Build the file that gets you to the tender on time.
A bond is not insurance – it is a promise to the project owner, underwritten like credit: your statements, your work on hand, your track record. The tender clock is usually already running, and this is the fastest honest start. One question per screen, and you see the whole file before anything leaves.
Review it the way you would check a bid before it goes in the envelope. Correct what needs correcting, then move it to the form and choose how the reply arrives.
What a complete surety bond file includes.
Bonding capacity is assessed on the questions below, and a file that answers them all gets a real answer on the first pass.
The need, and the clock
A bid bond for a live tender, a performance bond for a signed contract, or capacity set up ahead of need. The deadline decides what is possible, so it comes first.
The two sizes
The single job in front of you, and the biggest you bid. Every surety starts from those two numbers.
Work on hand
What is already promised, across every contract. New capacity is weighed against it – honestly, as of today.
The statements
Bonding is underwritten like credit, and the financial statements are the credit file. Where they stand today shapes the whole conversation.
The track record
Years operating and any bonding history. A young company with strong owners is still placeable – it just takes the right surety.
The whole history
Bond claims and unfinished contracts, ever – not five years. Said first, it stays a paragraph with an explanation attached.
Who stands behind it
Sureties usually ask owners to indemnify the bond. Who would be signing belongs in the file early, not at the closing table.
The facility question
Already bonded? Whether the facility fits, ran out of room, or sits with a surety you want to leave – all three are normal conversations.
Bid bonds, performance bonds, labour and material, maintenance, a standing facility – what you pick at the end is what the answer comes back covering, line by line.
Read by the desk that knows the tender clock is running.
Bond files go to the commercial desk and get read whole, not skimmed. The reply arrives the next business day, and usually the same day – email, phone, or a time to come in, chosen by you on the form.