Well in my experience (and I think it’s federal regulations) any commercial loan $1M or more, secured by RE, a CA is required.
I’m just telling ya, the means/methods to arrive at a CA often isn’t as independent or thorough as you think it is.....especially with developers. Appriasers can rely upon a full gamut of supporting information to arrive at basis, and a construction guarantee number is one, with some back checking benchmarks for type of building, sq.ft., and presented market value that the developer provides. A bank appraisal can be a checklist. And in construction, the threshold is meaningless as these days you can’t hardly build an outhouse w/o going over a million $. I’ve read what the precise federal language is for obtaining basis.
And even then, a certified construction number from a Contractor doesn’t even mean anything, a friend of mine had a number he “guaranteed“ for a bank note on a new apartment building, based upon complete architectural plans. Once everything was lined up with the bank, the contractor went up 30% in price..... he asked the bank what his options were I the guaranteed price, and was told he could sue the Contractor, but chances on the court getting him anything meaningful was pretty much nil.
point being, there’s no guarantees in the commercial construction field - and the property is worth what someone will pay to have it constructed, coupled with what a bank assesses the risk/reward at...everything else is just perfunctory paperwork