The Learning Center is our library of substantive contract surety writing. Every article is written or reviewed by a senior underwriter with real class experience. Nothing on this page is generated by artificial intelligence and nothing is press-release paraphrase.
Foundational reading
Performance Bonds — Complete Guide
The three-party guarantee that protects a project owner against contractor default. Penal sums, one-year maintenance, federal and state requirements, cost, and the underwriting process.
Payment Bonds — Miller Act & Little Miller Act Guide
Payment bond framework, claimant tiers, notice deadlines, Little Miller Act variations, private-project use, and the claims process.
Bid Bonds — Federal, State & Municipal Guide
Penal sums (5%, 10%, 20%), forfeiture scenarios, SF 24 forms, alternatives to surety bid bonds, and the underwriting behind them.
Subdivision Bonds — Site Improvement Guide
Municipal-required bonds for developer completion of public improvements. Underwriting considerations unique to developer principals, terms, and release procedures.
Prequalification & access
Statement of Bondability
The single most useful pre-award instrument a contractor can carry. Format, wording, underwriting basis, common uses, and how to request one.
The Miller Act — Complete Federal Bonding Guide
40 U.S.C. §§ 3131-3134, the T-List, SF 25 and SF 25A, claimant tiers, notice and limitations, and practical guidance for federal contractors.
Commercial, incidental & international
Commercial Contract Bonds
Non-construction performance bonds for IT, janitorial, security, transportation, food service, environmental, and specialty supply. Broad appetite where most carriers decline.
Site-Work & Encroachment Bonds
Lateral support, grading, street opening, highway encroachment, right-of-way, driveway, utility cut, erosion control, tree protection, demolition. The incidental surety GCs need at permit pickup.
International Surety & Advance Payment
Reverse-flow bonding, advance payment bonds, Latin American practice, and the underwriting of cross-border risk. Spanish-language capability.
Renewable energy
Renewable Energy Bond Hub
The complete lifecycle: EPC construction, FERC interconnection under Order 2023-A, PPA credit support, procurement, and decommissioning — one underwriting team.
EPC Performance Bond Guide
The cornerstone bond of every utility-scale renewable build. Underwriting, pricing, and structure for solar, wind, hydro, and BESS EPC contracts.
Decommissioning Bond Guide
Site restoration surety across all 50 states and federal BLM land. State-by-state highlights and why surety beats cash and letters of credit for this class.
Interconnection Bond Guide
LGIA study deposits and network upgrade obligations under FERC Order 2023-A. ISO/RTO variations, withdrawal penalties, and a worked capital preservation example.
Power Purchase Agreement Bond Guide
Credit support for long-term PPAs. SPV indemnity structures, the Equinix/Iron Mountain case study, and the case for surety over letters of credit.
Procurement Bond Guide
Purchase order security for solar modules, wind turbines, BESS, inverters, transformers, and trackers. Working capital math and OEM coverage.
Federal construction contracting
The Miller Act — Federal Bonding Guide
The federal construction bonding statute governing performance and payment bonds on prime contracts over $150,000. Statute, thresholds, T-List, SF 25 and SF 25A, claimants, notice, and Little Miller Act variations.
SBA 8(a) Bond Program
Bonding for 8(a)-certified small businesses. SBA Surety Bond Guarantee up to $14M contract amount, mentor-protégé joint ventures, sole-source and competitive 8(a) awards.
USACE Construction Bonds
Military construction (MILCON), civil works, dredging and marine, environmental restoration. All nine USACE divisions. Sample project sizes from small task orders to $500M+ MILCON packages.
VA Hospital Construction Bonds
Department of Veterans Affairs construction. Medical center renovation, CBOC facilities, cemetery construction. CFM procurement authority. Vets First (SDVOSB / VOSB) set-asides.
GSA Design-Build Bonds
Federal courthouses, land ports of entry, federal buildings, historic preservation. FAR 36.3 two-phase design-build selection. Bridging document analysis and its bond implications.
HUBZone Contractor Bonds
SBA HUBZone-certified small businesses in economically distressed areas. Miller Act bonding, SBA Surety Bond Guarantee eligibility, and stacking with 8(a), SDVOSB, and WOSB certifications.
The book
The Contractor's Guide to Surety Bonds
A Primer on Contract Surety Bonding for Construction Professionals
by C. Constantin Poindexter, CPCU, JD, MA, AFSB · ISBN 979-8-31781-182-2 · Hardback & Kindle
A working command of contract surety without having to become a surety underwriter. The full lifecycle of a bond program — prequalification, submission, underwriting, mid-project administration, claims — with the practical detail that only three decades of underwriting can provide.
Adjacent specialty — reclamation, plugging & environmental
External: the Surety One blog
Our sister site publishes ongoing commentary, case notes, and industry news on the Surety One blog. Topics range across contract, commercial, court, fidelity, and international surety.
Also needed by most GCs
Contractor license & permit bonds — all 50 states
Every general contractor working across state lines needs multiple L&P bonds. Surety One writes contractor license bonds, municipal permit bonds and combined license/performance bonds nationwide.
Coming soon
- Working capital and net worth benchmarks by construction class
- Personal indemnity — what it means, how it is enforced, when it can be released
- Collateral in contract surety — cash, LOCs, funds control, security interests
- The AIA A312 Performance Bond, section by section
- Reading a work-in-progress schedule as a surety underwriter reads it
- The difference between a bond and an insurance policy—and why it matters at claim time
- Bonding joint ventures
- Design-build, EPC, and P3 project bonding
If a specific topic would be useful to you, email us.