Standard Bond Form Number Index

The Surety & Fidelity Association of America

100 Years of Service: 1908-2008

The Standard Bond Form Number Index (BNI) is a service supplied by The Surety & Fidelity Association of America (SFAA). The BNI is the result of discussion held by the industry regarding the need for surety data standards in order to improve the quality and efficiency of electronic data interchange (EDI), specifically with respect to the electronic transmission of the report of execution from bond producer to surety company.

The Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development (ACORD) formed a subcommittee to develop surety standards. In 1997, ACORD rolled out its surety standard. The Surety Standards Subcommittee subsequently developed an Implementation Guide for the transmission of the report of execution. Key to this execution is the identification of the bond form. A common bond form numbering system was necessary to make industry-wide identification possible. This index is the implementation of common number system.

Instructions
The Standard Bond Form Numbering Index (BNI) is designed for use by surety companies, surety bond agents and producers and any other interested parties. It is designed to provide easy access to standard bond forms for identification purposes and to determine the appropriate bond form number.

The BNI search page is designed to work with Bond Types and Bond Subtypes. These types are standard types defined by the SFAA. Any other information supplied about the bond, i.e., state in which the bond was issued or the name of the obligee, will help narrow the search.

Once you have put in all the information you have about the bond you are looking for, click on the search button. All relevant bonds found will be displayed in a results screen. By clicking on the icon to the left of the search results you can see the sample bond form associated with the results.

If you do not find the bond you are looking for, click on the "Return to Search" button and put in other information to help you refine your search. If you do not find the bond you are looking for contact the SFAA at so we can try to obtain a copy of the bond to add to the BNI. If you have additional bond forms to add to the BNI, please contact the SFAA at .

Disclaimer
The BNI is not intended to be a source of bond forms to submit to obligees. It assumes you have the proper bond form and need its number to aid in the submission of an electronic execution report. Although SFAA makes every reasonable effort to keep the BNI up to date, the number of bond forms used in the marketplace makes it impossible to assure either comprehensive coverage or incorporation of every change to an existing bond. SFAA, therefore, must disclaim any responsibility for the accuracy, completeness or currency of the BNI. By using the BNI you agree: (a) that you release SFAA from any liability arising out of such use, (b) that you will take appropriate steps to verify that the bond form you propose to use is the form required for the transaction, and (c) that you will tell SFAA if you discover that a bond form in the BNI is no longer current or is otherwise incorrect.

Fidelity Forms
The BNI contains Surety forms only. The Binder of Standard Fidelity and Forgery Forms is available for purchase from SFAA by clicking on this order form link. This binder contains standard forms, policies, riders, endorsements and application that were promulgated by The Surety & Fidelity Association of America for the fidelity, forgery and crime lines of business.

BNI Download
Selected members may download BNI database in a comma delineated flat file format. This file can be used by members to create a cross-reference table between their form library number scheme and the BNI. This file does not include the PDF images. Please contact bondforms@surety.org to request download instructions.