SFAA/DOT BONDING EDUCATION PROGRAM (BEP)
PROCESS FOR DEVELOPING CONTRACTOR PRESCRIPTIVE PLAN
The objective of this document is to outline the process by which the volunteer surety professionals, along with our local partners, can develop individualized prescriptive plans for the contractors participating in the bonding assistance program. As you know, the purpose of the prescriptive plan is to identify those factors that would potentially impact the contractor bondability and develop a strategy to address each of these factors, including referring the contractor to specialized project management, accounting or financing assistance, if needed. However, our experience to date suggests that more time and focus need to be placed on further assisting the contractor is assembling the information necessary to conduct a thorough prequalification assessment, including accurate and appropriate financials and job performance history. Therefore, it is suggested that the prescriptive plan be broken down into two stages: Stage I are those steps required to complete assembling the information package for each contractor; and Stage 2 are those steps recommended to achieve the appropriate level of bondability. This approach is a more accurate reflection of where the contractors are likely to be at the end of the educational workshop component of the program. In an ideal world, once the workshops have been completed, we would be able to go right into Stage II of the prescriptive planning process. Yet, at that point, many, if not most, of the participating contractors still are involved in such tasks as reconstructing their financial statements or refining their business plans and likely will need some degree of assistance to complete these steps. Thus introducing a Stage I set of recommended actions will help these contractors move more rapidly to the next stage. (Attached is a worksheet for use in recording both Stage I and Stage II recommendations for the prescriptive plans.) Also, click here to access the Client Intake Report form.
With respect to the prescriptive planning process itself, the following protocols are suggested:
- If feasible, have the SBTRC extend the current workshop time slot for a few more weeks in order to have further one-on-one interaction with the contractors to assist them in assembling their information and developing their prescriptive plans. Using this same time frame with which the contractors have become familiar during the workshops precludes the need to juggle the schedules of both surety volunteers and contractors throughout the week.
- Utilize the full three hour time frame of these evenings to schedule more in-depth meetings with each contractor. These meetings may be up to one hour or more. Dependent on the number of surety volunteers each week, at a minimum, you could schedule two interviews per volunteer, allowing time thereafter to discuss possible recommendations with the local technical assistance partner and the other surety volunteers.
- Out of these sessions, the surety volunteer, in concert with the local partner, will complete the prescriptive plan worksheet, with an initial focus on any Stage I recommended actions that are deemed necessary. Also, if any Stage II actions are apparent at this time, they too would be included on the worksheet.
- Schedule a third meeting with each contractor to go over the prescriptive plan worksheet and discuss with them the recommended actions, resource requirements, available assistance, outcome measures and likely time frame to complete these actions.
- Continue to monitor and work with the contractor as needed until such time as the team feels that that contractor is ready to be serviced directly by a bond producer as a client.
- Continue to document the process including any bond line offers by surety companies and any bonds actually obtained.