Contract Surety Bonds

Contractor Bid, Payment & Performance Bonds

Great American's reputation for financial strength and stability and its commitment to consistent and personal service is particularly important to agents with construction accounts. Also called 'Construction bonds', Contract Surety bonds provide a guarantee to owners, supplies, contractors and tradespeople based on the underlying contract.

Great American has more than 20 Contract Bond offices throughout the country to maintain close relationships with agents and contractors wherever they are located. These regional offices have significant decision-making authority to keep business moving quickly and efficiently. In addition, each office also provides:

• User-friendly information systems that allow agents easy access to Great American's forms library. Forms are also available to facilitate the processing of bonds;
• Competitive rates for all classes of Surety bonds;
• Ability to service contractor's program needs up to $250,000,000 and higher.

The Division also maintains an Alternative Surety Unit for special situations that may require unique tools such as funds administration, escrow, and collateral.

"In the past two years, I have experienced multiple situations where Great American's BOND TEAM used the power of listening and research to provide a solution to an engineering firm and a major highway contractor on "out of the box" bonding scenarios. The ability to act swiftly and understand all aspects of the projects is what separates Great American from the rest of the surety industry. All partners in the process could not be more satisfied."

Contract bonds cover many different circumstances and can be applied to a variety of underlying contracts or agreements:

Bid bonds assure that the bid is submitted in good faith and that the contractor will enter into the contract at the price that was bid and will provide the required performance and payment bonds.

Performance bonds protect the owner/oblige from financial loss should the contractor fail to perform the contract in accordance with its terms and conditions.

Payment bonds assure that the contractor will pay specified subcontractors, laborers and materials suppliers associated with the project.

Supply bonds dictate that suppliers must provide the materials, equipment and/or supplies as specified in purchase orders.

Maintenance bonds guarantee against defective materials and workmanship for a specific time period after a project is finished.