05/05/2026
Last year a contractor lost a $4.2M public works bid because his surety couldn't issue a performance bond in time.
The job didn't go to the lowest bidder. It went to the one who understood his bonding capacity before he picked up the plans.
If you've ever been told "we'll need more financials" three days before a bid deadline — this book is for you.
The Contractor's Guide to Surety Bonds by C. Constantin Poindexter is a plain-English primer on how contract surety actually works: how underwriters read your financials, what "bonding capacity" really means, prequalification, the legal framework behind Miller Act and Little Miller Act bonds, and the mistakes that quietly cost contractors work every season.
The author is a 30-year surety veteran, Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter, founder of Surety One, Inc., Chairman of Janus Assurance Re, and a practicing law partner. There are maybe a dozen people in the country qualified to write this book. He's one of them.
Available now on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Link in comments. 📘
Tag a contractor who's still learning this the hard way.
