Surety Bond Programs

In conjunction with LICA’s goal to always provide you with a world class benefits package, LICA has partnered with True & Associates to create the National LICA Surety Program.

The National LICA Surety Program will give LICA’s members access to proprietary surety companies with exclusive rates.

At True & Associates, we couple this access to our surety markets with our in-house expertise in construction accounting as well as surety underwriting. The combination of which has allowed us to be one of the largest providers of surety bonds for the construction industry.

• Proprietary surety bonding markets.
• Specialty surety bond markets; (for environmental exposures and other issues that do not meet the criteria of the proprietary markets)
• Government sponsored surety bonding programs for “8a”, WBE, MBE, & DBE certified organizations.
• Exclusive rate structures for LICA members: (Savings based on company financials)
• Bonding program will include, but are not limited to the following types of bonds:
  • Bid/Payment/Performance
  • Union/Welfare
  • Site Improvement
  • License (contract)
  • Supply & Maintenance

The Program

The U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Surety Bond Guarantee (SBG) program can guarantee bid, performance and payment bonds for individual contracts of $6.5 million or less for small and emerging contractors who cannot obtain surety bonds through regular commercial channels. There is no limit to the number of bonds that can be guaranteed for any one contractor. SBA’s guarantee gives sureties an incentive to provide bonding for eligible contractors, and thereby provides greater access to contracting opportunities. A surety guarantee, an agreement between a surety and the SBA, provides that SBA will assume a predetermined percentage of loss in the event the contractor should breach the terms of the contract. The SBA Office of Surety Guarantees (OSG) administers the SBG Program as a public-private partnership between the federal government and the surety industry.

Types of Eligible Contract Bonds: Below are the types of contract bonds that may be covered by an SBA guarantee:

1. Bid– Bond which guarantees that the bidder on a contract will enter
   into the contract and furnish the required payment and performance bonds.
2. Payment– Bond which guarantees payment from the contractor of
   money to persons who furnish labor, materials equipment and/or supplies
   for use in the performance of the contract
3. Performance– Bond which guarantees that the contractor will perform
   the contract in accordance with its terms.
4. Ancillary– Bonds which are incidental and essential to the performance
   of the contract.
5. Reclamation– A reclamation bond is eligible if it is issued to reclaim an
   abandoned mine site and for a project undertaken for a specific of time.
6. Union Bonds– Wage & Welfare Bonds

Program Eligibility

In addition to the surety’s bonding qualifications, SBA’s eligibility requirements for applying for an SBA bond guarantee are:

• Individual public and private contracts and subcontracts of $6.5 million or
  less are eligible. SBA can guarantee a bond for a contract up to $10 million
  if a Federal contracting officer certifies that SBA’s guarantee is necessary
  for the small business to obtain bonding. There is no limit to the number of
  bonds that can be guaranteed for any one contractor.
• The contractor’s business must be independently owned and operated
  and qualify under standard federal regulations

The SBA Guarantee

SBA reimburses a participating surety up to the guarantee percentage for the losses incurred as a result of a contractor’s default on a guaranteed bid bond, payment bond, performance bond or any bond that is ancillary with such a bond. The Preferred Surety Bond (PSB) program authorizes selected sureties to issue, monitor and service bonds without prior SBA approval. The SBA guarantee is 70% under this program. Each participating company has a guarantee limit with the SBA. The PSB program was created to encourage the larger surety companies to expand their efforts to help small businesses obtain bonds.

How to Apply

The SBA does not directly bond the contractor. True & Associates would represent you, “the contractor” as a bonding agent who represents an SBA Surety participant. The contractor completes the surety application and the required SBA SBG forms, providing the agent with the required credit, capacity and character information. The agent then underwrites the application and decides whether to execute with or without an SBA guarantee.

Contact:

David Grossbaum, SVP, CRIS
True & Associates
855-228-5422
dwg@www.trueassoc.com