When a city, school district, county, or state agency bids a fence or perimeter security scope directly — without a general contractor in between — the fence contractor becomes the prime. That changes a significant number of things: bonding requirements, insurance minimums, submittal obligations, pay application structure, and how you communicate with the owner throughout the project.
It is a different working relationship than sub-bidding through a GC, and the contractors who do it well treat it as a different business than the ones who do not.
Bonding requirements at the prime level
Public work in Texas above certain dollar thresholds requires a payment bond and a performance bond. The thresholds and exact requirements vary by entity type — school districts operate under different statutes than cities or state agencies. Read the bid documents carefully and confirm what is required before you bid. If you are bidding on a project where bonding is required and you have not arranged it, you will be disqualified at bid opening.
Your bonding company will want a fully executed contract, or at minimum a letter of intent, before they issue a bond. Factor the time that takes into your schedule between award and the notice to proceed.
Insurance minimums are usually higher
Public owners almost always require higher liability limits than a typical GC-to-sub relationship. Many school districts and state agencies require $2M per occurrence or higher for general liability, plus umbrella coverage. Workers' compensation requirements in Texas have unusual rules — Texas does not require private employers to carry it, but most public contracts require it or a certified waiver. Read what the spec says and confirm your limits before you submit a bid.
Certified payroll and prevailing wage
Some public work in Texas triggers prevailing wage requirements under the Texas Government Code. This applies primarily to state-funded projects above certain thresholds and to certain transportation and infrastructure work. When prevailing wage applies, you will be required to pay workers at the posted wage rates for their classification and submit certified payroll reports to the owner for each pay period. If you have not done certified payroll before, get familiar with the format and process before you bid — not during construction.
Federal funding adds another layer. Any project with federal money (USDOT, FEMA, HUD, etc.) typically triggers Davis-Bacon requirements, which are similar in structure but administered differently. The bid documents will tell you whether federal prevailing wage rules apply.
Active facilities require a different site plan
When you are the prime bidding on a fence scope at an operating school, a water plant, or a city hall campus, you are coordinating directly with the facility, not with a GC who handles that relationship. The owner's representative may be a facilities director, a project manager, or a consultant — and their availability, communication style, and decision-making authority will vary. Find out early who has the authority to approve submittals, respond to RFIs, and authorize changes.
At active sites, you will also need to manage your own temporary site controls: fencing around open excavations, coordination with the facility's security or access protocols, and scheduling work in a way that does not disrupt operations. A school campus is not a commercial construction site. Your crew needs to know that.
Pay applications and retainage
Public owners in Texas have statutory prompt-payment obligations, but pay applications still need to be submitted correctly to trigger that clock. Find out what format the owner requires, what supporting documentation is needed (certified payroll if applicable, lien waivers, stored-material documentation), and who to submit to. A pay application submitted on the wrong form or missing a required attachment will sit until it is corrected.
Retainage on Texas public work is typically 10% until the project reaches a completion threshold, at which point the statute permits reduction. The contract will tell you the specific terms. Plan your cash flow around retainage being held for the full project duration, and be familiar with the process for requesting early retainage reduction if the project goes well.
RFIs and submittals are your responsibility
When you are the prime, there is no GC to route submittals or draft RFIs on your behalf. You are submitting directly to the owner's representative, often through a project management platform like e-Builder, PlanetBids, or a basic email submittal log. Know the contract's required response time for RFIs, keep copies of everything, and follow up in writing when you do not receive a response inside the required window. Unanswered RFIs that affect your schedule are only a problem if you cannot document that you asked.