Rockland right-of-way bonds for street openings.
Quote on review.
The City of Rockland requires a performance guarantee under City Code § 15-406(2) before it issues a permit to dig in a City street or sidewalk. Licensed excavators may post one annual guarantee; otherwise it is two times your accepted project estimate. A surety specialist underwrites it, and a quote comes back, usually within one business day.
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How much does a Rockland right-of-way bond cost?
It is underwritten: the premium is quoted from the bond amount and your financial picture, so there is no flat price to show.
Built around the Street Opening Permit.
Public Services will not issue the permit until the guarantee is in hand, and the City wants it before the project starts. Here is the whole process:
Send us the file
Apply online with your business details and the bond amount: the annual figure if you are posting a calendar-year guarantee as a licensed excavator, or two times the project estimate on your Excavation Permit Application if you are bonding a single excavation.
A surety specialist underwrites it
A specialist reviews the amount, the scope of the street work, your experience restoring pavement, and the two-year tail the City requires, then returns a quote. The City fixes the sizing rule — underwriting decides approval and any collateral.
Execute & deliver to Public Services
Once you bind, we issue the executed bond with the power of attorney attached, ready to deliver with your Excavation Permit Application to the Rockland Department of Public Services.
What it is and who needs it.
What the Rockland right-of-way bond guarantees
Rockland does not call this a “right-of-way bond” in its code. The requirement is the Performance Guarantee for a Street Opening Permit under Chapter 15, Article IV of the City Code (Street Construction and Excavations, effective September 7, 2016). Section 15-405(1) says no person may excavate, place any installation within, or fill an excavation in any street or sidewalk without first obtaining that permit, and the Director may not issue it without the performance guarantee required by § 15-406(2).
The guarantee backs your performance in properly excavating, connecting to utilities, and restoring the excavated area to City standards. It has teeth. If the Director finds a partial or complete failure of the trench or right of way within two years of your final completion, the code deems it your failure. Payment by the surety to the City is due immediately on demand if the excavated way, sidewalk or other public property is not restored to the Director’s satisfaction, whatever the bond’s own terms say. If you ignore a notice and the City makes the repair, it invoices 200% of its expense and can reimburse itself from the guarantee.
Sizing comes from § 15-406(2)(C). Licensed excavators or their employers may post one guarantee of $25,000 each calendar year to cover all their street opening permits. Otherwise each permitted excavation needs a guarantee equal to two times the project estimate stated in the application and accepted by the Director — and the application asks for the total cost including inspections, testing and repaving. The bond must be issued by a surety acceptable to the City and stay collectible for at least two years after the excavation and street restoration are complete.
It is a three-party arrangement: you (the principal), the surety, and the City of Rockland (the obligee). If the surety pays a claim, you repay the surety. A letter of credit or cash deposit also satisfies the code; the bond keeps your cash free for the job.
You need this bond if you’re
Claims, renewal, filing, and what sets the price.
If a claim is made
A claim comes from the party the bond protects, the obligee named on the form, when the duty the bond guarantees is not met.
The surety investigates and pays a valid claim, up to the bond amount. You then repay the surety: a surety bond is a guarantee of your performance, not insurance for you.
Renewal and term
Term and renewal are set in the underwriter's quote.
Keep the bond in force for as long as the obligation behind it runs.
How to file it
Execute & deliver to Public Services. Once you bind, we issue the executed bond with the power of attorney attached, ready to deliver with your Excavation Permit Application to the Rockland Department of Public Services.
What sets the price
This bond is underwritten: the premium is quoted from the bond amount and your financial picture, so there is no flat price to show.
One application, one underwriting review.
These are the actual issuing fields — your business details, the bond amount under the option you are using, and the effective date. Submit once and a surety specialist reviews it and returns a quote, typically within one business day. Free until your bond is issued.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Maine bonds.
Requirements checked on the carrier’s application, . Page updated .
Get bonded and get your street opening permit.
Tell us which Rockland option you are using and the amount, and a surety specialist sizes, underwrites, and quotes the bond — typically within one business day. Free until issued.