surety | Construction Law Authority

A Performance Bond’s Fixed and Flexible Scope.

February 2, 2013

The scope of a performance bond's protection is limited, but can be expanded. To ensure that the surety will be responsible for all applicable work, it is important to keep the bond's scope in mind throughout the course of the project, and expand it as necessary, to make sure the bargained-for protection is available, in the event you need it....

The “Infallible” Surety, Is Not Immune From The Impact Of A Bad Economy

September 25, 2012

Ryan Carpenter

Bonds

When negotiating for payment and performance bonds, you should realize that even if you obtain the added protection, you are not 100% safe. Even though they might not be as likely as other construction entities to go out of business, sureties also go out of business. Furthermore, when they do, it can be as difficult to recover from a surety's estate as it is to recover from any other bankrupt construction entity....

So, You Think You’re Protected Because You Have a Performance Bond

September 24, 2011

Ryan Carpenter

Construction Defects

Well, you might not be. While you might have prudently thought ahead and gotten a performance bond from an entity downstream, to protect you from its defective work, the protection afforded by a performance bond only lasts so long. After some point, if you have not filed a lawsuit against the performance bond surety, you lose your right to make a claim and it is as if the performance bond never existed. As explained below, it might be relatively easy to determine the deadline for an owner to file a lawsuit against its general contractor’s performance bond surety, but calculating the deadline for a general contractor to file a lawsuit against one of its subcontractors’ performance bond sureties might not be so easy. A lawsuit against a performance bond must be filed within five years from the date the work at issue was completed and accepted, or the lawsuit will be...

Performance Bonds are Governed by their Terms

October 5, 2010

Lee Weintraub

Insight

Performance bonds are actually contracts and, like all contracts, can be modified or drafted to contain whatever provisions the parties agree to. Great care should be taken to ensure you fully understand the rights and ramifications the bond language creates....