---
title: How a General Indemnity Agreement Affects Your Construction Company
description: A General Indemnity Agreement is essential for risk transfer. Here are the ways that a general indemnity agreement affects your construction company.
image: https://blog.tsibinc.com/hubfs/general%20indemnity%20agreement.jpg
---
- [Resources](https://tsibinc.com/resources/)
- [Contact Us](https://tsibinc.com/contact-us/)
[Pay Online](https://tsibinc.com/pay-online/)
[Wrapworks Contractor Portal](https://wrapup.vuewrapup.com/contractorportal)
[](https://tsibinc.com)
- Insurance
- Commercial Insurance
- Commercial Insurance 1
- [Automobile Liability](https://tsibinc.com/insurance/commercial-insurance/automobile-liability/)
- [Builder’s Risk](https://tsibinc.com/insurance/commercial-insurance/builders-risk/)
- [Property Insurance](https://tsibinc.com/insurance/commercial-insurance/property-insurance/)
- [Pollution](https://tsibinc.com/insurance/commercial-insurance/pollution-legal-liability-insurance/)
- [Cyber](https://tsibinc.com/insurance/commercial-insurance/cyber/)
- [Employment Practice Liability & Officer’s Liability](https://tsibinc.com/insurance/commercial-insurance/directors-officers-employment-practices-liability/)
- Commercial Insurance 2
- [Excess Liability](https://tsibinc.com/insurance/commercial-insurance/excess-liability-insurance/)
- [General Liability](https://tsibinc.com/insurance/commercial-insurance/general-liability-insurance/)
- [Employee Benefits](https://tsibinc.com/insurance/employee-benefits-programs/)
- [Owner’s Protective Professional Indemnity](https://tsibinc.com/insurance/commercial-insurance/owners-protective-professional-indemnity/)
- [Professional Liability](https://tsibinc.com/insurance/commercial-insurance/professional-liability/)
- Commercial Insurance 3
- [Railroad Protective Liability](https://tsibinc.com/insurance/commercial-insurance/railroad-protective-liability/)
- [Terrorism](https://tsibinc.com/insurance/commercial-insurance/terrorism/)
- [Umbrella](https://tsibinc.com/insurance/commercial-insurance/umbrella/)
- [Workers’ Compensation Insurance](https://tsibinc.com/insurance/commercial-insurance/workers-compensation-insurance/)
- Risk Solutions
- [Captives](https://tsibinc.com/insurance/risk-solutions/captives/)
- [Claims Services](https://tsibinc.com/insurance/risk-solutions/claims-services/)
- [Insurance Consulting](https://tsibinc.com/insurance/risk-solutions/insurance-consulting/)
- [Risk Management](https://tsibinc.com/insurance/risk-solutions/risk-management/)
- [Safety & Loss Control](https://tsibinc.com/insurance/risk-solutions/safety-loss-control/)
- [Small Contract Bond Program](https://tsibinc.com/insurance/risk-solutions/small-contract-bond-program/)
- [Surety Bonding](https://tsibinc.com/insurance/risk-solutions/surety/)
- Wrap-Ups
- [Co-Broker Partnerships](https://tsibinc.com/wrap-ups/co-broker/)
- [OCIP/CCIP](https://tsibinc.com/wrap-ups/ocip-ccip/)
- [Risk Management Information System](https://tsibinc.com/wrap-ups/risk-management-information-system/)
- [Wrap Administration](https://tsibinc.com/wrap-ups/wrap-administration/)
- [Wrap Claims Services](https://tsibinc.com/wrap-ups/claims-services/)
- [Wrap Risk Management](https://tsibinc.com/wrap-ups/risk-management/)
- [Wrap Safety & Loss Control](https://tsibinc.com/wrap-ups/safety-loss-control/)
- Industries
- [Aviation](https://tsibinc.com/why-tsib/industries/aviation/)
- [Civil Construction & Infrastructure](https://tsibinc.com/why-tsib/industries/civil-construction-infrastructure/)
- [Construction](https://tsibinc.com/why-tsib/industries/construction/)
- [Data Centers](https://tsibinc.com/why-tsib/industries/data-center/)
- [Education](https://tsibinc.com/why-tsib/industries/education/)
- [Industrial & Manufacturing](https://tsibinc.com/why-tsib/industries/industrial-manufacturing/)
- [Life Sciences](https://tsibinc.com/why-tsib/industries/life-sciences/)
- [Public Entity](https://tsibinc.com/why-tsib/industries/public-entity/)
- [Real Estate Developers](https://tsibinc.com/why-tsib/industries/real-estate-developers/)
- [Sports & Entertainment](https://tsibinc.com/why-tsib/industries/sports-entertainment/)
- MWBE Compliance
- Compliance Services
- [Program Consultancy and Owner’s Representative](https://tsibinc.com/mwbe-compliance/services/program-consultancy-and-owners-representative/)
- [Project Compliance and Monitoring](https://tsibinc.com/mwbe-compliance/services/project-compliance-and-monitoring/)
- [Specialty Programs](https://tsibinc.com/mwbe-compliance/services/specialty-programs/)
- [Small Business Capacity Building](https://tsibinc.com/mwbe-compliance/services/small-business-capacity-building/)
- [Software Solutions](https://tsibinc.com/mwbe-compliance/services/software-solutions/)
- Stakeholders/Clients
- [Owners/Agencies](https://tsibinc.com/mwbe-compliance/stakeholders-clients/owners-agencies/)
- [General Contractors and Construction Managers](https://tsibinc.com/mwbe-compliance/stakeholders-clients/general-contractors-and-construction-managers/)
- [Trade Partners](https://tsibinc.com/mwbe-compliance/stakeholders-clients/trade-partners/)
- [Diverse Businesses](https://tsibinc.com/mwbe-compliance/stakeholders-clients/diverse-businesses/)
- [Workforce](https://tsibinc.com/mwbe-compliance/stakeholders-clients/workforce/)
- Training
- [Federal/State/Local Private Requirements](https://tsibinc.com/mwbe-compliance/training/federal-state-local-private-requirements/)
- [Fraud Monitoring and Mitigation](https://tsibinc.com/mwbe-compliance/training/fraud-monitoring-and-mitigation/)
- [Insurance/Bonding/Capital](https://tsibinc.com/mwbe-compliance/training/insurance-bonding-capital/)
- Opportunities
- [Business Enterprise Questionnaire](https://tsibinc.com/mwbe-compliance/opportunities/business-enterprise-questionnaire/)
- [Out of Work List](https://tsibinc.com/mwbe-compliance/opportunities/out-of-work-list/)
- [MWBE Support & Services](https://tsibinc.com/mwbe-compliance/opportunities/mwbe-support-services/)
- Why TSIB
- [Our Difference](https://tsibinc.com/why-tsib/our-difference/)
- [Meet the Team](https://tsibinc.com/why-tsib/meet-our-team/)
- [Careers](https://tsibinc.com/why-tsib/careers/)
- [Blog](https://blog.tsibinc.com/)
This is a search field with an auto-suggest feature attached.
- There are no suggestions because the search field is empty.
# Knowledge Corner
December 3, 2018
## How a General Indemnity Agreement Affects Your Construction Company
- [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share)
A General Indemnity Agreement (GIA) is essential in terms of risk transfer, and it is a necessary component of obtaining surety bonds. The GIA is a legal instrument used by surety companies to ensure they are “made whole” by any losses covered under their bonds. In the event a Surety suffers a loss as a result of the contractor’s failure, the contractor must reimburse the Surety for such losses.
It is a promise that the contractor, as an indemnitor, will indemnify, or pay the Surety back if there are any losses on a bond issued by the Surety. The GIA is made between the **[Surety and bond principal](https://blog.tsibinc.com/what-is-a-surety-bond-tsib)** and are typically required by the Sureties to be executed by an indemnitor prior to issuing bonds to a bond principal.
##### **Who Signs the General Indemnity Agreement?**
The bond principal must be an indemnitor. If the bond principal is a company or corporate entity (C corporation, S corporation, LLC), the corporate officer (President) of the company or Managing Member of an LLC entity must sign the agreement on behalf of the organization or entity. For privately-owned companies, additional indemnitors may include the personal signature(s) of the principal owner(s) of the entity(s).
**[Some Sureties](https://blog.tsibinc.com/discovering-the-different-types-of-surety-bonds)** may require personal signatures of their spouse(s) and can also include people who have a vested financial, material or beneficial interest in the company trying to obtain the bond. The bond principal must always sign as an indemnitor. Additionally, if the bond principal has a business partner(s) with a material interest in the company (usually over 10%), the Surety, in its discretion, may have them also sign.
##### **GIAs are binding contracts**
GIAs are legally binding contracts that protect the Surety from harm--in every way. While they seem onerous, if a bond principal operates its business responsibly and ethically, there is no need for claims or losses to ever be filed on its bond(s). The GIA will never come to fruition as long as the bond principal operates its business in a prudent manner. The GIA exists to protect the Surety, should the bond principal or indemnitors fail.
If you have [**additional questions**](https://tsibinc.com/surety/) about General Indemnity Agreements and how they can affect your coverages, call TSIB today at 201-267-7500.
[](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/3391365/c6df08ef-504d-437c-b248-6f938c31f3d7)
image credit: PORTRAIT IMAGES ASIA BY NONWARIT/shutterstock.com
Topics: [Contracts](https://blog.tsibinc.com/topic/contracts)
Written by [The TSIB Team](https://blog.tsibinc.com/author/the-tsib-team)
All Authors and TSIB
### Comments
Comment Cancel
[Back to Blog](https://blog.tsibinc.com/)
## Sign-up for TSIB’s weekly Blog
[Sign Up](https://tsibinc.com/blog-sign-up)
[](https://tsibinc.com)
**Join our dynamic team!**
At TSIB, we are Committed to our Clients and to our workforce.
[Learn more](https://tsibinc.com/careers/)
###### Client support
**Insurance:**
[(201) 267-7500](tel:2012677500)
**Wrap-Ups:**
[(203) 945-1780](tel:2039451780)
**Surety:**
[(201) 267-7500](tel:2012677500)
**Employee Benefits:**
[(213) 369-4496](tel:2133694496)
[View All Contacts](https://tsibinc.com/contact-us/)
###### Recent Blog
- [Construction Insurance: Why a Coordinated Risk Strategy Matters](https://blog.tsibinc.com/construction-insurance-why-a-coordinated-risk-strategy-matters)
- [3 Pillars that Build a Safety Culture](https://blog.tsibinc.com/3-pillars-that-build-a-safety-culture)
- [The Human Side of Construction Safety](https://blog.tsibinc.com/the-human-side-of-construction-safety)
- [How to Manage Heat Safety on Construction Jobsites](https://blog.tsibinc.com/how-to-manage-heat-safety-on-construction-jobsites)
Blog Sign-Up
[Sign up today](https://tsibinc.com/blog-sign-up)
###### Connect with us
-
-
-
-
-
[](https://www.insurancejournal.com/top-100-insurance-agencies/)
The material on the website is for informational purposes only. It should not be construed as legal advice and is recommended you contact your attorney for legal advice.
Copyright © 2026 by Turner Surety & Insurance Brokerage, Inc.
- [Locations](https://tsibinc.com/contact-us/)
- [Terms of Use](https://tsibinc.com/terms-of-use/)
- [Privacy Policy](https://tsibinc.com/privacy-policy/)
```json
{
"@context" : "https://schema.org",
"@type" : "BlogPosting",
"author" : {
"@type" : "Person",
"name" : "The TSIB Team",
"url" : "https://blog.tsibinc.com/author/the-tsib-team"
},
"dateModified" : "2024-06-05T17:19:23.797Z",
"datePublished" : "2018-12-11T18:00:00.000Z",
"headline" : "How a General Indemnity Agreement Affects Your Construction Company",
"image" : [ "https://blog.tsibinc.com/hubfs/general%20indemnity%20agreement.jpg" ],
"mainEntityOfPage" : {
"@id" : "https://blog.tsibinc.com/how-a-general-indemnity-agreement-affects-your-construction-company",
"@type" : "WebPage"
},
"publisher" : {
"@type" : "Organization",
"logo" : {
"@type" : "ImageObject",
"url" : "https://blog.tsibinc.com/hubfs/turner-surety-and-insurance-brokerage-r-logo2x.png"
},
"name" : "TSIB"
}
}
```