What is the difference between a draw inspection and a home inspection?

Two inspections, two clients.

A home inspection is a visual, non-invasive review of a property's readily accessible systems and components: roof, structure, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, interior and exterior. The client is usually a buyer, and the published standards of practice for home inspectors describe what is observed and what is excluded. The deliverable is a condition report that flags material defects.

A construction draw inspection has a different client and a different question. The lender orders it to confirm that the work claimed in a draw request exists on site. The inspector walks the project against the approved budget and the current request, assigns a percent complete to each line item, photographs the evidence and notes exceptions. The deliverable is a progress report that supports a funding decision.

What the draw inspector does not do.

A draw inspector generally does not test systems, open panels or evaluate workmanship against code unless the lender's scope includes it. Progress verification is about quantity and presence of work, not its quality or safety. That distinction matters when borrowers assume the lender's inspection protects them the way a home inspection would. It does not, and lenders should say so in their draw documents.

The reverse is also true. A home inspection on a completed house tells a lender nothing about whether the fourth draw was earned in March, and it carries none of the line-item detail a draw reviewer needs.

Why it matters for lenders.

Mixing the two creates gaps in the file. Bank supervisors expect construction advances to be supported by site inspections tied to the budget; the OCC's Commercial Real Estate Lending booklet lists them with budget monitoring and lien searches as disbursement controls. A lender who accepts a home inspection or a municipal inspection in place of a draw inspection has evidence of condition or code compliance, but not evidence that the budget and the balance still line up. When a project stalls, that is the record a workout team looks for first.

How RAZE handles it.

RAZE scopes every inspection to the lender's criteria. The required photos, observations and completion fields are configured per workflow in the Ordering Engine, and the inspector captures exactly that set in the Mobile App. The result is a draw report built for a draw decision, delivered in the same format whether the visit was made by the lender's own staff or through RAZE Marketplace coverage.