City of San Antonio Construction Contract Requirements: Bonds, Insurance and SBEDA

Addendum 4 to the 2026 Street Rehabilitation Task Order Contract Package 1, dated September 26, 2025, asks for a "Bid Bond issued by a Corporate Surety Company in the amount not less than five percent (5%)" of the total bid, and a missing signature makes the bid non-responsive. RFCSP 2025-080 for the ACS Veterinary Hospital, a 2022 Bond project released June 4, 2025, sets the same 5 percent proposal guaranty from a surety licensed in Texas and asks for a letter of insurability and a current insurance certificate with the proposal.

The TCI Procurement/Contracting Policy and Procedures Manual of August 13, 2019, Section 2.7, requires a bid bond on contracts over $50,000 and not below that unless the solicitation asks for one. It sets no percentage and states that the City "will not accept a cashier's check or other security in lieu of a required Bid Bond." Under the 2018 General Conditions, the bonds, insurance and signed contract are due within 10 days of award, and if they are not delivered the City may keep the bid security. The street addendum adds that the contract and notice to proceed wait until the contractor is registered in the City's Centralized Vendor Registration, also called SAePS, the San Antonio electronic Procurement System.

Article XI.3 of the 2018 General Conditions sets each bond at 100 percent of the Contract Sum under Texas Government Code Chapter 2253. Above $100,000, the text reads, "a Payment Bond and a Performance Bond equaling one hundred percent (100%) of the Contract Sum are mandatory." Above $50,000 up to $100,000, only the payment bond is mandatory. At $25,000 or less, the contractor may skip bonds and is then paid nothing until Final Completion. The 2019 procurement manual frames its table differently: at $50,000 or less, performance and bid bonds are not required unless requested and a payment bond only if the solicitation says so. The two documents are cited here with their dates, and the solicitation states which tier applies.

The performance bond under Article XI.3.1 also secures correction of defects for one year after final completion. Article XI.3.3 asks for a surety admitted and licensed in Texas, "listed in the most current United States Department of the Treasury List of Acceptable Sureties," with venue in Bexar County and a resident agent in Bexar County. A surety based elsewhere without a Bexar County agent would not meet that term as written, so firms new to San Antonio typically confirm the agent arrangement with their surety before bid day.

The insurance table in Article XI.1.3 of the 2018 General Conditions calls for insurers authorized in Texas "with an A.M Best's rating of no less than A- (VII)." The limits are statutory workers' compensation, employers' liability of $1,000,000 for each of its three limits, commercial general liability at $1,000,000 each occurrence with a $2,000,000 general aggregate (or the equivalent in umbrella or excess coverage) and business auto of $1,000,000 combined single limit for owned, non-owned and hired autos. Professional liability ($1,000,000 per claim, kept for two years) and builder's risk at 100 percent replacement cost apply where marked if applicable. Article XI.4 sets an umbrella of $5,000,000 per occurrence on a follow-form basis with no aggregate and drop-down terms.

Article XI.1.6 asks the contractor to name the City, its officers, officials, employees, volunteers and elected representatives as additional insureds by endorsement on every policy except workers' compensation and professional liability, with the other insurance clause not applying to the City, waivers of subrogation on workers' compensation, employers' liability, general liability and auto. The same article asks for advance notice of suspension or nonrenewal. Article XI.5.1.a names the City and the Design Consultant as additional insureds "using endorsement CG 20 26 or broader." Subcontractor general liability in Article XI.1.13.b carries a CG 25 03 per-project aggregate and completed operations for at least one year after acceptance. A new building takes builder's risk on a completed value form, and a renovation takes an installation floater with the City as joint named insured. These are the 2018 figures; each solicitation's Insurance Requirements document controls, and placement is subject to underwriting and the terms of the policies issued.

Article IX.6.2 of the 2018 General Conditions pays contracts of $400,000 or less at 90 percent and holds 10 percent until Final Completion. Where "the Contract amount exceeds four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000.00)," installments are paid at 95 percent and 5 percent is held. On a contract just above the line, the lower retainage can matter to the cash a firm needs to carry the job, and it is one of the figures a surety typically asks about when it looks at work on hand.

The correction period in Articles III.5 and XII.3.2 runs "One (1) year after the date of Substantial Completion of the Work," or from a later warranty commencement date the City sets. Because the performance bond reaches defects for a year after final completion, the bond and the correction period can end on different dates, and the surety's release of the bond follows the City's records rather than the contractor's own close-out date.

The City runs its Small Business Economic Development Advocacy (SBEDA) program, and the 2019 manual says draft construction solicitations are checked for SBEDA before release and that "the City has established specific goals for local S/M/WBE participation." On September 10, 2025, a memo from the Office of the City Manager addressed how the SBEDA ordinance is applied, stating that contracts proceed "without applying race or gender conscious SBEDA ordinance-related Affirmative Procurement Initiatives."

Addendum 4 to the 2026 street rehabilitation solicitation, issued after that memo, changed its goal to a 4 percent SBE contracting goal only: the bidder must "subcontract or self-perform at least four percent (4%) of its prime contract value to SBEDA eligible, M/WBE certified firms." Goals are set per solicitation, so the commitment form in each bid package states the figure that applies to that contract.

San Antonio Water System is a separate water utility with its own solicitations. Its 2026 Annual Asphalt Overlay work order contract package (CO-00898), with a pre-bid meeting on March 12, 2026, required that "Electronic bids shall be accompanied by a bid bond in an amount not less than five percent of the total bid price." The pre-bid presentation set an aspirational SBOP small business goal of 30 percent of the total bid price, not mandatory but with good-faith efforts required, and a self-performance minimum of 40 percent of the original contract price. SAWS places its insurance requirements in Section 5.7 of its General Conditions, and its insurance and bond terms sit in specification documents behind its vendor login, so they are not stated here.

The City's 2022 Bond page describes "six propositions for the City's 2022 Bond Program totaling $1.2 billion and including 187 projects," approved by voters on May 7, 2022. The page reports that "As of June 2026, 72% of projects are complete or under construction," which leaves a share of the program still to reach construction. Encroachment and street work permits are a separate process from these contracts, explained in the Texas encroachment permit bond guide.

For a contractor chasing several of those lettings, the bonding question is aggregate as much as single job. A surety typically looks at the firm's financials, work on hand and the retainage it carries, and the answer can vary by carrier guidelines and programs. Lining up the bid bond, the Bexar County agent and the insurance certificate before the solicitation posts usually gives a firm the most room on bid day.