft does not suit you. Some suppliers want the full amount before they show you anything, so it is worth asking any provider this question directly before you commit.

The draft is your actual diagram, drawn to the AS 3745 elements from your own floor plan, not a template with your name dropped into it. We refine it until you approve, plus 2 rounds of minor revisions after delivery.

How do online evacuation diagram services work?

Most work the same way: you send a floor plan and your building details by email or through an order form, a drafter draws each diagram to the AS 3745 elements, and print-ready PDFs come back to you by email. A few are self-serve tools where you do the drawing yourself. With a drafted service like EvacPath there is no software to learn: a person produces the diagrams from what you send, following the same three-step process on every order, and you review each one before anything is final. Your first draft comes back within 3 to 5 business days of a complete order, or 1 to 2 business days at no extra cost if you have a deadline, and final files follow once you approve.

• You send the floor plan, the site address, the building type, and where the exits, fire equipment, and assembly area are.
• We confirm the plan is workable and come back with any questions before drawing starts.
• We draft one diagram per display location, each oriented to the direction the viewer will be facing.
• You review the draft and we refine it until you approve it.
• We invoice after your approval, then the print-ready A3 PDFs and web-resolution copies arrive by email.
• You print, laminate, and mount each diagram at its location. Printing and installation are not included.

What do I need to send to get an evacuation diagram made remotely?

A floor plan and the positions of your exits, fire equipment, and assembly area are the core of it; add the site address, the building type, and how many display locations you need, and the order is complete. If you already have a floor plan, the whole exchange happens online: you email the plan, mark or describe where the emergency elements sit, and we draw the diagrams from that. A PDF or CAD file is the easiest starting point, but a marked-up plan, a lease plan, a photo of a printed plan, photos of your existing diagrams, a hand-drawn sketch, or a short walkthrough video all work. The floor plan formats guide covers what counts as good enough if you are unsure about yours. Send whatever you have and we will tell you straight away if it is enough.

• The floor plan or sketch, in whatever format you have it.
• The site address, the building type, and the approximate floor area.
• How many locations you will display a diagram at, because each mounted location needs its own diagram.
• The emergency element positions listed under "What you mark up on the plan" earlier in this guide.
• Which areas are staff-only and which are open to the public.
• Your deadline, if an audit or inspection date is driving the job.

Can regional or remote businesses get evacuation diagrams without travel costs?

Yes. When the diagrams are drawn from your floor plan, nobody travels, so there is no travel fee, no call-out charge, and no minimum site-attendance cost anywhere in the price. A business in a regional town pays the same published price as one in a capital city and waits the same 3 to 5 business days, because distance is not part of the work.

The same reasoning covers ordering from a provider in another state, or from outside Australia altogether. AS 3745 compliance is a property of the finished diagram, not of the provider's address. What counts is that the diagram carries the correct elements, is oriented to the viewer at each display point, and accurately reflects your building.

How much do remote evacuation diagrams cost?

From A$70 per diagram, with Basic at A$280 for up to 4 diagrams and Standard at A$420 for up to 8. Start your order or view the pricing page for the full breakdown. As with every EvacPath order, the draft comes before any payment.