What is a ‘draw’ in construction?

What is a ‘draw’ in construction?

Online dictionaries seem to be far behind in including terminologies specific to the construction industry.  This post is being written to help the person looking for the meaning of ‘Draw’ or ‘Draw Meeting’.

Draw

Refers to the amount a contractor is asking for payment from the allocated budget of a construction project—think of it as money being drawn out of a pool.

Draw can also be associated with a cardinal number in a series of payments to the contractor e.g., ‘first draw’, ‘second draw’.

Draw meeting

Refers to a meeting of the contractor and other parties (mostly the architect and an owner’s representative) to compare the ‘Draw amount’ or the ‘work completed’ amount with the actual construction progress on site.

Documents

Draw documents include:

1.    Application and Certificate for Payment. AIA G702, and

2.    Description of work completed to date. AIA G703