a surety bond are background on the company and the types of projects it performs and financial documents and statements reflecting its stability and success , said Andy Thome , CEO of J . W . Terrill , a Marsh and McLennan Agency based in St . Louis . Companies that have not been bonded before might be surprised at the level of financial and operational detail the applications require .
“ If you ’ ve just been doing private jobs , and you don ’ t borrow significant money , a lot of times the level of financial documentation that you ’ re getting from your bookkeeper or CPA is not on the level that ’ s going to make somebody else feel comfortable ,” he said .
On the positive side , sometimes the bonding process is the first solid look that some companies have at their financial situation , Thome said .
A bonding company , said David Freda , partner at accounting and consultancy firm Grassi , wants to see strength in the financials , and that includes cash liquidity .
If the company is not as strong as it should be financially , he said , or is interested in bidding on a type of project it doesn ’ t have a great deal of experience with , then one option would be to partner with another company that can bring those to the table .
6 . Compliance
Contractors that have not been involved in public work will encounter a plethora of regulations with which they must comply , Colon said . Prompt payment rules , Davis-Bacon certified payrolls reflecting payment of prevailing wages and benefits , disadvantaged business and minority hiring goals are just some of the rules that come with public contracts .
“ For public work ,” she said , “ there are just so many levels of compliance .”
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