Contractor Bonding Education and Mentoring Program – Practical Assistance for Obtaining Surety Bonds

Program Description

The Surety and Fidelity Association of America (SFAA) and the National Association of Surety Bond Producers (NASBP) are committed to making surety bonds available and accessible to companies that qualify for them. Surety bonds can provide the following benefits:

  • Opportunity for you to bid on more contract opportunities 
  • Competitive advantage over non-bonded contractors
  • Ability to create more jobs, after winning a bonded contract
  • Access to business advisors who are not available elsewhere
  • Assistance with negotiating contractual terms that may help you avoid costly mistakes
  • Unique third-party perspective with valuable suggestions to support your business’s success
  • Methods to proactively build your company and meet your business goals

This education program is designed to help you determine if surety bonding is for you, and if so, how best to prepare your company to qualify for its first surety bond. Even if you’re not ready to apply for surety bonding yet, this program can help you learn what you need to do in order to qualify for a surety bond in the future. If you’ve already qualified for surety bonds, it can also help you grow your surety bond program. There are two parts to the program:

  • Education: On-demand online interactive modules that are available 24x7
  • Mentoring: Once you complete the online course, you will be eligible for the mentoring program.

Target Audience

The primary audience for this program is business owners and executives of new and emerging construction companies. The course focuses on veteran-, minority-, and women-owned contractors and other disadvantaged or under-represented businesses.

Target audience members may come from a variety of situations. They may include a:

  • Sole proprietor with or without employees who wants to bid on contracts that require bonds
  • Skilled tradesperson who wants to start a business
  • Start-up company that wants public works contracts
  • Subcontractor who wants to become a general contractor
  • Contractor who wants to grow the business by bidding on projects that require surety bonds 

This curriculum includes ten on-demand modules that you can take and complete anytime, at your own pace. The modules include videos, interactive activities and knowledge check questions. They also include checklists and reference documents that you can download and use during the surety bond application process. 

Everyone should start by taking the Introduction and Path Recommendation. This introductory module takes about 15 minutes to complete. At the end, you will be guided to take the modules in one of three learning paths (A, B or C).

Learning PathFor those who:ModulesLength
A. The Complete Contractor Bonding Education ModulesAre new to bonding and want to establish a traditional bond program1 to 93 to 5 hours
B. Transactional Surety Bond Application ModulesAre new to bonding with focus on qualification primarily based on credit-score1, 2, 31 to 2 hours
C. Traditional Surety Bond Application ModulesPreviously obtained transactional bonds and now want to establish a surety bond program4 to 92 to 3 hours

Program Structure

Here is a curriculum map. Take the Introduction and Path Recommendation first.  It helps you determine which path to take through the curriculum. Path A is white, path B is green, and path C is orange.

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