Contractors working on public projects should be familiar with the requirements of Florida Statute §255.05.
Here is what a 255.05 bond needs to state on its face:
· Name, principal address, and phone number of the contractor, the surety, the owner of the property being improved, and if different from the owner, the contracting public entity;
· The contract number assigned by the public entity;
· The bond number assigned by the surety; and
· A description of the project sufficient to identify it, such as a legal description or the street address, along with a general description of the improvement.
While the following items are not required to be on the face page of the bond, they should be somewhere within the bond:
· Reference to 255.05 by number;
· Reference to the notice and time provisions of 255.05 (2); and
· Reference to Fla. Stat. 255.05 (10).
In addition to the technical requirements above, substantively, the bond cannot:
· Restrict classes of claimants from those listed under §713.01;
· Restrict venue for a bond claim;
· Restrict or expand the duration of the bond; or
· Add conditions precedent to the enforcement of a claim against the bond beyond the purview of the statute.
Fail to address each of these provisions and your bond may not be enforceable.