MAKING OUT THE BID 81 



a surety company of his financial standing and ability as 

 a contractor he has little or no trouble in getting bonds 

 whenever he wants them unless the conditions are peculiar 

 as to the amount or other attendant circumstances. Some 

 contractors never use individual bonds and others only use 

 them on proposals. 



5. Contractor's Liability Insurance and Compensation. 



Insurance protects a contractor from suits for damages 



arising from personal injury or death to a workman or to 



an outsider. It thus protects a contractor from financial 



failure and thereby protects the bondsman as well. A 



surety company may require a contractor to obtain liability 



insurance before it will act as bondsman. There are 



companies who make this type of insurance a specialty. 



The rates charged are proportional to the risk run and the 



magnitude of the work. They are higher for instance 



in heavy sewer work than they are in ordinary excavation. 



Several of our eastern states now have ' Workmen's 



Compensation Laws," which provide for a compensation 



to be paid to an injured workman or to his family in case 



of death. Such a law has recently gone into effect (Jan. 1, 



1916) in the state of Pennsylvania. Whatever payment a 



contractor may be required to make to purchase insurance 



against payments of compensation will have to be included 



as one of the overhead charges and will increase the cost 



of the work accordingly. 



MAKING OUT THE BID 



This is done by the contractor or his engineer. All 

 blank spaces in the proposal are filled in, the bonds duly 

 executed and the bid enclosed in a sealed envelope. 



