Answer Hub · Process & timing

What does a draw inspector look for?

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Short answer

A draw inspector looks for evidence that the work in the draw request is in place: the right property, the construction stage reached, percent complete on each budget line, materials on site, and anything that conflicts with the request, such as stalled activity, unapproved changes or work covered before it was documented.

The core questions on every visit.

Every draw inspection answers the same few questions, whatever the project:

  1. Is this the right property? Address, lot and structure match the loan file.
  2. Is the claimed work in place? Each line in the draw request is compared with what is physically visible.
  3. How far along is each line? The inspector assigns a percent complete based on physical progress, not time or money spent.
  4. Is anything inconsistent? Work that doesn't match the plans or budget, materials that are missing, or activity that appears to have stopped.

What that looks like stage by stage.

On a typical single-family build, the evidence changes as the house goes up:

  • Foundation: footings and slab poured, below-grade plumbing in before the pour.
  • Framing: walls standing, trusses set and braced, openings matching the plans.
  • Dry-in: roof covering or sealed underlayment on, windows and exterior doors installed, house wrap complete.
  • Rough-ins: electrical, plumbing and HVAC roughed, with nothing covered before it is documented.
  • Finishes: drywall, cabinets, flooring, trim and fixtures installed.
  • Final: punch list complete, certificate of occupancy issued where the lender requires it.

The RAZE construction lending glossary carries a full field guide to these stages.

What a draw inspector is not checking.

A standard draw inspection documents progress. It is not a building-code inspection, a structural or engineering review, a workmanship warranty or an appraisal. An inspector may note visible concerns when the lender's scope asks for them, but quality and code questions belong to municipal inspectors and other professionals. See draw inspection vs. home inspection for the distinction.

Why it matters for lenders.

Collateral on a construction loan exists only as the work goes in, which is why the NCUA's examiner guide ties disbursements to real progress. An inspector who knows what to look for at each stage gives the reviewer evidence, not opinion.

How RAZE handles it.

Lenders set the required questions and photos for each inspection, and those requirements travel with the assignment to the inspector's RAZE Mobile App. Every photo carries GPS coordinates and date and time stamps, and photos link to the draw sheet line items they support, so the reviewer sees what the inspector saw, line by line.

Sources

Primary sources only. Where a figure appears on this page, it comes from one of these.

  1. 1.Construction lending glossary (field guide to construction stages)RAZE
  2. 2.Draw inspection report FAQs (workmanship and code compliance)RAZE
  3. 3.VA Lenders Handbook (Pamphlet 26-7), Chapter 14, Construction InspectionsU.S. Department of Veterans Affairs · benefits.va.gov
  4. 4.Construction and Development Loans (Examiner's Guide)National Credit Union Administration · publishedguides.ncua.gov

See the workflow behind the answer.

RAZE standardizes how draw inspections are ordered, dispatched, captured and delivered, inside the loan administration workflow a lender already runs.

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