3BrainAI

For banks & institutional lenders

How can satellite evidence support a construction loan drawdown review?

Dated satellite observations can add an independent view of visible site change to a construction drawdown review. A lender still needs the relevant milestone definition, project boundary, documentary evidence and technical assessment. CRI is being developed to keep these inputs, their limits and the next review question together in a versioned Evidence Pack.

The public Evidence Pack and The Brief present prepared examples. The CRI demonstrator is in development. The functions available in a demonstration and the scope of any paid engagement are agreed separately. Specialist review remains part of the process.

Start with the declared scope

In a construction-finance review, a borrower presents a progress declaration as part of a drawdown request. The reviewer needs to understand whether the supporting material covers the same works, phase and period. A visible change on the site may help frame the follow-up, but the contractual milestone can include work that no overhead image can reveal.

The intended CRI workflow separates the declaration, the observed change and the reviewer’s response. The question should be specific enough to test, such as whether dated observations support proceeding to documentary review of a declared construction stage.

What the reviewer needs

  • Defined area: an institution-confirmed asset boundary and the relevant phase or works. A working image retrieval envelope alone is insufficient.
  • Relevant dates: the declaration date, the comparison period, actual acquisition dates and the review date.
  • Authorised records: the applicable milestone definition, baseline, progress declaration and supporting technical records with their versions.
  • Review responsibility: who can provide a scoped technical response and who accepts it under the institution’s existing process.

Source selection and review cadence depend on the agreed question and usable evidence. A fixed reporting interval does not guarantee a suitable observation for each milestone.

Where the image-based conclusion stops

Visible roofed footprints can support a narrowly defined observation. They do not establish building completion, workmanship, fit-out, occupancy, environmental compliance, contractual acceptance or eligibility for payment. Documentary and engineering evidence remain necessary before any institution-specific conclusion.

Resolution, cloud and shadow can also limit what is observable. The guide to satellite evidence limits explains how these constraints affect a review question. A scoped acceptance of one technical response does not authorise a drawdown.

Discuss a specific review question

Bring the asset context, the available source types and the question a responsible reviewer needs to answer. An Evidence Readiness Check can examine whether the evidence and workflow are suitable for a bounded evaluation.

Discuss an Evidence Readiness CheckExplore the CRI review workflow

3BrainAI Nexus · Published