Bid Bond

BID BOND

IMPORTANT FORM-SELECTION NOTICE

Do not submit this document in place of a form prescribed by the solicitation. Complete every bond on the form and in the amount required by the actual invitation, solicitation, procurement rule, and awarding authority.

☐ Federal procurement: Use the current Standard Form 24 (SF 24), Bid Bond, unless the solicitation and contracting officer authorize another form. SF 24 states that a deviation requires the written approval of the Administrator of General Services.

☐ State or local procurement: Use the awarding authority's prescribed bond form and verify all state, local, and solicitation-specific requirements.

☐ Private procurement: Confirm that the owner accepts a custom bond and that the bond exactly follows the invitation and bid documents.

This document is a completion worksheet and, only when a custom form is expressly permitted, a customizable bond form.

PART I — SOLICITATION AND BOND DATA

Bond Number: [BOND NUMBER]

Date Bond Executed: [__/__/____]

Bid Opening Date: [__/__/____]

Bid Acceptance Period: [NUMBER] calendar days after [BID OPENING / OTHER EVENT]

Time to Execute Contract and Furnish Required Bonds/Documents: [NUMBER] calendar days after [RECEIPT OF FORMS / NOTICE OF AWARD / OTHER EVENT]

Invitation or Solicitation Number: [NUMBER]

Project or Procurement: [DESCRIPTION]

Project Location: [LOCATION]

Bid Amount: $[AMOUNT]

Required Bid Guarantee: [PERCENT]% of bid price / $[AMOUNT], not to exceed $[AMOUNT]

Penal Sum of This Bond: [AMOUNT IN WORDS] Dollars ($[AMOUNT])

Federal completion rules

For a federal solicitation using FAR § 52.228-1:

• Enter the guarantee stated in the solicitation. Under FAR § 28.101-2(b), the contracting officer sets an amount that is at least 20% of the bid price and no more than $3 million.
• If the solicitation does not state a bid-acceptance period, SF 24 uses 60 days.
• If the solicitation does not state a time to return the executed contractual documents and required bonds after the bidder receives the forms, SF 24 uses 10 days.
• SF 24 waives notice to the surety only for acceptance-period extensions totaling no more than 60 additional calendar days.

PART II — PARTIES

Principal

Full Legal Name: [PRINCIPAL/BIDDER LEGAL NAME]

Business Address: [ADDRESS]

Organization Type:

☐ Individual

☐ Partnership

☐ Joint Venture

☐ Corporation — State of Incorporation: [STATE]

☐ Other: [TYPE]

Obligee

Full Legal Name: [UNITED STATES OF AMERICA / PUBLIC ENTITY / PRIVATE OWNER]

Address: [ADDRESS]

Surety or Co-Sureties

If co-sureties allocate liability, confirm that their combined liability equals the full penal sum required by the solicitation.

PART III — CUSTOM BOND FORM

Use this Part only if the solicitation permits a custom bond. For a federal procurement requiring SF 24, complete SF 24 instead.

Obligation

The Principal and the Surety or Sureties are firmly bound to the Obligee in the penal sum stated above. For payment of that penal sum, the Principal and each Surety bind themselves and their respective successors and assigns, jointly and severally, subject to each stated co-surety liability limit and the conditions below.

The Principal has submitted the bid identified in Part I.

Conditions

This obligation is void if, after the Obligee accepts the identified bid within the applicable acceptance period, the Principal:

1. executes the further contractual documents required by the accepted bid within the time stated in the solicitation; and
2. furnishes the executed bond or bonds and other security required by the accepted bid within the time stated in the solicitation.

If the Principal fails to do so, the Principal and Surety are liable as provided by the solicitation, this Bond, and applicable law for the cost of procuring the work that exceeds the amount of the Principal's bid, but the Surety's liability does not exceed the penal sum or its stated co-surety liability limit.

Acceptance-period extensions

The following rule applies; select and complete the rule required by the solicitation:

☐ Federal SF 24 rule: The Surety's obligation is not impaired by an extension of the bid-acceptance period granted by the Principal to the Obligee. Notice to the Surety is waived only for extensions totaling no more than 60 additional calendar days beyond the original acceptance period.

☐ Solicitation-specific rule: [INSERT THE EXTENSION AND NOTICE LANGUAGE REQUIRED BY THE SOLICITATION]

No custom term in this Bond changes the bid, solicitation, award criteria, contract-formation requirements, or required performance and payment security.

PART IV — EXECUTION

The date of execution must comply with the solicitation. On SF 24, the execution date must not be later than the bid-opening date.

Principal

[PRINCIPAL LEGAL NAME]

By: ____________________________________

Name: [NAME]

Title/Capacity: [TITLE OR CAPACITY]

Date: [__/__/____]

Seal, if required: [SEAL]

Corporate Surety A

[SURETY LEGAL NAME]

By: ____________________________________

Name: [NAME]

Title/Capacity: [ATTORNEY-IN-FACT / OFFICER / OTHER]

Date: [__/__/____]

Liability Limit: $[AMOUNT]

Corporate Seal, if required: [SEAL]

Corporate Surety B, if any

[SURETY LEGAL NAME]

By: ____________________________________

Name: [NAME]

Title/Capacity: [ATTORNEY-IN-FACT / OFFICER / OTHER]

Date: [__/__/____]

Liability Limit: $[AMOUNT]

Corporate Seal, if required: [SEAL]

Individual Surety, if permitted

By: ____________________________________

Name: [NAME]

Date: [__/__/____]

Seal, if required: [SEAL]

PART V — SUBMISSION CHECKLIST

☐ Confirm the solicitation requires a bid guarantee and identify every permitted form of security.

☐ Use the awarding authority's prescribed bond form without unauthorized changes.

☐ Confirm that the penal sum, percentage, and any maximum dollar limit match the solicitation exactly.

☐ Confirm that the bid amount, invitation number, project description, dates, and legal names match the bid.

☐ Confirm that every surety is acceptable under the solicitation and applicable procurement rules.

☐ For a federal corporate surety, confirm that the company appears on the current Department of the Treasury list of approved sureties and is acting within its listed limitation.

☐ If an attorney-in-fact signs a federal bid bond, attach a signed and dated power of attorney or permitted copy showing authority to bind the surety. FAR § 28.101-3 treats omission at bid opening as a responsiveness issue.

☐ If an individual surety signs SF 24, attach a completed SF 28 for that surety.

☐ Confirm whether seals, witnesses, electronic signatures, acknowledgments, or other execution formalities are required by the prescribed form or applicable jurisdiction.

☐ Submit the bond and all required evidence of authority by the bid deadline.

Federal alternatives when the solicitation permits them

FAR § 52.228-1 identifies the following examples of firm commitments. Select only an option the solicitation accepts:

☐ Bid bond supported by acceptable surety or sureties

☐ Postal money order

☐ Certified check

☐ Cashier's check

☐ Irrevocable letter of credit

☐ Qualifying bonds or notes of the United States under Treasury Department regulations

SOURCES AND REFERENCES

• FAR § 28.101-2 — Solicitation provision or contract clause
• FAR § 28.101-3 — Authority of an attorney-in-fact for a bid bond
• FAR § 52.228-1 — Bid Guarantee
• FAR § 53.228 — Prescribed bond forms
• GSA Standard Form 24, Bid Bond (Rev. 10/2023)
• U.S. Department of the Treasury — Surety Bonds and Department Circular 570

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