Method/Lender Services
Discipline II
Lender Services
Independent construction monitoring for the institutions that lend.
The Position
The institution is the client.
A construction loan is money released against work claimed done. Every draw request is a claim, and the documents that support it — the schedule of values, the invoices, the photographs — are prepared by the party asking for the money. The institution holding the risk rarely has someone on staff whose job is to walk the site and read the claim against what is actually standing there.
We come from building. We know what forty percent drawn should look like from the road, which line items move faster than the work they describe, and where a schedule of values quietly front-loads the profit. A draw review from us is not a form filled in from photographs — it is a builder's reading of the site, written to the loan file in language a credit committee can act on.
The institution is the client, not the borrower. Our reports go to the lender, our independence is the product, and we hold no stake in the project being monitored. We do not accept engagements from borrowers to monitor themselves — a monitor paid by the party being monitored is not monitoring anything.
Who This Is For
A Good Fit
- Institutions carrying construction loan exposure without in-house inspection
- Credit unions and private lenders building a draw-review standard for the first time
- Lenders holding a stalled or troubled project that needs an independent reading of where it actually stands
- Loan participations where the lead's monitoring needs a second set of eyes
Not A Fit
- Borrowers seeking to hire us to monitor their own project — independence is the engagement
- Appraisal or valuation work — we read construction progress, not market value
- Workout or foreclosure representation — we are not legal counsel
The Lifecycle
Pre-Close Feasibility
The budget, the schedule, and the construction contract — read for the file before the loan closes.
Draw Review
Each request read against the schedule of values, the site, and the draws that came before it.
Site Inspection
The walk, the photographs, and a percent-complete opinion written by someone who has built.
Closeout Certification
Final completion, lien releases, and the certification that closes the loan file clean.
Engagement
Monitoring Retainer
MonthlyStanding draw review and inspection across an institution's active construction loans.
Per-Project
Scoped per loanOne loan monitored from pre-close feasibility through closeout certification.
Principal Hours
By the hourThe principal's reading of a single draw, budget, or stalled project — by the hour.
Terms are set out in the letter of engagement.
Every engagement begins the same way.
Begin The DiagnosticAdjacent Disciplines
What This Engagement Covers
Maison de Thu is a design and owner's-side house. We hold design, owner's-representation, and diagnostic engagement contracts. We do not hold construction contracts, do not provide legal representation, and do not offer investment advice. When a project requires construction, we help our clients select and manage a properly licensed general contractor — we do not become one.