What a performance & payment bond is
Performance and payment bonds usually come as a pair once you win a job. Public owners require them on most public works over a set contract value, and many private owners and lenders ask for them too.
Performance bond
Guarantees you'll finish the work the way the contract says. If you default, the surety arranges for the work to be finished or pays the owner, up to the bond amount.
Payment bond
Guarantees your subcontractors, workers and suppliers get paid. On public jobs they can't put a lien on public property, so the payment bond is how they get paid if you don't pay them.
In New Hampshire
New Hampshire's little Miller Act, RSA 447:16, requires a bond on state and political subdivision construction contracts over $35,000, conditioned on payment of laborers and subcontractors. Whether the statute also requires a separate performance bond is not clear from its text.
- Surety industry sources say RSA 447:16 does not expressly and clearly require a performance bond. Project owners often require one by contract.
You need this bond if you're
- A general contractor awarded a public works contract
- A subcontractor whose subcontract requires bonding
- A contractor on a private job where the owner or lender requires bonds
- A design-builder or developer delivering public improvements
What the surety looks at
Your business, credit, experience and the contract itself. Larger contracts usually need financial statements, a work-in-progress schedule and bank references.