Know your bonding limit
before you bid.
One ten-minute application. A surety underwriter confirms the largest job they'll bond you for and sends it to you in writing. $0, and it never obligates you to bond through us.
Trusted by industry leaders
Free now. A two-page request when you win.
Prequalification is the front door to the bonds that actually cost money. The whole sequence:
Apply online
Your company, your biggest job in the last three years, current work on hand, and five yes/no history questions.
Underwriter sets your limit
A soft credit pull, then a written single-job and total limit. Want a bigger line? They tell you exactly what to send.
Letter in hand
A letter of bondability for pre-bid meetings and owner questionnaires.
Send the contract
A short bond request form plus the contract. The bond issues against the file you already built — no re-underwriting.
What it is and who needs it.
What prequalification actually does — and why it costs nothing
Performance Plus is a credit-based contract surety underwriting program built for small-to-midsize contractors — the segment that has historically had the hardest time getting a broker to return a call for a $250,000 job. Instead of a full financial-statement file, it prices bonding capacity largely off the contractor's credit profile, with program capacity up to $3,000,000 single or aggregate.
Prequalification is the step before any bond exists: there is no obligee yet, so you are not filing anything with a project owner or a regulator. You are building the underwriting file a real performance & payment bond will draw on the moment you have a contract. That is why it costs nothing — the surety's work here is deciding whether it would write your bond at all, and doing that before a project shows up is what makes the eventual bond fast instead of a scramble.
We say it out loud, the way we do for our free bid bonds: prequalification is the audition. You owe nothing if you never bond a project through us, and nothing obligates you to use us when you do — but your file will already be built and your limit already confirmed the day you need the real thing.
You need this if you are
Claims, renewal, filing, and what sets the price.
If a claim is made
A bid bond answers for your bid: if you win and do not sign the contract or post the performance and payment bond, the owner can claim the difference between your bid and the next one, up to the bond amount.
The surety pays a valid claim, and you repay the surety. Nothing is claimed if you sign; a bid bond is released at award.
Renewal and term
A bid bond runs to the award: there is nothing to renew.
The performance and payment bond you post if you win runs with the contract.
How to file it
Send the contract. A short bond request form plus the contract. The bond issues against the file you already built — no re-underwriting.
What sets the price
The bid bond and the consent of surety are free; the performance and payment bond when you win is a flat 3% of the contract.
How big a limit can I get?
It depends on the paperwork you can show, not your revenue. Start wherever your books are today and move down a row as they mature.
| Tier | What you show | Per job | All open jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| CreditNo financial statements | Owners' personal credit, your D&B report and past job sizes. Excellent credit reaches the top of the range. | $1M – $3M | $1.25M – $3M |
| Credit PlusYear-end statements, no CPA opinion | Three fiscal year-ends on an accrual basis (in-house or CPA-compiled), latest tax return, personal financial statement, bank letter and a work-in-progress report. | $1.5M – $3M | $2M – $5M |
| Large lineCPA-reviewed or audited | Reviewed or audited statements with notes, WIP and completed-jobs schedules, annual bank line-of-credit confirmation and quarterly updates. | No set cap | No set cap |
Per job vs. all open jobs: the first is the largest single contract they will bond; the second is your total bonded work at once. A $3M total with $2.5M already bonded leaves room for a $500k job.
What you'll be asked.
The online application
EVERYONE · ≈10 MIN- Your company: entity type, address, year founded, owner and contact.
- Your work: construction specialty, largest job completed in the last three years, current work on hand.
- Five yes/no questions: bankruptcy, a failed contract or paid surety claim, litigation or late payroll, tax liens in the last three years, and whether you have been bonded before. A "yes" is not a decline; leaving one out is.
- Soft credit consent for the owners. It never shows to lenders.
- The limit you'd like. It sizes the review; the price stays $0.
Only for a bigger line
SENT BY EMAIL AFTERWARD- Contractor questionnaire: trades you self-perform and subcontract, territory, five largest completed jobs, three years of sales.
- Personal financial statement for each owner. Propeller provides the form.
- Bank letter: accounts, average balances, and any line of credit with its limit and usage. Ask your bank for a "surety reference letter".
- Financial statements: the last two fiscal year-ends plus current interim, with an AR aging and a work-in-progress report.
Owners personally back contract bonds through an indemnity agreement, which is why the surety reads owner credit rather than only the company's. Standard on every contract surety program.
Applying now saves the scramble later.
The application is the same underwriting file as your eventual performance & payment bond — which is why contractors who start here close bonds so fast. Free, no obligation, and your limit is confirmed within 48 hours.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Federal bonds.
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Know your number before the next bid.
Ten minutes now, free. A written limit within 48 hours. Your next bond is a request form and a contract.