Bonding Capacity Letter: What Texas Bid Packets Ask For
What a bonding capacity letter says and doesn't guarantee, real Texas packet wording, single vs. aggregate limits, and a sample letter for your next bid.
School & College Construction Bonds
Bonds for Texas ISD and college construction jobs.
Bid, performance, and payment bonds for roofing, HVAC, renovation, glazing, and restroom work. Texas law requires a performance bond over $100,000 and a payment bond over $25,000. Bid security is whatever your packet says.
- We read your packet before we write the bond
- Built for small trade contractors on single jobs
- Greater Houston and across Texas
What it is
What bonds does a Texas school job need?
A school or college construction job can call for up to three bonds. A bid bond backs your proposal, a performance bond guarantees you finish the work, and a payment bond guarantees your subs and suppliers get paid.
You are the principal, the contractor making the promise. The district or college is the obligee the bond protects. The surety is the insurance company that pays a valid claim and then collects from you. This has nothing to do with the bond elections districts hold to borrow money. Those are financing. These are guarantees.
Who needs one
The trades that do school work.
Most small school projects are renovations, not new buildings. In the 1,127 small ISD projects we counted from state filings, 72% were renovation or alteration.
Roofing
Re-roofs on campuses, scheduled around the school calendar.
HVAC and mechanical
Rooftop units, chillers, and controls.
Glazing and entries
Storefront, doors, and secure vestibules. Vestibules appeared in 157 of those projects, with a median near $240,000.
Restrooms and ADA
Accessibility upgrades and restroom renovations across a campus.
General renovation
Classroom, cafeteria, and gym remodels for small general contractors.
Paving and site work
Parking lots, bus lanes, and athletic site packages.
On entries, read the plans closely. State rule 19 TAC §103.1215 lets a primary entrance use a secure vestibule or meet four listed conditions, so a vestibule is one way to comply, not a statewide mandate.
Bid security
No statute sets ISD bid security. The packet does.
Education Code Chapter 44 never mentions a bid bond. Government Code Chapter 2269 sets no percentage. So read each packet.
| Owner | What the document asked for | Job size |
|---|---|---|
| Spring ISD Competitive sealed proposal | 10% of the proposed amount, submitted electronically | About $9.5M |
| Lone Star College Cy-Fair roof | 10% of the total bid, with the original mailed | About $2.2M |
| Lone Star College Two smaller proposals | No bid security language found in the packet text | About $500K and $1M (the $1M job was later cancelled) |
| Katy and Galena Park ISD Listings quoting the packet | 10% of the proposal | About $3.5M to $7M |
| Edinburg CISD | 5% of the largest possible total, including alternates | Not stated |
Packets and listings read October 2026. A small sample, and every 10% example here is a job over $2M. We have not seen a 10% packet on a job under $1M, so don't assume one way or the other.
How Chapter 2269 changes the bid
Since September 1, 2025, districts formally procure purchases of $100,000 or more in the aggregate over 12 months (Education Code §44.031(a); SB 1173 raised it from $50,000). For construction, they use an interlocal contract or a Government Code Chapter 2269 method: competitive bidding, competitive sealed proposals, construction manager-agent, construction manager-at-risk, design-build, or job order contracts. Under a competitive sealed proposal, the district ranks offerors and negotiates, so the low number does not automatically win. The bond asks are still in the packet.
That threshold change catches small contractors. A $60,000 job can skip formal procurement and still need a payment bond.
Some packets ask for more than a percentage. Spring ISD's requires letters of bondability in the proposal and says to carry the bond cost inside your proposal amount. We can provide the letter. Tell us early if your packet asks for one. For how bid security works generally, see Texas bid bonds.
After award
Performance and payment bonds on school work.
When
Government Code §2253.021 requires the bonds "before beginning the work": a performance bond if the contract is in excess of $100,000, and a payment bond if it is in excess of $25,000. School districts are named in §2253.001. Each bond is in the amount of the contract.
Deadline
Usually the packet sets it. Lone Star College's packets allow 10 days from the Notice of Award, and Edinburg CISD's allows ten days after acceptance. Spring ISD's gives no day count. Construction manager-at-risk and design-build contracts have a 10-day default in the statute unless other security is furnished (§2269.258, §2269.311). Find your number before you bid.
Who picks the surety
You do. A public owner may not require a bond from a specific surety, agent, or broker (§2253.021(g)). The bond must be payable to the owner, on a form the owner approves (§2253.021(e)).
Surety rules
On these bonds the surety must be authorized to write surety bonds in Texas. If the bond exceeds $100,000, it must also hold a U.S. Treasury certificate of authority, or reinsure liability over $1 million with an authorized or Treasury-listed reinsurer (Insurance Code §3503.005). Packets can add their own asks, such as an A.M. Best rating. Send us those lines.
Other routes and timing
Job orders, colleges, and the summer window.
Job-order and co-op work
Job order contracts cover repair, renovation, and minor construction of a recurring nature. In the four co-op solicitations we reviewed, none clearly required a bid bond, though that is a small sample. The statute does not address one. Payment and performance bonds, where the law requires them, are based on the amount of each order (Government Code §2269.411), though owners structure this differently. Some bond per order, and others use an annual bond or the contract limit. See Texas job order contract bonds.
Community colleges vs. universities
Junior college districts follow Education Code Chapter 44, Subchapter B (§44.0311, §130.010), and Chapter 2269 applies to them. It does not apply to any other institution of higher education or a university system (§2269.005). Universities buy under Education Code Chapter 51. Don't carry a school-district assumption over to a university job. Read its own documents.
Summer jobs bid early
May and June held 41% of estimated starts across those 1,127 small ISD projects, because the work has to land while students are out. Summer jobs often bid earlier. One $5.1M Pearland ISD re-roof bid in February, was listed to start in April, and had to reach substantial completion by mid-August. Get set up with a surety before that rush, not the week a packet drops.
How to get bonded
Four steps from packet to contract.
- 01
Send the packet early
Email dale@mooninsurance.net the instructions to proposers, the bid form, your proposal amount, and the due date. We check the bid security, the obligee wording, and whether the owner wants a bondability letter or an original bond.
- 02
Apply once
For single jobs up to about $1M, the application is short and based on your credit. Larger jobs need financial statements and a work-in-progress schedule.
- 03
Put the bond cost in your number
Include the performance and payment bond cost in your proposal amount. For how premiums are figured, see performance bond cost.
- 04
Win, then bond the contract
Deliver the performance and payment bonds inside the packet deadline, before you begin work.
Legal requirements
The statutes behind a school job.
Procurement
Education Code §44.031(a): best-value purchasing at $100,000 or more in the aggregate over 12 months, with construction through Government Code Chapter 2269 or an interlocal contract.
Bonds
Government Code §2253.021 sets the performance and payment bond thresholds. Chapter 2253 says nothing about bid security.
Surety
Insurance Code §3503.005 sets surety eligibility for Chapter 2253 bonds. It does not address bid bonds as such.
Why Surety Bond Houston
School packets reward the contractor who reads them.
Packet first
40+ years of combined experience. We read the bid security, obligee, and surety language before we write anything.
Bid security covered
10% bid bonds, bondability letters, and sealed originals when the packet asks for them.
Houston-local
A Houston team you can call, serving contractors across Texas.
Related bonds
The bonds around a school job.
FAQ
School construction bond questions.
Does Texas law set the bid bond percentage on ISD jobs?
No. Neither Education Code Chapter 44 nor Government Code Chapter 2269 sets one, so the packet does. On the larger Houston-area jobs we read, Spring ISD and a Lone Star College roof asked for 10%, and listings for Katy and Galena Park ISD show the same. Edinburg CISD asked for 5%. Some smaller jobs ask for none.
When do I need performance and payment bonds on a school job?
Before you begin work: a performance bond if the contract is over $100,000 and a payment bond if it is over $25,000, each in the amount of the contract (Government Code §2253.021). Your packet usually sets the delivery deadline. Lone Star College's packets we read allow 10 days from the Notice of Award. Construction manager-at-risk and design-build contracts have a 10-day default in the statute (§2269.258, §2269.311).
A district bought my job without a formal bid. Do I still need a bond?
Possibly. SB 1173 raised the formal purchasing threshold to $100,000 in the aggregate over 12 months, effective September 1, 2025. The $25,000 payment bond trigger did not change, so a $60,000 job can skip formal procurement and still need a payment bond.
Do the same rules apply to community colleges and universities?
Community colleges mostly follow school-district rules: Education Code Chapter 44, Subchapter B and Government Code Chapter 2269 both reach junior colleges. Universities do not use Chapter 2269. They have their own procurement subchapter in Education Code Chapter 51. Owners can also ask for more than the statutes do. Lee College's purchasing page calls for bid, performance, and payment bonds above $10,000.
Does job-order or co-op work need a bid bond?
The statute does not address one, and none of the four co-op solicitations we reviewed clearly required it, though that is a small sample. Payment and performance bonds, where the law requires them, are based on the amount of each order (Government Code §2269.411), so read your contract and each order.
Does Texas require a security vestibule on every campus?
No. The state rule (19 TAC §103.1215) requires a primary entrance to either have a secure vestibule or meet four listed conditions: exterior door standards, a way to visually identify visitors, a physical barrier, and a check-in location. Your plans decide the scope. Bonding works the same as on any other school job over the thresholds.
Ready when you are
Get set up before the next school letting.
Call or email us the packet. We'll tell you what it asks for and what comes next.