This checklist helps Terre Haute, Indiana contractors gather the paperwork lending partners commonly review before financing a job or equipment: business records, any license or registration the trade holds, building permits for the job, insurance, contracts and bank statements. Brookmont Funding, a small-business funding broker in Terre Haute, Indiana, provides it as general information; partners make all credit decisions.
Construction in Vigo County, Indiana
Vigo County had 183 construction employer establishments in 2023, employing 2,015 people, and 57.9 percent of them had fewer than five employees (U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023). Specialty trade contractors (electricians, plumbers, HVAC, concrete, roofing and similar) made up 122 of them; builders of structures made up 49. Another 477 construction businesses, 310 of them in the specialty trades, had no employees in 2024 (U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics 2024), a separate count.
New residential permits rose from 47 housing units in 2023 to 98 in 2024 and 234 in 2025, 184 of them in buildings with five or more units (U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey). The figures cover new homes and apartments only, not commercial jobs or remodels.
1. Business records
- The business's registered legal name and entity documents
- Any assumed name the business trades under (see the assumed name guide)
- Federal tax ID and recent business tax returns
- Recent business bank statements
2. Contractor license or registration
Owners often search for a Terre Haute contractors license and Indiana contractor license requirements, and electrical, HVAC, plumbing and concrete contractors search their own trade. If your trade holds a city, county or state license or registration, a partner may ask for a copy and for proof that it is current.
3. Building permits for the job
Searches for the Terre Haute building permit, the city's building department and its zoning ordinance are common for a reason: on a financed job, a partner may want to see that the permit is issued, or at least applied for, before it advances money for the work. Keep the permit number and a copy with the contract.
4. Insurance
- Certificate of general liability insurance
- Workers' compensation certificate, if the business has employees
- Commercial auto coverage for work vehicles
- Equipment or inland marine coverage, often required on financed machines
5. The job itself
- Signed contract or accepted proposal with the customer
- Draw or payment schedule, if the job is billed in stages
- Material and subcontractor quotes
- For public or commercial work: any bonding or retainage terms in the contract
6. For an equipment request
- Vendor quote with make, model, year and serial number
- For used machines: hours, condition report and seller details
- A short note on which jobs the machine will work
Equipment financing explains loans, leases and EFAs, and term loans cover larger projects such as a shop or yard.
What tends to slow a contractor's request
- Bank statements from a personal account that also carries business deposits
- An expired insurance certificate, or one in a different business name
- A quote for used equipment without a serial number or hours
- Contracts that are unsigned, or signed by someone other than the owner
- Large unexplained deposits or transfers between accounts
- An existing lien on equipment the business wants to use as collateral
Each of these is fixable, but each adds a round of questions. Sorting them out before the request goes to a partner usually saves more time than anything else on this list.
Bringing it together
Put the documents in one folder, scanned and named clearly, before you call. A partner that can see the contract, the permit and the insurance in the first pass tends to ask fewer follow-up questions. For the county-wide business picture see the Terre Haute, IN page; the other guides are on the guides page.
By Brookmont Funding ยท Updated