What documents do you need for a rehab draw?

A draw request naming the completed line items from your schedule of values, dated photographs of the finished work, invoices or receipts for that scope, lien waivers from anyone paid from the previous draw, and permit sign-offs where an inspection was required.

How long does a rehab draw take?

A complete request with an inspection scheduled usually funds within a few business days. Almost all delays come from incomplete paperwork rather than from the lender's process.

Do you get money before the work is done?

No. Draws reimburse completed and inspected work. You fund each stage and are repaid, which is why reserves for the first stage of construction are a requirement rather than a suggestion.

What is a lien waiver and why does the lender want one?

A signed acknowledgement from a contractor or supplier that they have been paid for work through a given date. It prevents a mechanic's lien attaching to the property later and clouding title at your exit.

BlogGuide

What a lender needs before releasing a rehab draw

A draw request is a documentation exercise, not a negotiation. Here is the checklist, and why incomplete requests are the most common cause of slow draws.

August 19, 2026 · 4 min read

A draw request is a documentation exercise. There is no negotiation in it, and nothing about it is discretionary once the loan is closed. The lender is confirming one thing: that the work you are claiming payment for exists.

Almost every slow draw I have seen was slow because the request arrived incomplete. The process is quick when the paperwork is right, and the paperwork is entirely knowable in advance, which is what this post is for.

Why draws work this way at all

Rehab money is released against completed work rather than advanced at closing, and that structure protects both sides more than it appears to.

For the lender, it means the loan balance never exceeds the value actually standing in the property. For you, it means an abandoned project does not leave a fully drawn loan against a half-finished house. Every borrower dislikes draws until the first time a contractor takes a deposit and disappears, at which point the logic becomes obvious.

The consequence to plan for is unavoidable: you fund each stage and get reimbursed. On a ground-up build the first stage is often site work and foundation, which is not a small number. The mechanics and typical stage structure are in the draw schedule.

The checklist

1. The draw request itself

Naming the specific line items from your schedule of values that are complete, and the dollar amount claimed against each. Not "kitchen, $18,000." The lines as they appear in the schedule you agreed at closing.

This is where most requests go wrong. A request that does not map to the agreed schedule cannot be checked against it, so it goes back to you before anything else happens.

2. Photographs, dated

Of the completed work, wide enough to establish location and close enough to show the finish. One photograph of a room does not evidence rough electrical. Take more than feels necessary, and take them before the next trade covers the work up. Nobody has ever regretted having a photograph of the rough plumbing before the drywall went on.

3. Invoices or receipts

For the scope being claimed. Materials and labour. These substantiate that the amount matches the work rather than the schedule's estimate.

4. Lien waivers

Signed by contractors and suppliers who were paid from the previous draw, covering work through a stated date.

Borrowers resist these more than any other item, so it is worth being clear about what they are for. An unpaid subcontractor can file a mechanic's lien against the property. That lien attaches to title, and it will surface at exactly the moment you are trying to sell or refinance, when it is most expensive and least negotiable. The waiver is a paper trail proving payment flowed through. It protects your exit more than it protects the lender.

5. Permit sign-offs

Where the stage required an inspection. Rough electrical, rough plumbing, framing, and final are the usual ones. A stage that legally required inspection and did not get it is not complete for draw purposes regardless of how finished it looks.

6. The inspection

Either a site visit or, on smaller scopes, a photo-based verification. Scheduling is the part with the longest lead time, so request the draw when the stage is genuinely finished rather than when it is nearly finished. An inspector arriving to find eighty percent of a stage done costs you a full cycle.

What slows draws down

In order of frequency:

Claiming a partially complete stage. By far the most common. The instinct is to request early because cash is tight, and it reliably produces a rejected inspection and a longer wait than if you had waited two days.

Line items that do not match the schedule of values. Re-mapping a request by hand is the single biggest source of back-and-forth.

Missing lien waivers. Especially from a sub who has already moved on to another job and is slow to sign anything.

No permit sign-off on an inspected stage. Not solvable by explanation. The municipality moves at its own pace.

Photographs taken after the work was covered. Once the drywall is up, the rough behind it cannot be evidenced, and the alternative is opening a wall.

How to make draws fast

Agree a schedule of values at closing that reflects how you will actually sequence the work, not a generic template
Keep a running photo record as work completes, not at request time
Collect lien waivers when you pay, not when the lender asks
Request full stages, never partial ones
Keep a copy of every permit sign-off as it is issued
Send the complete package once rather than in pieces

Borrowers who work this way get draws in days without ever having a conversation about it. Borrowers who assemble the package after requesting the draw are the ones who believe draws are slow.

Before the first draw

The item that matters most happens before any of this: hold reserves to fund the first stage yourself. A borrower who cannot start the work cannot request a draw, and that is the position that turns a funded loan into a stalled project. Reserves also have to cover the carry through the whole build, which is set out in holding costs on a flip.

If you are still pricing a project, the deal calculators will show where the numbers land with the carry included. When it clears, send it over.

Common questions

What documents do you need for a rehab draw?: A draw request naming the completed line items from your schedule of values, dated photographs of the finished work, invoices or receipts for that scope, lien waivers from anyone paid from the previous draw, and permit sign-offs where an inspection was required.
How long does a rehab draw take?: A complete request with an inspection scheduled usually funds within a few business days. Almost all delays come from incomplete paperwork rather than from the lender's process.
Do you get money before the work is done?: No. Draws reimburse completed and inspected work. You fund each stage and are repaid, which is why reserves for the first stage of construction are a requirement rather than a suggestion.
What is a lien waiver and why does the lender want one?: A signed acknowledgement from a contractor or supplier that they have been paid for work through a given date. It prevents a mechanic's lien attaching to the property later and clouding title at your exit.

Have a deal like this

Run your numbers.

The calculators charge the costs this piece describes: points, interest over the hold, closing on both sides, carry, and the cost to sell. It takes about a minute.

Run your numbers Submit a deal