Selecting the Right Performance & Payment Bond Professional
As a real estate developer or general contractor, choosing the right insurance agent to manage your Performance & Payment Bonds is critical to your long-term success. A qualified surety professional should bring more than transactional support—they should deliver financial strategy, deep industry knowledge, and trusted guidance to help you secure and maintain the surety credit required to grow your construction and development business.
Key qualifications to look for in a Performance & Payment Bond agent include:
A comprehensive understanding of the construction industry, including estimating, bidding, project management, and cost control.
Expertise in construction contracts, subcontracts, and contract law.
Awareness of local, regional, and national construction market dynamics.
Strong command of credit principles and underwriting standards.
Accounting and finance knowledge, with emphasis on the AICPA Audit Guide for Construction Accounting.
The ability to analyze audited financials, work-on-hand schedules, and cash flow projections.
Experience in strategic planning and management practices that drive contractor success.
Active involvement in leading construction industry associations.
Established credibility and respect among surety underwriters.
A proven reputation for integrity.
The most effective surety professionals also provide full transparency. They should be willing to furnish references, including current clients, surety partners represented within the past five years, and key financial relationships with bankers and accountants.
Once a surety agent’s qualifications have been verified, the relationship between contractor and agent should be built on complete trust and open communication. Withholding financial or operational details limits the agent’s ability to serve effectively. A strong bond relationship requires collaboration, clarity, and mutual confidence.
Contractors should also avoid changing sureties without thoughtful consideration. Building a strong surety relationship takes time, and it should not be discarded lightly. When change is necessary, the process should be approached strategically by selecting a surety company with the resources, flexibility, and understanding to meet the contractor’s unique needs.
Finally, while contractors often rely solely on their agent’s credibility with underwriters, the most successful partnerships are those where contractors also develop direct relationships with surety decision-makers. A conscientious surety agent will encourage this involvement, ensuring the contractor is engaged at every stage of the credit process.
In the end, the role of a professional surety agent is to strengthen the bond between contractor and underwriter. At its core, unsecured credit is built on one party’s confidence in another. Trust, understanding, and integrity remain the foundation—and the surety agent’s highest responsibility is to foster and sustain that trust.
