Surety Bonds for Florida Electrical Contractors
Bid, Performance and Payment Bonds, F.S. 255.05 Public-Work Bonds and the Federal Bond Rules
F.S. 255.05, 713.23, 489.128, 95.11 as displayed on Online Sunshine 2026-09-19; FAR 28.101-1, 28.101-2, 28.102-1, 28.102-2, 52.232-5 as displayed on acquisition.gov 2026-09-19 · Reviewed 2026-09-21
"Obtaining Insurance and Bonding" is 4–6 questions on the Business exam. Workers' compensation is lesson 01. This lesson is the bond half: what the three standard construction bonds guarantee, who the three parties are, the Florida public-work bond statute (F.S. 255.05), the private payment bond under the lien law (713.23), the federal Bonds statute (the Miller Act) as implemented by FAR Part 28, and how a surety decides whether to write you.
1. A bond is not insurance
- A surety bond is a three-party guarantee: the principal (the contractor) promises to perform or pay; the obligee (the owner, or the public entity) is protected; the surety (an insurer authorized to write surety in Florida) guarantees the principal's obligation and pays the obligee if the principal defaults.
- The surety expects to be repaid: the principal (and usually its owners personally) signs an indemnity agreement. F.S. 489.128(3) makes the point in reverse — being unlicensed is no defense to a claim on a bond or indemnity agreement, and the surety stays bound even when the unlicensed principal cannot enforce its contract.
- Insurance spreads expected losses across policyholders; a bond is credit — priced on the contractor's ability to perform and to repay.
The rest of this lesson is for members.
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