Test Levels | Contractor Services of America

The Standardized Stress Test is performed at four different levels depending on the surety or lending institutions opinion of the company being tested. These levels provide economic verses risk economies to the test.

The four levels are as follows:

Level 1 Testing - At this level, the company being tested completes the Contractor Report Package that CSOA uses to perform the test. Once we receive this information, it is run through our proprietary software. The customer is emailed a contractor's stress test detail scores package showing the results. These scores are also add to the customers Portfolio Report. Criteria tests performed at this level - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, and the Company Durability and Survival Test.

Level 2 Testing - This level is a level 1 test plus the following: The financial information and test results are analyzed by a CSOA specialist. After the review is complete, all information and recommendations from our staff are compiled into a final report. This final report and the contractor's stress test detail scores package are emailed to our customer.

Level 3 Testing - At this level, the company being tested completes the Contractor Report Package that CSOA uses to perform the test. The surety or lending institution selects either a 2.A test, a 2.B test or both.

2.A - Carr, Riggs & Ingram (CRI), a top 35 national accounting firm, performs on-site verification of all financial information provided in the report package completed by the company with the company's books. The company being tested will be told what needs to be available when CRI arrives on-site. This task should be accomplished in approximately two days.

2.B - Construction management specialists arrive on-site to walk projects that CSOA selected after reviewing the report package completed by the company. They verify that the percent complete on the books is relatively close to what they see at the project site. They spend approximately two to three days on site.

All of this information is turned over to CSOA specialists for a final review and analysis. After the review is complete, all information and recommendations from our staff are compiled into a final report and emailed to our customer. All twelve criteria tests plus the Company Durability and Survival Test are performed at this level.

Level 4 Testing - At this level, CRI is brought in to reconstruct the financial information that CSOA requires to perform the Operational Stress Test. This is not an audit but a gathering of this financial information. This is performed when the company does not have the ability to properly report the required information or is not trusted by the surety company or lending institution to properly report this information. Our construction management specialists go on-site to walk projects that were selected by CSOA after reviewing preliminary financial project information. They are looking at percent complete and cost to complete on these projects, then comparing them to the booked positions. All of this information is turned over to CSOA specialists for a final review and analyses. After the review is complete, all information and recommendations from our staff are compiled into a final report and emailed to our customer. All twelve criteria tests plus the Company Durability and Survival Test are performed at this level.