Bonds & Surety› Contractor License Bonds › Washington
Yes. Washington requires a Continuous Contractor Surety Bond to register: $30,000 for general contractors and $15,000 for specialty contractors.
Yes. Every construction contractor must register with L&I before working in Washington. The bond is filed with Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) and it is a condition of holding the license, not an optional extra.
| License class | Bond amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| General contractor | $30,000 | Raised from $12,000 effective July 1, 2024 - the first increase since 2001. |
| Specialty contractor | $15,000 | Registered in a single specialty such as concrete or painting. Raised from $6,000. |
Electrical and plumbing contractors are licensed under different sets of laws and are not covered by these bond requirements.
As of July 1, 2026, a homeowner whose losses exceed what a contractor's bond covers can apply for additional reimbursement through Washington's new Homeowner Recovery Program, funded by fines and penalties collected under the Contractor Registration Act. The practical effect for contractors is that the bond is no longer the outer limit of exposure on residential work, which makes the rest of your insurance program matter more, not less.
The increase reaches each contractor at their own renewal, so more than 67,000 general and specialty contractors moved to the new amounts across a two-year window rather than all at once.
Continuous Contractor's Surety Bond (F625-003-000). The bond must carry the bond number and your exact business name, and must be the original uncorrected document.
An Assignment of Account (F625-008-000) can be posted instead of a bond - cash, a certificate of deposit, a time deposit, or a money market account at a bank, savings and loan, or credit union with a Washington branch.
$200,000 public liability plus $50,000 property damage, or $250,000 combined single limit. L&I must be listed as a certificate holder.
The bond and the liability policy do different jobs and a licensing board will check for both. If you are buying them separately from separate places, you are the one reconciling the details.
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 Washington 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
Yes. Washington requires a Continuous Contractor Surety Bond to register: $30,000 for general contractors and $15,000 for specialty contractors.
The amount is set by license class: General contractor $30,000; Specialty contractor $15,000. You pay a premium rather than the face amount, and that premium is set by underwriting.
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 Washington, and the national guide to contractor license and permit bonds.