How Construction Draws Work

Comprehensive guide to the construction loan draw process from the owner-builder perspective.

What a draw is

A construction draw is how you get money out of your construction loan. Instead of receiving the whole loan up front, your lender releases it in stages as work is done — usually after an inspection.

The real-world process

1. **Complete the work** covered by this draw.
2. **Pass inspection**, if your lender requires one.
3. **Get your records straight** — expenses logged, receipts attached, lien waivers where your project requires them.
4. **Prepare the request in OwnerDraw** — see *Preparing a Draw Request*.
5. **Send the packet to your lender yourself.** OwnerDraw prepares it; it does not deliver it.
6. **Record the funding** when the money arrives, using **Mark as Funded**.
7. **Pay your vendors**, then select **Mark Paid** on each expense.

Steps 5 and 7 are the two that people assume the app does for them. It does not.

What OwnerDraw calculates

• **Total Requested** — the gross amount.
• **Less Retainage** — the percentage your lender holds back, from your project settings.
• **Net Payment Due** — what you should expect to receive.
• **Previous certificates** — work already billed on earlier funded or submitted draws, so it is not billed twice.

Typical timing

Most construction loans have four to six draws tied to milestones — foundation, framing, rough-ins and drywall, finishes, completion — and many lenders take about a week or two to process a complete request. Your own loan documents rule.

Don't wait until you are out of money. Prepare the draw as soon as the work is done and the inspection has passed.