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What's a Surety Bond - And Why Does it Matter?

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Thomas Shaw
What's a Surety Bond - And Why Does it Matter?





This article was written together with the contractor in thoughts -- especially contractors new to surety bonding and public bidding. While there are many sorts of surety bonds, we're going to become focusing right here on contract surety, or the kind of bond you'd want when bidding on a public performs contract/job. Get additional info about click here



Initial, be thankful that I will not get also mired in the legal jargon involved with surety bonding -- at the very least not greater than is necessary for the purposes of receiving the basics down, which can be what you would like if you're reading this, most likely.



A surety bond is often a 3 party contract, one that delivers assurance that a construction project will probably be completed constant with all the provisions of the construction contract. And what will be the three parties involved, you could possibly ask? Right here they are: 1) the contractor, 2) the project owner, and 3) the surety company. The surety company, by way of your bond, is delivering a guarantee towards the project owner that in the event the contractor defaults around the project, they (the surety) will step in to produce sure that the project is completed, as much as the "face amount" of the bond. (face amount ordinarily equals the dollar level of the contract.) The surety has various "remedies" out there to it for project completion, and they contain hiring a further contractor to finish the project, financially supporting (or "propping up") the defaulting contractor via project completion, and reimbursing the project owner an agreed quantity, up to the face quantity of the bond.



On publicly bid projects, you will find frequently 3 surety bonds you may need: 1) the bid bond, 2) overall performance bond, and 3) payment bond. The bid bond is submitted with your bid, and it gives assurance for the project owner (or "obligee" in surety-speak) that you just will enter into a contract and deliver the owner with overall performance and payment bonds when you are the lowest responsible bidder. Should you be awarded the contract you'll supply the project owner with a performance bond plus a payment bond. The performance bond supplies the contract performance part of the assure, detailed within the paragraph just above this. The payment bond guarantees that you just, because the basic or prime contractor, will pay your subcontractors and suppliers constant with their contracts with you.



It really should also be noted that this 3 party arrangement can also be applied to a sub-contractor/general contractor relationship, where the sub supplies the GC with bid/performance/payment bonds, if essential, plus the surety stands behind the guarantee as above.



OK, wonderful, so what's the point of all this and why do you may need the surety guarantee in 1st place?



First, it's a requirement -- at the very least on most publicly bid projects. For those who can not supply the project owner with bonds, you can not bid around the job. Building can be a volatile business, plus the bonds give an owner options (see above) if things go bad on a job. Also, by offering a surety bond, you're telling an owner that a surety company has reviewed the fundamentals of the construction business, and has decided that you happen to be qualified to bid a particular job.



A crucial point: Not just about every contractor is "bondable." Bonding is really a credit-based product, meaning the surety company will closely examine the financial underpinnings of your company. When you don't have the credit, you won't get the bonds. By requiring surety bonds, a project owner can "pre-qualify" contractors and weed out the ones that do not have the capacity to finish the job.



How do you get a bond?



Surety companies use licensed brokers (a great deal like with insurance) to funnel contractors to them. Your very first stop if you are keen on acquiring bonded is usually to obtain a broker that has lots of experience with surety bonds, and this really is crucial. An knowledgeable surety broker will not only be capable of enable you to get the bonds you need, but also help you get qualified if you are not quite there yet.

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