The best business loan broker for construction companies (2026)

What lenders look at for construction companies

Retainage, pay applications, and your work-in-progress schedule.

Receivables

Progress billings, with retainage held back until completion

Schedules

Work-in-progress schedule, receivables aging, signed backlog

Bonding

Sureties weigh working capital, and short-term debt counts against it

Bank statements

6+ months, read against your draw dates

Construction cash is lumpy by design. You mobilize crews and buy materials before the first pay application, the owner or general contractor reviews it, and a pay-when-paid clause can put your money behind theirs. Retainage, a share of each billing, is held back until the job closes out, sometimes months after your crews leave. Federal construction contracts cap it at 10% under the FAR; the American Subcontractors Association says it is often 10% to 15% on a project, and in 2023 it counted 14 states that cap it at 5% or less on private contracts. A contractor with a growing backlog can be profitable on paper and still short of cash for the next mobilization.

Underwriters ask for more than bank statements. A work-in-progress schedule shows whether you are over- or under-billed on open jobs; a receivables aging shows who owes you and how late; a backlog list shows what is signed. Funders also check concentration. A subcontractor with most of its billings to one general contractor is only as liquid as that contractor.

If you are bonded, the surety matters as much as the lender. The National Association of Surety Bond Producers explains that higher working capital supports higher bonding levels, and that for bonding purposes current liabilities usually include short-term debt and the current portion of longer debt. Short-term money spent on a job therefore lowers the working capital your surety sees. Before you take any working capital, ask your surety agent how it will read the debt. Invoice factoring on approved pay applications can be easier on the balance sheet, but on bonded work, check your indemnity agreement before you assign receivables.

1. Bay Street Lending

This is us. Our pick for established contractors that need speed and one advisor.

Best for

Contractors 6+ months old with $25K+/month in deposits

Product fit

Factoring for slow pay apps; working capital for mobilization; equipment financing for machines

Amounts

Working capital $25K–$2.5M; factoring $25K–$10M (80–95% advanced); equipment $25K–$5M

Cost to you

No fee from us; the funder pays us if you fund

Bay Street Lending is a broker, not a lender, founded by an investment banker and a partner who has spent his career in commercial finance. You apply once (a soft credit pull, about two minutes), one named advisor works the file, and it goes only to funders among our 100+ partners that fit it. Every option comes back priced side by side, with total cost, payment and term in writing before you sign, and no obligation to accept.

Our 2026 construction fundings include a remodeling contractor funded five times, from $60K to $165K each, and fundings of $85K to $175K for general contractors and an excavation company. Most were for mobilization and the gap between billing and payment. When the gap is a stack of approved pay applications to creditworthy owners or general contractors, we will usually point you to factoring before working capital, because the advance repays itself when the invoice pays.

Where we fall short: we do not serve contractors under six months old or requests under $25,000, we do not arrange surety bonds, and we have fewer public reviews than the bigger brokers and marketplaces (45 on Google, rated 5.0).

2. Your bank, with a line backed by receivables

Better for bonded contractors with clean financials.

Best for

Bonded contractors with reviewed or audited statements

Structure

A revolving line sized to eligible receivables

Speed

Weeks to set up; draws are fast once in place

Trade-off

Covenants, periodic review, and retainage may not count toward the line

If you are bonded and your financials are clean, a bank line of credit is the better choice. The rate is lower than anything short-term, and you draw only what the job needs. Clear it with your surety agent like any other debt.

Banks are slower to set up and stricter on paperwork: expect to provide financial statements, a work-in-progress schedule your CPA stands behind, and to meet covenants. Many growing contractors outrun their bank line before the next review. That is the point where factoring or a short-term facility fills the gap, ideally with your surety agent in the loop.

3. National Business Capital

Better for larger contractors that need more than a bank will lend.

Best for

Contractors with 1+ year and $600K+ in revenue needing $250K–$15M

Model

Lends from its own balance sheet (up to $15M) and arranges network offers

Products

Term loans, lines, subordinated debt, equipment; no factoring on its current menu

Reviews

Trustpilot 4.9 (2,773), BBB A+

National Business Capital describes itself as a direct lender of private credit and junior capital, funding up to $15M from its own balance sheet, with speed it states as three to seven business days for $1M to $15M. For a contractor past $600,000 in revenue that needs subordinated capital behind an existing bank line, it is the better choice. We do not offer subordinated debt.

Its current product menu does not list invoice factoring, which many contractors need for slow pay applications, and it publishes no fee schedule. Its minimums are one year in business and $600,000 in annual revenue.

4. An equipment lender or dealer finance program

Can be better for one machine from one dealer.

Best for

A new excavator, loader or skid steer from one dealer

Upside

Arranged at the point of sale; sometimes a promotional rate

Limit

One dealer’s machines; may not cover used or auction equipment

If the dealer selling you a new machine is running a promotional rate through its finance arm, compare it before you call anyone. For a single new machine, it is often the better deal.

Dealer programs fit less well for used equipment, auction purchases, private-party sales or a mixed fleet. That is where an equipment lender placed by a broker is useful. We arrange equipment financing from $25K to $5M.

5. Lendio

Better for new contractors and requests under $25,000.

Best for

Contractors under 6 months old, requests under $25K

Amounts

Line of credit from $1K; receivables financing; equipment $5K–$5M

Cost to you

Free to apply; lenders pay Lendio

Reviews

Trustpilot 4.5 (21,906), BBB A+

Lendio is an online marketplace with lines of credit from $1,000 and startup loans up to $150,000. For a newly licensed contractor or a small tool and trailer purchase, Lendio is the better choice. Its menu also includes receivables financing and commercial mortgages.

Its privacy policy lets it share your file with lenders, banks and brokers who may keep it even if you do not take an offer, and its own grid shows lines of credit priced from 8% to 60%. Compare total cost before you sign.