When creating a PCB fabrication drawing, how important is it to include a drill map. A drill table makes sense for verifying hole counts and min/max sizes, but the map itself, is it necessary and do fabricator still require this?
I do still create the drill map in case anybody wants to verify a drill size in relation to physical location. Is it needed? Most likely not from a fabricators standpoint since CAM auto imports the data.
Note that if you have a company QA department, they might use it if they do hole size verification checks.
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I’ve never included drill maps, and every board has come out fine. Modern CAM systems read the NC drill file directly, so the location and size information are already fully defined and verified during fabrication.
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I doubt most fabricators rely on drill maps these days, aside from occasional use in quality verification. Still, I usually include one just in case to avoids any questions later
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At companies I’ve worked with that had strict quality requirements, the drill table was still used during first article inspection. QA teams would verify hole sizes and locations using CMMs and pin gauges on the first build, and occasionally on random production samples afterward. So while drill maps might be unnecessary for most fabricators, the drill table isn’t entirely redundant yet, its required for verification and documentation processes.
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My experience is same as George described, QA would inspect not only drill holes but also overall board dimensions, cleanliness, and solderability. These days, much of that responsibility has shifted to the fabricator. we transitioned to a dock-to-stock model where the fabricator performs all outgoing inspections instead of us doing incoming checks. This works well for simpler boards (single and double-sided), though you need to be more cautious with complex multilayer designs. As long as the board house is genuinely ISO-certified (not just “paper ISO”), there should be no issues.
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Adding a drill table without the accompanying drill map leaves your documentation package incomplete. Providing a drill drawing view adds valuable context for both fabrication and dimensional verification. For complex designs, those with blind or buried vias, creating separate drill drawings and tables for each layer pair ensures thorough documentation coverage. The fabrication and drill drawings often become the authoritative record of design intent.
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Thanks, everyone. Sounds like the drill map is more of a nice to have than a strict requirement. I’ll keep including it on most fab drawings since it doesn’t take much effort.