§ 9566 Public Works Bond Claims

• •Only people who worked directly for the main contractor or through subcontractors can ask for money from the payment bond on a public project.
• •If you didn’t work for the main contractor or their subcontractors, you can’t get paid from this bond.
• •This rule doesn’t change the rights of design professionals (like architects) to stop payments if they’re not paid.

A construction company is building a new school (a public project). The main contractor hires a plumbing subcontractor, who then hires a worker to install pipes.

The worker can ask for money from the payment bond if they aren’t paid because they worked through the subcontractor. But if a random supplier sells materials to someone else on the project who isn’t connected to the main contractor, they can’t ask for money from the bond.