How to Create a Draw Schedule for Your Construction Loan

A draw schedule is the road map that tells your lender how much money you expect to draw, and when. Most GCs treat it as a formality at loan closing — a box to check before funding starts. That's a mistake.

A well-built construction draw schedule does three things: it sets realistic expectations with your lender, it helps you plan your cash flow, and it gives you a baseline to measure actual progress against. A poorly built one creates friction at every draw for the rest of the project.

What Is a Construction Loan Draw Schedule?

A draw schedule is a timeline that maps your construction loan disbursements to project phases or milestones. It shows:

• How many draws you expect to take
• Approximately when each draw will occur (by month or phase)
• The approximate dollar amount of each draw
• What percentage of the total loan each draw represents

Your lender uses the construction draw schedule to plan their cash flow and inspection cadence. You use it to plan subcontractor payments, manage retainage, and forecast when you'll need operating capital between draws.

The Two Types of Draw Schedules

Phase-Based Draw Schedules

Draws are tied to project milestones — foundation complete, framing complete, rough MEP complete. Each phase unlocks the next draw. Common for residential projects and smaller commercial builds.

Pros: Simple, intuitive, aligned with how construction actually progresses.

Cons: Timing is uncertain — phases don't always land on predictable calendar dates.

Calendar-Based Draw Schedules

Draws occur on a fixed schedule — typically monthly. At each interval, you draw whatever percentage of work has been completed.

Pros: Predictable timing for both the GC and the lender.

Cons: Requires more active management of what's complete at each draw date.

Most residential construction loans use monthly draws. Most commercial loans use either monthly or phase-based, depending on project complexity.

How to Build Your Draw Schedule

Step 1: Start With Your Schedule of Values

Your draw schedule should be derived from your SOV — not built separately. Each draw pulls from the same SOV line items, so the schedule needs to reflect how those line items will be completed over time.

Step 2: Map Work to Project Phases

Group your SOV line items into logical phases and estimate when each will be substantially complete.

Step 3: Add a Draw Reserve

Don't allocate every dollar to a specific phase. Keep 5–10% in reserve for the final draw — punch list items, final inspections, and anything that slipped earlier.

Step 4: Align With Your Lender's Inspection Cadence

If your lender requires an inspection before each draw, build inspection time into the schedule. Allow 1–2 weeks between phase completion and expected funding for each inspection cycle.

Step 5: Build in Float

Construction projects almost never run on their original schedule. Build 2–3 weeks of float into each phase milestone. A schedule with zero float falls apart at the first weather delay or supply chain issue.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Front-loading draws. It's tempting to schedule large early draws to build up operating capital. Lenders notice front-loading — it increases their risk exposure before the project has much collateral value.

Not coordinating with subcontractors. Your draw schedule should align with when your subs need to be paid. If framing wraps in month 3 but your draw schedule doesn't include a framing draw until month 4, you're paying your framer out of pocket for 30 days.

Ignoring retainage. Typically 5–10% of each disbursement is withheld until project completion. Your operating cash flow will be less than the face value of each draw — budget accordingly.

How DrawStack Tracks Against Your Schedule

DrawStack tracks cumulative billing against your SOV across every draw. You can see at a glance whether your actual draw progression is tracking to your schedule — or whether a phase is running behind in a way that will create a shortfall. The lender portal gives your lender the same visibility in real time.

Build your draw schedule in DrawStack →