The most common provision is the clearly illegal attempt to require a bidder’s surety to have a certain bond rating to qualify for the contract beyond “California admitted.” However, we have also seen efforts to require the surety to act as “co-guarantor” of manufactured products used on the job and specific language that gives just a few days for the surety to respond to a claim. Another particularly onerous provision we have seen is one that makes the surety liable for damages, even when the public agency is at fault. These are just a few examples of various provisions that have been brought to our attention.
In those instances, we have sent the local agencies letters, copies of the law, and legal opinions as appropriate in an effort to get these provisions removed. Below we have posted some of the relevant documents as a reference for members and public agencies.