Payment Bond Formal Verification

Verify that a construction payment bond is valid, the surety is authorized, and the bond covers the project requirements. This is the marketplace's trust layer — operators won't bid on tasks without verified payment security.

Workflow

1. Accept bond document

Accept: pasted bond text, PDF file path, or extracted fields (bond number, surety, principal, obligee, penal sum, date). If a PDF, extract text and identify the AIA A312 or ConsensusDocs 260 field structure.

2. Extract bond fields

Identify and extract these fields. Mark each as FOUND or NOT FOUND:

• Bond number
• Surety company name
• Surety NAIC code (if present)
• Principal (contractor) legal name and address
• Obligee (project owner / agency)
• Project description / contract reference
• Penal sum (bond amount in dollars)
• Effective date
• Expiration date (if any — many bonds are open-ended until project completion)
• Power of Attorney reference
• Surety agent name and signature

3. Verify surety against Circular 570

Read references/circular-570-verification.md for the verification process.

Check:

• Is the surety listed on Treasury Circular 570? (federally approved)
• Is the surety licensed in the project's state?
• Is the penal sum within the surety's underwriting limit?
• What is the surety's AM Best rating? (A- or better is standard)

4. Verify bond coverage

Check:

• Does the penal sum cover the total task value(s) being posted?
• Is the effective date before or on the task posting date?
• Does the obligee match the project owner referenced in the RFP?
• Does the principal match the entity posting tasks on the marketplace?

5. Generate verification report

Output:

{
  "verification_status": "VERIFIED | FAILED | PARTIAL",
  "bond_number": "...",
  "surety": {
    "name": "...",
    "circular_570_listed": true,
    "state_licensed": true,
    "underwriting_limit": "$...",
    "am_best_rating": "A+",
    "naic_code": "..."
  },
  "principal": "...",
  "obligee": "...",
  "penal_sum": "$...",
  "coverage_sufficient": true,
  "effective_date": "...",
  "checks": [
    {"check": "Surety on Circular 570", "result": "PASS|FAIL", "detail": "..."},
    {"check": "Licensed in MI", "result": "PASS|FAIL", "detail": "..."},
    {"check": "Penal sum covers tasks", "result": "PASS|FAIL", "detail": "..."},
    {"check": "Bond is current", "result": "PASS|FAIL", "detail": "..."},
    {"check": "Obligee matches project", "result": "PASS|FAIL", "detail": "..."},
    {"check": "Principal matches poster", "result": "PASS|FAIL", "detail": "..."}
  ],
  "warnings": [],
  "requires_human": ["Contact surety to confirm bond is active (not cancelled)"]
}

6. Validate output

python scripts/validate_bond_verification.py < report.json

References

• references/circular-570-verification.md — How to check Circular 570, state licensing, and underwriting limits. Includes URLs for Treasury data download and surety verification portals.
• references/bond-field-definitions.md — AIA A312 and ConsensusDocs 260 field definitions and where to find them in the document.

What this skill explicitly CANNOT do

This skill verifies the bond document against public records. It does NOT:

• Contact the surety to confirm the bond is still active
• Verify the Power of Attorney authenticity
• Provide legal advice on bond adequacy
• Replace attorney review for disputed bonds

These limitations are stated in every output under requires_human.