i am a draftsman, however draftsman is the old term. i am 24 years old and am a qualified building designer, which is commonly referred to as a draftsman. a dratsman can be anything; a person who 'drafts' drawing either by hand or by computer aiding drafting programs. a draftsman can work for many places such as a furniture production company, drafting the dimensions of chairs etc.
a building designer, or architectural draftsman, which is what i am registered as, is basically a person with drafting skills and registered with the building commission to have the knowledge to get permits and construction knowledge to do working drawings.
basically, the difference between an architect and a building designer or architectural draftsman, is an architect is unlimited in what they can design, and a building designer is limited to structures 4 storeys high and under
an architect will generally do the administration of the project, which is to follow the project from start to finish, whilst a building designer or architectural draftsman will do the design concept, obtain planning and building permits, and then the client will be left to find a builder and deal with the project
building designers or architecural draftsman can do the administration, obviously for a fee
architects generally charge around 10% of construction, whilst building designers or architectural draftsmen will charge 3% or construction. this will generally include sketch design drawings, planning permit if required, building permit, working drawings and engineers drawings.
an architect will argue that they have the better design skill, but it obviosuly depends on the individual
i, as a building designer / architecural draftsman, have worked for an architect for just over 3 years now, and youll be suprised at how much of the design work is done by myself, but put to the client as one of the architects having done so, so they can command the higher price
also, once i have worked for an architect for 4 years, i can can do a 6 month thesis, and become an architect.
hope this helps