Your construction loan closed. Here is what stalls the first draw.
Most ground-up delays I see don't happen at closing. They happen a few weeks later, when the slab is in and the first draw request sits.
The lender isn't looking for a reason to say no. It is confirming that the collateral it lent against exists and that its lien is still first. Here is what gets checked before the first dollar goes out, roughly in the order it breaks:
Nothing started before the deed of trust recorded. In Texas a mechanic's lien dates back to when construction started or materials were first delivered (Property Code 53.124), and it takes priority over any lien not already in place at that point (53.123). A pad poured or a lumber drop the week before closing can put every sub ahead of the lender. Title will usually refuse to insure priority, and the draw stops there.
The permit is issued, and it is in the borrowing entity's name. A permit pulled under the builder's or a personal name has to be cleared up before funding.
Builder's risk is bound at completed value, with the lender named as loss payee. It can't be set at land value, and it can't be the contractor's general liability certificate.
The budget matches the signed contract. If the contract came in higher than the approved budget, someone is funding the difference, and the lender wants to know who before it funds anything.
The draw schedule is fundable. Each line has to be something an inspector can verify in place: foundation, framing, dry-in, rough-ins. A schedule front-loaded with general conditions gets rebuilt before the first inspection.
Lien waivers. You need conditional waivers from the builder and every supplier in the draw, and unconditional waivers for anything already paid.
The four failures I see most:
Site work started early to get ahead of the schedule.
A contract signed after closing at a higher number than the budget.
An insurance certificate showing the contractor's policy instead of builder's risk on the project.
A first draw larger than the work in place, because the builder's deposit was expected to come out of it.
None of these are hard to fix before closing. Most are slow to fix after, because the fix means a title endorsement, a revised budget approval, or waiting on the next inspection cycle.
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For the builders here: when your lender found work had started before closing, did they walk, or did title insure over it with a no-work-commenced affidavit?