Most public construction work — and a growing share of large private work — requires three kinds of surety bonds: a bid bond (your bid is real and you'll sign the contract if you win), a performance bond (you'll finish the job), and a payment bond (your suppliers and lower-tier subs will get paid). For federal contracts over $150,000, the Miller Act makes performance and payment bonds mandatory on the prime; all 50 states have their own "Little Miller Act" for state and local work. As a subcontractor, you'll need your own bonds when a GC requires them — and you'll rely on the GC's payment bond as your backstop when an invoice goes unpaid. Whether you can get bonded comes down to three things underwriters call the 3 Cs: capital, capacity, and character. This post breaks down each bond, what underwriters actually look at, and the moves that get small and emerging subs bonded faster.

Why bonds matter more than most subs realize

A surety bond is not insurance. Insurance protects you from a loss. A bond protects the project owner from a loss caused by you — and you indemnify the surety for anything it pays out on your behalf. That distinction matters because it explains every weird thing about bond underwriting: why your personal credit gets pulled, why your spouse signs the indemnity agreement, why the surety wants three years of CPA-prepared financials before writing a million-dollar bond.

For subcontractors, bonds show up in two ways:

1. You're asked to post a bond yourself. A GC on a CM-at-risk or large public job requires sub-bonds on critical trades — electrical, mechanical, sitework. No bond, no contract.
2. You're protected by someone else's bond. When the GC fails to pay you on a bonded public project, the GC's payment bond is your fallback — if you file notice correctly and on time.

Both sides of that equation are now part of the basic operating skill set for any sub working above roughly $1M in revenue. The market has hardened. According to Construction Executive's 2026 surety market analysis, underwriting is tighter, documentation standards are higher, and marginal risks face reduced tolerance — carriers reward disciplined financial management with expanded bonding capacity while cutting lines for weak reporting.

Translation: a sub with clean WIP, a real 13-week cash forecast, and a working pay-app cycle gets bonded. A sub running the business out of QuickBooks plus instinct does not.

The three bonds, explained

Bid bond

A bid bond guarantees two things: that your bid is submitted in good faith, and that if you win, you'll execute the contract and post the required performance and payment bonds. If you win and then walk away, the surety pays the owner the difference between your bid and the next-lowest qualified bid — up to the bid bond amount — and then comes after you for reimbursement.

Bid bonds are typically 5–20% of the bid amount, and for qualified contractors they're often free. That "free" is important: it means once you're set up with a surety, posting a bid bond is mostly paperwork, not a fee per submission. This is one of the practical advantages of having a real bonding program — you can bid more work without per-bond friction.

Performance bond

A performance bond guarantees you'll complete the project per the contract terms. If you default, the surety has several options: finance you through completion, hire a replacement contractor, pay the owner the bond penalty, or let the owner re-procure and pay the cost overrun. Both performance and payment bonds on Miller Act federal contracts must equal 100% of the contract price.

The performance bond is where the surety has the most exposure, which is why underwriting is heaviest here. Performance and payment bonds typically cost 0.5–3% of the bond amount for well-qualified contractors. On a $5M contract, that's a $25,000–$150,000 premium range — and where you land inside that range is almost entirely a function of your financials and track record.

Payment bond

A payment bond guarantees that subcontractors and suppliers below the bonded contractor get paid. On federal projects, this matters because federal property generally cannot be liened like a private job, so the Miller Act uses payment bonds to protect subcontractors and suppliers. The payment bond is the substitute for a mechanic's lien on public work.

For a sub working under a bonded GC, the GC's payment bond is your remedy of last resort when you don't get paid. But that remedy is time-limited and notice-dependent, and most subs who lose payment bond claims lose them on a deadline, not on the merits. More on that below.

The Miller Act and Little Miller Acts: who's covered and who isn't

The Miller Act is the federal statute that makes payment and performance bonds mandatory on most federal construction contracts. It's codified at 40 U.S.C. §§ 3131–3134, was originally enacted in 1935 to replace the Heard Act of 1894, and was recodified in 2002 with its core requirements remaining consistent for nearly a century.

The thresholds that matter as of 2026:

• Under $35,000: No federal bonding requirement.
• $35,000 to $150,000: No mandatory payment bond, but the FAR requires alternative forms of payment protection.
• Over $150,000: The Miller Act requires both performance and payment bonds, each equal to 100% of the contract price.

Every state has its own version. All 50 states and DC maintain Little Miller Act equivalents requiring construction bonding, with thresholds ranging from $5,000 in Pennsylvania to $500,000 in Virginia for non-transportation projects. If you work across state lines, the threshold and notice rules change at the border. Don't assume Georgia's rules apply in North Carolina or Florida.

Who can claim against a Miller Act payment bond

This is where subs lose money they're owed — by being on the wrong tier or missing a deadline.

• First-tier subs (you contract directly with the GC) and their suppliers: protected.
• Second-tier subs (you contract with a first-tier sub) and their suppliers: protected, if you provide timely notice.
• Third-tier and below: Payment bond protection under the Miller Act only extends to second-tier subcontractors and suppliers. Those on the third tier, such as a supplier or subcontractor of a second-tier subcontractor, and those even further down the contractual chain do not have a claim against the bond.

If you're a supplier-to-a-supplier or a sub-to-a-sub-to-a-sub, the federal payment bond doesn't help you. Know your tier before you sign.

The two deadlines that kill claims

Miss either one and your claim is gone, regardless of how much you're owed.

1. 90-day notice (second-tier only). Second-tier subcontractors must provide written notice to the general contractor of their claims within 90 days after they last performed work or supplied materials or equipment to the project. This notice must be actually received by the prime contractor by this deadline, not just mailed by the deadline. The notice must be sent by registered mail with a return receipt requested.
2. One-year suit deadline (everyone). A first-tier sub can file suit on the payment bond 90 days after, but no later than one year after, the last labor was furnished or materials supplied. No notice is required prior to bringing suit. Importantly, the 90-day notice deadline and the one-year suit filing deadline begin to run when the last of the services were furnished or the last of the materials were provided as part of the original contract, and these deadlines do not restart if you subsequently furnish labor or materials to correct defects or make repairs on items previously furnished for the federal job. These deadlines also do not restart if you furnish punch list or warranty work or materials for the job.

That last point is the trap. You finished the job in March. You came back in July for punch list. You assume the clock restarted. It didn't. The one-year clock has been running since March.

Track the date of your last original contract work on every bonded job. Put it on a calendar. Put a reminder at month 9, month 11, and month 11.5. Subs lose six-figure claims because nobody put it on a calendar.

How surety underwriting actually works: the 3 Cs

When a sub asks me what gets them bonded, the answer is the same framework every surety in the country uses. Sureties evaluate every contractor on the same three core areas — capital, capacity, and character. The specifics vary by surety company and by the size of the bond, but the three categories are universal.

Capital

Capital is the financial picture. Working capital, net worth, debt-to-equity, cash position, profitability. Surety bond companies usually want to see the company's most recent three years of financial statements. Depending on the size of bond capacity desired, these statements usually need to be CPA prepared. The surety is looking for statements that include a balance sheet, income statement, statement of cash flows, work in progress schedule, completed contract schedule, and notes to the financial statements.

The math underwriters use is rough but real: A contractor with $3 million in working capital might carry primary capacity of $50 to $60 million with a strong track record. That multiple is not fixed. It moves based on everything else in the file — your experience, your systems, your WIP. The often-cited rule of thumb is 10× working capital for aggregate program capacity and 5× for single-project — but those are guidelines, not entitlements.

If your financials are compiled on a tax basis and your WIP schedule is a guess, you're capped at small-bond programs. If you have CPA-reviewed statements on a percentage-of-completion basis with a clean WIP, you're in the conversation for real capacity.

Capacity

Capacity is whether you can actually do the work. Not whether you can win the bid — whether you can finish the job. Underwriters evaluate your experience with similar project types and sizes, the depth of your management team, your equipment and labor resources, your estimating and accounting systems, and your track record of completing bonded work on time and on budget.

If the owner is the only person who can run a project from start to finish, the surety sees a single point of failure. That limits capacity regardless of how strong the financials are. This is the most common ceiling for $1M–$5M revenue subs: the owner is the whole company. Until there's a second project manager or estimator the surety can see in the file, capacity won't grow.

Character

Character is not personality. It's how you handle problems, how you treat partners, and whether the surety can trust what's in your file. Underwriters evaluate your personal and business credit history, your payment track record with subcontractors and suppliers, any past bond claims or lawsuits, tax liens or judgments, and your reputation in the market.

The character signal underwriters watch most closely: contractors who bring issues to the surety's attention proactively — before they become surprises — build trust that pays dividends in bonding capacity over time. The opposite is also true. Try to hide a problem job and the next renewal will be painful.

The SBA Surety Bond Guarantee Program — the path in for small and emerging subs

Most small contractors have never heard of the SBA Surety Bond Guarantee Program. They should have. It exists specifically for subs who can't yet qualify in the standard market.

The mechanics: The SBA does not issue bonds. It guarantees a percentage of the bond to the surety company — meaning if you default on a bonded project, the SBA reimburses the surety for most of the loss. That guarantee changes the math for the surety, which is why a contractor who would normally get declined can get approved through the program.

What's available as of 2026:

• The program guarantees individual contracts of up to $9 million, and up to $14 million for federal contracts if a federal contracting officer certifies that such a guarantee is necessary. The SBA's guarantee currently ranges from 80% to 90% of the surety's loss if a default occurs.
• SBA's Surety Bond Guarantee Program partners with 31 active surety companies represented by more than 80 authorized bonding agencies nationwide.
• In fiscal year 2025 the program backed a record $10.6 billion in bond guarantees for more than 2,200 small businesses.

This is a stepping stone, not a destination. Once you complete bonded projects successfully, you build a track record. Your financials improve. Your surety sees performance history. Eventually, you graduate from the SBA program into the standard surety market with higher limits and a real bonding program. The SBA expects this. Preferred sureties are actually required to have a plan for moving contractors into traditional bonding.

If you're an MWDBE sub, a veteran-owned firm, or simply a smaller company that can't yet show three years of CPA-reviewed financials, this is your on-ramp.

What "bid-ready" actually means: the financial posture sureties want to see

The skeptical version of "bid-ready" — the version that survives an underwriter's review — looks like this:

• Three years of CPA-reviewed or audited financial statements. Tax-basis compiled statements limit your capacity. Reviewed statements on a percentage-of-completion basis unlock it.
• A current, accurate WIP schedule. Updated monthly, not when you remember. Reconciled to the GL. No gainsharing math that doesn't add up.
• A 13-week rolling cash forecast. Develop a 13-week rolling cash flow forecast aligned with project schedules, billing cycles, and major procurement commitments. Demonstrate to underwriters that management anticipates cash crunches in a timely manner.
• Clean A/R aging. No se aceptan partidas de "$400K con más de 90 días" sin una explicación y un plan.
• Un equipo directivo que vaya más allá del propietario. Como mínimo, un director de proyecto y un estimador designados con quienes la afianzadora pueda hablar.
• Crédito personal saneado. Los suscriptores lo consultan. Los gravámenes, sentencias y el historial de pagos atrasados en el expediente personal del propietario reducen la capacidad.
• Referencias listas. Banco, dos proveedores, dos contratistas generales, propietarios de proyectos anteriores.

Esto no es una lista de deseos, es el expediente que un suscriptor va a solicitar. Téngalo antes de necesitarlo.

Cómo encaja Breva

Breva® es una plataforma de operaciones financieras para contratistas de construcción PYMES —con ingresos de $1M a $25M, el rango exacto donde la fianza se vuelve esencial y difícil de obtener. Nosotros no emitimos fianzas; eso lo gestiona nuestro socio afianzador. Lo que Breva hace es el trabajo que debe realizarse antes de que un suscriptor le otorgue capacidad real: WIP limpio, ciclos de solicitud de pago funcionando, retenciones gestionadas, plan de efectivo en marcha, Puntuación de Fianza visible y Ask Bre™ disponible como CFO de IA para ayudarle a interpretar su propia situación financiera de la misma manera que lo haría un suscriptor.

La Puntuación Breva es una puntuación de salud financiera de 300 a 850 diseñada para contratistas —la misma idea que un FICO personal, pero calibrada para el ciclo de trabajo a efectivo que impulsa la suscripción de subfianzas. Si su Puntuación Breva avanza en la dirección correcta, su conversación sobre fianzas también lo hará.

Esto no es asesoramiento financiero ni legal, y su programa de fianzas específico dependerá de su afianzadora, su estado y el proyecto. Utilice esta publicación como un mapa, no como un contrato.

Qué hacer esta semana

1. Averigüe su nivel en cada trabajo afianzado activo. Primer nivel, segundo nivel o inferior. Anótelo en la carpeta del trabajo.
2. Agende el plazo de un año para cada trabajo afianzado que finalizó en los últimos 12 meses. Utilice la fecha del último trabajo contractual original — no lista de pendientes, no garantía.
3. Obtenga sus estados financieros de los últimos tres años y su programa actual de trabajo en curso. Si no están revisados por un CPA, ese es su próximo proyecto.
4. Dedique 10 minutos al Referencia de Solicitud de Pago. Le dirá, de forma gratuita, dónde se encuentra su ciclo de solicitud de pago en comparación con otros subcontratistas de su tamaño, los mismos datos de ciclo que interesan a los aseguradores.

Preguntas Frecuentes

¿Cuál es la diferencia entre una fianza de licitación, una fianza de cumplimiento y una fianza de pago?

Una fianza de licitación garantiza que cumplirá su oferta si gana. Una fianza de cumplimiento garantiza que completará el contrato. Una fianza de pago garantiza que se pagará a sus subcontratistas y proveedores. En proyectos federales de más de $150,000, la Ley Miller exige fianzas de cumplimiento y de pago por el 100% del precio del contrato.

¿Necesitan los subcontratistas sus propias fianzas de garantía?

A veces. Un Contratista General (CG) exigirá subfianzas en oficios críticos — electricidad, mecánica, movimientos de tierra — especialmente en proyectos de CM-at-risk y grandes proyectos públicos. Incluso cuando no presente su propia fianza, a menudo estará trabajando bajo la fianza de pago de un CG, que es su recurso si no le pagan.

¿Cuál es el umbral de la Ley Miller en 2026?

El Reglamento Federal de Adquisiciones exige fianzas de cumplimiento y de pago en contratos de construcción federales superiores a $150,000. Los contratos entre $35,000 y $150,000 requieren protecciones de pago alternativas, pero no fianzas completas. Los contratos inferiores a $35,000 no tienen requisito federal de fianza.

¿Cuánto tiempo tengo para presentar una reclamación de fianza de pago de la Ley Miller?

Tiene un año desde su último día de trabajo original del contrato para presentar una demanda. Los subcontratistas de segundo nivel también deben notificar por escrito al contratista principal dentro de los 90 días posteriores a su último día de trabajo. Los trabajos de lista de pendientes y de garantía no reinician el plazo.

¿Cuánto cuesta una fianza de garantía para un subcontratista?

Las fianzas de licitación suelen ser gratuitas para contratistas cualificados. Las fianzas de cumplimiento y de pago suelen costar entre el 0.5% y el 3% del monto de la fianza para contratistas bien cualificados. Dónde se sitúe en ese rango depende de sus finanzas, experiencia y crédito.

¿Qué es el Programa de Garantía de Fianzas de la SBA?

Es un programa federal que garantiza entre el 80% y el 90% de la pérdida de una afianzadora en fianzas emitidas a pequeños contratistas que aún no pueden calificar en el mercado estándar. A partir de 2026, el programa cubre contratos de hasta $9 millones ($14 millones en contratos federales con una certificación de un oficial de contratación).

¿Qué analizan los suscriptores de fianzas?

Las 3 C: Capital (capital de trabajo, estados financieros, rentabilidad), Capacidad (experiencia, equipo directivo, sistemas, trayectoria) y Carácter (crédito, historial de pagos, reclamaciones y demandas, referencias).

¿Puede un sub-subcontratista presentar una reclamación sobre la fianza de pago del contratista general?

En proyectos federales de la Ley Miller, no. La protección de la fianza de pago se extiende solo a subcontratistas y proveedores de primer y segundo nivel. Los de tercer nivel o inferiores no tienen derecho a reclamación.

Fuentes

1. 40 USC 3131 Ley Miller: Requisitos y umbrales de las fianzas — LegalClarity
2. Fianzas de la Ley Miller: Requisitos y exención — ConsensusDocs
3. Requisitos de las fianzas de la Ley Miller (40 U.S.C. 3131-3134) — BuySuretyBonds.com
4. Guía de requisitos estatales para fianzas de licitación 2026 — BuySuretyBonds.com
5. La Ley Miller — Grit Insurance
6. Lo que los suscriptores de fianzas quieren ver en su expediente en 2026 — Grit Insurance
7. Comprendiendo las fianzas de construcción — ABC Carolinas (Manual 2026)
8. Las 3 C de la suscripción de fianzas de contrato — Axcess Surety
9. Reclamaciones de fianzas de pago de la Ley Miller: Lo básico — American Bar Association
10. Conozca y cumpla con sus requisitos de notificación — ConsensusDocs
11. La Ley Miller Federal: El amigo del contratista — Primerus
12. Comprendiendo los requisitos de fianza de la Ley Miller — HLL Law
13. Programa de Garantía de Fianzas de la SBA — Congress.gov / Informe CRS
14. Guía del Programa de Garantía de Fianzas de la SBA — Grit Insurance
15. La Oficina de Garantías de Fianzas de la SBA celebra a los ganadores de los premios 2026 — SBA.gov
16. Folleto de la Ley Miller — GSA.gov (PDF)

No es asesoramiento financiero ni legal. Los requisitos de fianza, los umbrales y los procedimientos de reclamación varían según la jurisdicción y cambian con el tiempo. Fecha de publicación: [PUBLISH DATE]. Consulte a su agente de fianzas, abogado y CPA antes de basarse en la información anterior para un proyecto específico.

eva® y Ask Bre™ son marcas comerciales de Cadence Financial Group, Inc. que opera como Breva.