By Brett Kaufman. 8 years using relationships to build sales pipelines, from political fundraising to a 7 figure business to running matchmaking for two communities. Over 1,000 introductions facilitated.

If you want to know how to buy a construction company before it is listed, start with the people who bond, supply and build alongside construction owners: surety agents, subcontractors, material suppliers, AGC and ABC chapter members and construction CPAs. Then stay recent, because when an owner is ready, they call the buyer they remember.

Here is the scene. A surety agent is reviewing the year end financials of a commercial general contractor. Forty years in business, a strong superintendent, steady work for the local school district. The owner asks the agent what happens to his bond program if he sells.

The agent knows two buyers who have asked about construction. She calls the one who checked in last month.

Why do construction owners sell to someone they already know?

Because a construction company is its bonding, its field people and its reputation. The owner will not hand that to a stranger. He wants a buyer the people around him can vouch for.

The trade groups are big. Associated Builders and Contractors says it has more than 24,000 members across 67 chapters and is “founded on the merit shop philosophy.” The Associated General Contractors of America calls itself “the voice of the construction industry,” and its membership page points to a nationwide network of 87 chapters.

Who hears first when a construction owner is ready?

The people who see the money, the risk and the jobs. This is my map, a framework, not data.

Who	What they notice first	What they want from a buyer	How you earn a place
Surety agent	Smaller bond requests, an owner asking about exit	A bondable new owner	Ask how they underwrite an acquirer
Subcontractors who bid to the company	Fewer bid invites, an owner skipping walkthroughs	The same GC paying on time	Ask which GCs they trust most
Material suppliers	Smaller orders, slower pickups	The account stays	Meet the branch manager, ask who is slowing down
Equipment dealers and lenders	An owner not replacing iron	A buyer who keeps financing	Ask who is selling equipment off
AGC or ABC chapter members	Peers who stopped coming	A buyer who keeps the field team	Join, attend, volunteer once
Construction CPA	Owner age, margins, the “what is it worth” question	A buyer who closes and keeps the client	Send them diligence work they can bill on

The surety agent sees the financials every year and knows which owners have no successor. For the association side in depth, read trade association acquisition targets. If you want a single trade, see how to buy an electrical contracting business.

What bonding and license questions come up when you buy a construction company?

Two: will a surety bond you, and does the license stay. I am not a lawyer, and rules vary by state, so treat this as the list of questions to bring to a construction attorney and a surety agent.

Bonding. Public jobs and many private ones require bid, performance and payment bonds. The SBA Surety Bond Guarantee program guarantees those three bond types for eligible small businesses on contracts up to $9 million for non federal work and up to $14 million for federal work. The SBA says businesses must meet the surety company’s “credit, capacity, and character requirements.” It lists a fee of 0.6 percent of the contract price for performance and payment bond guarantees, and no fee for bid bond guarantees.

Ask the surety agent:

1. Who personally backs the current bond program, and what happens to it at closing?
2. What single job and total bonding limits could a new owner expect?
3. What financial statements will the surety want from you, and how far back?
4. Would the SBA program help at the size you are buying?

License transfer. Contractor licensing is set by states, and sometimes by cities or counties. In some places the license is tied to a qualifying person who passed the exam, not the company. Rules vary by state. Ask:

1. Who is the qualifying person on each license, and will they stay?
2. Does a change in ownership require notice, a new application or a new exam?
3. Which states, counties and cities does the company hold licenses in?
4. How long does a new license take if one is needed?

Get every answer in writing from the licensing agency or your attorney.

What do you check first in a construction deal?

Bonding, backlog and the field team. Ask:

1. How much signed backlog is there, and at what estimated margin?
2. Which estimators, project managers and superintendents run the jobs, and will they stay?
3. How much work comes from the top three customers?
4. What claims, liens or warranty callbacks are open?
5. Does the owner personally hold the customer relationships?

The SBA’s guide to buying a business says to consider hiring an attorney and an accountant. Pick ones who have done construction deals.

How to buy a construction company: the 90 day plan

Here is how I would run it.

1. Days 1 to 14: pick the lane. Commercial general contractor, residential builder, civil and site work or a specialty trade. One region. A revenue range. Your lender conversation done.
2. Days 15 to 30: the surety and the rules. Meet two surety agents who write contractors. Call the state licensing agency. Meet a construction attorney.
3. Days 31 to 45: the association. Join or attend your local AGC or ABC chapter. Show up to one event. Volunteer for one thing.
4. Days 46 to 60: the subs and suppliers. Lunch with three subcontractors and two supplier branch managers. Ask who they trust and who is slowing down.
5. Days 61 to 75: the numbers and the brokers. Two construction CPAs, plus two or three specialists from the IBBA broker directory. Send a one page buyer profile.
6. Days 76 to 90: one coffee a week with an owner. Peer talk, no pitch. End with “who else should I know?”
7. Day 90 onward: a note per person, a real reason to reach out every six to eight weeks.

What do you text the people who hear first?

Short, specific, under 40 words. Illustrative examples.

To a surety agent:

“[Name], thanks for walking me through how you would look at an acquirer. If an owner ever wants a quiet talk about what comes next, I keep the field team. Glad to just listen.”

To a subcontractor:

“[Name], good to meet at the chapter lunch. I am buying one commercial GC in the region. Your take on which GCs pay on time was the clearest I have heard. Mind if I check back in a few weeks?”

To a broker, 60 days later:

“[Name], still buying one commercial GC in the region, lender and surety conversations done. Congrats on the deal you closed. Anything coming that fits?”

For the owners and connectors already in your phone, start with how to find owner direct business deals in your network. Other industries are in how to buy a business in a specific industry. The full system is at deal flow for business buyers.

Where does this break?

Between conversations. Two surety agents, three subs, two suppliers, a chapter, two CPAs, an attorney, two brokers and five owners. That is 18 people. By month four you are deep in diligence on another company and nobody has heard from you. Then the surety agent hears the owner is ready, and she calls the buyer she talked to last week.

That is the job I built FRONT OF MIND for. After a meeting, say a name and a sentence out loud, snap a business card or badge, or take a selfie together, and it is filed under the event. Then it opens on your 10 minutes for today. Each person has a one line reason why today: they posted, their company was in the news, you met weeks ago and never followed up, or they are going cold. Every draft is a text style message, 40 words max. Nothing sends without your tap, and it learns from your edits. Ask Liala “who do I know who writes contractor bonds” and get the right people with why.

It runs in your phone’s browser and can be saved to your home screen. There is no native iPhone app yet. Your contacts are encrypted. No one on our team looks at them. Export or delete anytime.

Start free with your first 25 contacts and see which surety agent comes up first.

See how it works