Chicago plumbing contractor bonds.
$100 flat.
Before the City Clerk issues you a plumbing contractor license, Chicago requires a $20,000 indemnification bond on file to protect anyone you contract to do plumbing work for. Ours is $100 flat, and the price you see is the checkout price. The application collects no credit information.
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Three steps. One sitting.
A contractor indemnification bond is about the simplest filing in the license packet. Here's the entire process:
Apply online
Business details and an effective date. That's the application — no financials, no credit section.
Pay & e-sign
Contractor bonds like this are among the thousands of bond types that issue right after purchase. At most, 1–2 business days.
File with the City Clerk
Your executed bond arrives by email, ready to file with the City Clerk alongside your plumbing contractor license application or renewal. Wet-ink original mailed on request.
What it is and who needs it.
What the bond actually guarantees
Chicago licenses plumbing contractors through its Department of Buildings and the City Clerk's office, under the plumbing contractors provisions of the Municipal Code of Chicago. Before a plumbing contractor license issues, the applicant must file a $20,000 indemnification bond (or an equivalent letter of credit) payable to the City of Chicago.
It's a three-party arrangement: you (the principal), the surety carrier, and the City of Chicago (the obligee), for the benefit of any person who contracts with you for plumbing work. If you fail to perform plumbing work you contracted to do, in accordance with the plumbing provisions of the Code, that customer can recover damages against the bond.
It is not insurance for you — if the surety pays a claim, you repay the surety. Chicago's own rule matters here too: your plumbing contractor license is automatically inactivated the moment this bond expires or is cancelled, so we track the term and notify you before renewal.
You need this bond if you're
One application, issued instantly.
These are the actual issuing fields — no credit section, because this application doesn't collect credit information.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Illinois bonds.
Get your plumbing contractor license moving.
$100 flat, soft pull only, bond often issued in the same sitting. Free until issued.