Contractor surety bonds
A surety bond is a three party guarantee between you, the project owner, and the surety. CapStream writes bid, performance, and payment bonds for contractors across the United States.
Requesting a bond does not affect your credit.
Bond types
Most public and many private projects require a bid bond to submit a proposal, then performance and payment bonds once you are awarded the contract.
Bid bonds
Show an owner your bid is serious. Issued as fast as 1 hour once you are approved.
Learn about bid bondsPerformance bonds
Guarantee to the owner that the project gets completed to the terms of the contract.
Learn about performance bondsPayment bonds
Guarantee that your subcontractors and suppliers are paid on the project.
Learn about payment bondsHow a bonding line works
A bonding line is your pre-approved capacity. Establish it once, then pull bid, performance, and payment bonds project by project as you win work.
Single job limit
The largest contract you can bond at one time. It reflects the size of the jobs you have already completed and your working capital.
Aggregate limit
The total bonded backlog you can carry at once, across every open bonded project.
CapStream writes bonds up to $10 million with no minimum bond size. Because we underwrite with a financing commitment behind the account, your balance sheet is read as stronger than the statements alone would suggest, and with the SBA Surety Bond Guarantee Program approved capacity is often higher than a traditional surety would offer on the same financials.
How to raise your capacity
Four habits that move a bonding line up over time.
Keep clean interim financials
Working capital and net worth are the two numbers that move capacity most.
Report work in progress accurately
A current WIP schedule shows the surety how much backlog you are carrying.
Close out jobs at or under budget
Completed jobs at larger contract sizes justify a higher single job limit.
Fund mobilization instead of stretching payables
Upfront funding protects working capital, which protects your line.
What underwriting looks at
Capacity
Your track record on similar work: contract sizes, scopes, and completed jobs.
Capital
Working capital and net worth, read from your financial statements and bank information.
Character
Credit history, license standing, and how you have handled past contracts and claims.
If a traditional surety declines your account, the SBA Surety Bond Guarantee Program can still get the bond written by guaranteeing part of the surety's risk.
Cost and timing
Premium
Performance and payment bond premiums are typically a small percentage of the contract price, based on your financials and the bond amount. Bid bonds often carry a flat fee.
See how surety bond cost is calculatedTurnaround
Once you are approved, bid bonds are issued as fast as 1 hour and performance and payment bonds as fast as same day. Turnaround depends on complete information and underwriting review.
Review the processSurety bond questions
The principal is the contractor who buys the bond. The obligee is the project owner who requires it. The surety is the company that guarantees the contractor's obligation to the obligee.
A bid bond guarantees that you will honor your bid and enter the contract if you win. A performance bond guarantees that the project is completed to the terms of the contract. A payment bond guarantees that your subcontractors and suppliers get paid.
Business financial statements, an overview of completed jobs, and detailed bid or contract information for the project you want bonded.
A bonding line is your approved bonding capacity. You establish it once through underwriting, then pull individual bid, performance, and payment bonds against it project by project instead of applying from scratch each time.
Find out what bond amount you can be approved for
Requesting a bond or loan does not affect your credit.