Bonds & Surety› Contractor License Bonds › Virginia
Not as a flat requirement. In Virginia a $50,000 surety bond is one of three ways a Class A or Class B applicant can prove financial responsibility. Class C applicants have no financial requirement at all.
Not the way most states do, and this is where Virginia contractors get bad information. Virginia licenses contractors in three classes - A, B and C - based on the size of the projects and the value of work performed. The bond is not a flat condition of licensure. It is one of the ways you satisfy the financial responsibility requirement.
Class A and Class B applicants must document financial responsibility by submitting exactly one of the following:
| License class | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Class A | $45,000 net worth or equity |
| Class B | $15,000 net worth or equity |
| Class C | No financial requirement |
If you clear the threshold comfortably and already have clean CPA-prepared statements, filing the financial statement is the cheaper path. The $50,000 bond is the better move in two situations: your net worth does not reach the threshold for the class you want, or you would rather not put your balance sheet in a public licensing file. What the bond does not do is make the financial work go away - if you intend to bid bonded work later, a surety underwriter will want those same statements anyway.
Class A and Class B applicants must also declare a Designated Employee who has passed the appropriate business examination and is either a full-time employee or a member of responsible management. A 1099 contractor cannot fill that seat.
Initial license fees are $385 for Class A, $370 for Class B, and $235 for Class C.
A proposed regulation published in October 2024 would consolidate the per-class classification requirements into a new 18VAC50-22-61 and shorten the experience requirement to three years for Class C and four years for Class B, leaving Class A at five. Proposed, not final - confirm current status with DPOR before relying on it.
You do not pay the face amount of the bond. You pay a premium, which is a percentage of it, and that percentage is set by underwriting - primarily your personal credit, how long you have been in business, and your financial position. A contractor with strong credit pays a small fraction of the bond amount. A contractor with credit problems pays more, and sometimes needs a market built for that situation, which we have.
We do not quote rates on a web page, and anyone who does is guessing at your file. For the mechanics of how bond pricing works, see how much contractor bonds cost. For a real number, call us.
This is the distinction that costs Virginia contractors work. A license bond is what the state or the city requires before it will let you operate. It is a fixed amount, it renews annually, and it protects the public. It says nothing about whether you can bond a job.
A performance bond is different. That is job-specific, written at the full contract value, and it is what an owner requires before awarding you the work. Contractors who assume their license bond makes them "bonded" find out otherwise the first time they try to bid public work.
The two are connected in one direction that matters: the financial file that gets you a license bond easily is the same file a surety underwriter reads when you ask for a performance bond. Building it properly now is what makes the bigger bond reachable later. See how contractors qualify for bonds and how a bond program gets built.
A license bond is also not insurance. It does not protect you - if a claim is paid, you reimburse the surety. See surety bonds versus insurance.
Our team writes contractor license bonds nationally and we never decline a submission - our job is to find the path to yes. Tell us the classification you are applying for and we will tell you what it takes. If you are building toward bigger work, we will look at the whole program, not just the bond in front of you.
Call the Grit team: (801) 505-5500
Not as a flat requirement. In Virginia a $50,000 surety bond is one of three ways a Class A or Class B applicant can prove financial responsibility. Class C applicants have no financial requirement at all.
$50,000. It is filed on the board's own bond form, and it is an alternative to documenting your net worth rather than an additional requirement.
No. A license bond is a fixed annual requirement to hold your license and it protects the public. A performance bond is job-specific, written at the full contract value, and required by the project owner before award. Holding a license bond does not mean you can bond a job.
No. A surety bond protects the party the bond runs to. If a claim is paid on your bond, you reimburse the surety. Liability insurance protects your business; a bond does not.
A note on the details: Bond amounts, licensing thresholds, and filing rules change, and they vary by classification and by the agency issuing the license. Use this page as a starting point, not as legal advice. Confirm the current requirement with the licensing authority before you file, and confirm your own bond requirement with a licensed member of our team.
Already licensed and looking for work to bid? See where to find public construction work to bid on in Virginia, and the national guide to contractor license and permit bonds.