Decatur requires a license — and a $5,000 surety bond — before any person, firm, or corporation constructs in or excavates a city street, alley, easement, or public place, under City Code Chapter 37. Premiums cost 1% of the bond amount, $100 minimum, and the application collects no credit information.
















The street excavation license bond pairs with your license application at the City Clerk's office. Here is the whole thing:
Your business details, the $5,000 bond amount, and the effective date — that is the entire application.
The application collects no credit information, so most bonds generate the moment you pay.
Submit the executed bond, insurance certificate, and license fee to the City Clerk. A separate permit for the specific work is then issued by the Engineering Division. Wet-ink originals mailed whenever the City insists.
Decatur licenses anyone who is not a City employee, a City contractor, or a franchised public utility before they construct anything in, or excavate or otherwise alter, a street, alley, easement, or other public place. The license application is filed with the City Clerk along with a $75 non-refundable fee, a $5,000 surety bond, and a certificate of insurance.
The bond names you as the principal and the City of Decatur as obligee. It is conditioned on full compliance with the statutes, ordinances, standards, and rules governing the work, on payment of all fees and charges the City assesses, and against faulty workmanship or materials — and it must remain in effect for not less than three years from the end of the license period in which the work was done.
The license itself runs on a calendar cycle, expiring every January 31. A separate permit for each specific job is issued by the Engineering Division once the license and bond are on file. It is not insurance for you — if the surety pays a claim, you repay the surety.
These are the actual issuing fields — no credit section, because this application doesn't collect credit information.
Start the application →From $100, with your exact price at the application. Enter your $5,000 bond amount and file the same day.