If you live in New York and want to repair, remodel, or build residential properties, you must obtain a home improvement contractor license. This is a required legal step. Acquiring a license is something that’s required by state authorities to guarantee that the contractors are fully qualified and that they are safe to do business […]
It is required by the Freight Motor Carrier Safety Administration, or the FMCSA for short, for both freight forwarders and brokers to purchase a surety bond of $75,000 before receiving their freight broker license. These bonds are often referred to as the ICC broker bond or the BMC 84 bond. More information is available at […]
The reclamation bond is a type of performance surety bond. It’s required by BLM – the Bureau of Land Management – and it is required by some state government agencies that provide permits for specific mining operations.
As of the date of this blog, there are over 280,000 contractors in the state of California. The public can search for actively licensed contractors at their site. With so many operating contractors, California like many states requires contractors to be licensed and provide a surety bond to protect the general public. A California contractor […]
The most popular method for construction project delivery is still design-bid-build. This is where a design professional and owner create plans for a project before sending the project out to bid. A contractor is then selected to build the project. However, that is changing. According to a study by FMI last year, Design Build projects […]
With surety bonds, collateral is typically used for protecting the surety bond company from a possible loss. Here, you can learn about the collateral used for surety bonds, along with some pros and cons of each.
Funds control is a term used in surety bonding and can also be called funds administration or just escrow. It usually involves a third party handling the contract proceeds to process payments for bonded contractor. The idea is very similar to a construction loan on the residential side. The process typically looks something like this:
David Porter is quoted saying, “Litigation is the basic legal right which guarantees every corporation its decade in court.” I find this very true in construction. Even in what appear to be “clear cut” circumstances, cases drag out for years and legal fees escalate. Although it won’t eliminate litigation, its much better to do a […]
Do you own a business in the oil and gas industry? If so, you may know about oil and gas surety bonds. Regardless of if you have past experience acquiring this bond, or if this is your first time, the information here may prove beneficial along the way.
Transitioning any business can be a challenge but maybe even more so in construction. You must decide whether to sell to a family member, key employee(s), or even a third party. What is the firm worth? Is the value in intangible customer relationships, industry knowledge or hard assets such as equipment? How will the new […]