The four templates that stop the office slipping
These are the documents we actually keep. Download them, use them, no sign-up. If they save you a draw, you will know what we do.
Draw packet checklist
Ten lines. A draw comes back for one missing document, and it is almost always the same three. This is the list in the order a lender reads it.
COI expiry tracker
One row per sub, sorted by expiry. The number that matters is how many expire in the next thirty days, because those are the ones you can still renew without stopping work.
Retainage log
Contract value, percentage held, what releases it, the date it happened, who owes it. One line per job, including closed jobs — that is where the money hides.
California deadline table
Preliminary notice, the 20-day notice, lien, stop notice and prompt payment, with what each one protects. Confirm the current statute before relying on a date — deadlines change and this is not legal advice.
Why we give these away. A template tells you what to track. Somebody still has to track it, chase it and be answerable when it slips. That is the part we do.
Where these came from
Each one is a working document from this office, cleaned up. The checklist is what a draw package is assembled from; the COI tracker exists because certificates expire mid-job and a lapse becomes the contractor’s exposure; the retainage log exists because money nobody is tracking is money that quietly stays where it is.