Draw Inspections in Houston, Phoenix and Los Angeles

Houston, Phoenix and Los Angeles are three of the busiest home-building markets in the country, and Atlanta and Orlando sit on the same short list (National Association of Home Builders). Where homes get built is where lenders need draw inspectors. RAZE has completed construction draw inspections in all five, and it takes orders at any U.S. address, including Alaska and Hawaii, on one RAZE Rate Card.

Below is what a draw inspection has to show in each market, and how a lender orders one through RAZE, the platform behind more than 51,000 inspections submitted through the RAZE app. For a project anywhere else, the answer is the same: search any town, ZIP or state on the RAZE coverage map and it comes back covered.

Houston led U.S. metro areas in single-family permits in the first half of 2025, and much of that building sits in or near a mapped floodplain. Since 2018, the City of Houston and Harris County have required new homes in the 100-year floodplain to be built 2 feet above the 500-year flood elevation (Freese and Nichols). That puts weight on the foundation draw: photos have to show the raised slab or piers clearly before framing is funded. Hurricane season, June through November, adds storm damage between draws to the list of things an inspector records.

RAZE has completed draw inspections in Houston. Lenders order through the Ordering Engine, the RAZE API or the RAZE MCP, then choose Marketplace, where RAZE sends an inspector from the RAZE Inspection Network, or Direct Request, where your own inspector takes the order in the RAZE Mobile App. See draw inspections in Texas.

Phoenix was the third-largest U.S. market for single-family permits in the first half of 2025, even as permitting there cooled, and the largest builders pull most of those permits (Hoodline). Desert heat and the monsoon season, which the National Weather Service sets from June 15 to September 30, shape site visits: in summer, inspections often move to the early morning, and wind-driven dust and rain can damage open framing and sheathing between draws.

RAZE has completed draw inspections in Phoenix. On outlying sites with no signal, the RAZE Mobile App keeps capturing and syncs once the device reconnects, and every photo carries its GPS location and time stamp, so a lender can see where and when the work was documented.

Los Angeles was one of only two top-ten U.S. markets where single-family permits grew in the first half of 2025 (NAHB), and much of its residential construction now is rebuilding. After the January 2025 Eaton and Palisades fires, the city and county changed their permitting to move rebuilds faster (CalMatters), and a rebuild in the burn areas has to meet California's wildfire building standards. Rebuild loans often combine insurance proceeds with construction financing, so the lender, the owner and the insurer all want each draw tied to verified work in place.

RAZE has completed draw inspections in Los Angeles. A RAZE report links each photo to a line item on the draw sheet, which gives everyone with a stake in the draw one record to review.

Atlanta was the fourth-largest U.S. market for single-family permits in the first half of 2025, and RAZE has completed draw inspections across metro Atlanta and North Georgia, from intown lots to the mountain towns of Blue Ridge and Ellijay. Georgia's red clay makes erosion control and grading part of the record on many sites, especially after heavy rain.

Lenders with a Georgia book can see draw inspections in Georgia, with towns from RAZE's records listed by county.

Orlando was the other top-ten market that grew in the first half of 2025, with single-family permits up year over year while most large markets declined (NAHB). New communities keep spreading across Orange, Osceola and Lake Counties, and the Florida Building Code's wind-resistance requirements show up in the roof, window and door draws.

RAZE has completed draw inspections in Orlando. See draw inspections in Florida.

None of those conditions changes the price. Floodplain, desert, burn area, red clay or hurricane coast, a draw inspection through RAZE is priced by project type, not location, so the same order costs the same in all five markets.