Great Falls street opening & sidewalk bonds.
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Anyone who excavates in, cuts through or tears open a City of Great Falls street, alley, sidewalk, boulevard or other public way files a bond with the Planning and Community Development Department under OCCGF § 12.4.040. The penal sum is $5,000, with a minimum two-year term. A specialist quotes it, usually within one business day.
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How much does a Great Falls street opening & sidewalk 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.
Planning and Community Development will not grant an application to open a public way until the bond is on file, and it goes in with your Contractor License Verification Form. Here is the whole process:
Send us the file
Apply online with your business details, the $5,000 penal sum and the effective date. Tell us you need the two-year minimum term the City requires for street opening and sidewalk work.
A surety specialist underwrites it
A specialist reviews the amount, the two-year term, the kind of right-of-way work you do and your experience restoring pavement and concrete, then returns a quote. The City fixes the amount — underwriting decides approval and any collateral.
Execute & file with P&CD
Once you bind, we issue the executed bond with the power of attorney attached, ready to file with the Planning and Community Development Department at the Civic Center with your verification form, certificate of insurance and State contractor registration.
What it is and who needs it.
What the Great Falls street opening bond guarantees
Chapter 4 of Title 12 of the Official Code of the City of Great Falls (Excavations, Ord. 3170, 2018) governs every cut into a public way. Under § 12.4.010, anyone properly licensed under OCCGF Title 5 who wants to excavate in, cut through, access or tear open the surface of a street, avenue, alley, sidewalk or other public way must first file a written application with the Planning and Community Development Department (P&CD). The one exception is a person working under a contract with the City that involves opening the public way.
Section 12.4.040 then requires every such applicant to file a bond with P&CD. The bond is payable to the City and/or State as their interests appear, and it carries two conditions: it protects the City and State against any liability arising from the excavation, and it guarantees that you properly backfill and restore the surface and do all the work in a good, workmanlike manner to City and State specifications. It stays on file with P&CD.
The code leaves the penal sum to City Commission resolution. The City publishes it on its Contractor License Verification Form: all bonds are $5,000, and the bond must include a compliance guarantee, a good faith guarantee and an indemnity guarantee. Street opening and sidewalk bonds must run for a minimum of two years, and a drain-laying bond combined with street opening work needs the same two-year minimum. That tail lines up with § 12.4.060, which holds the permittee responsible for any settlement of a restored area within two years of permanent resurfacing and treats such settlement as conclusive evidence of defective backfill.
It is a three-party arrangement: you (the principal), the surety, and the City of Great Falls (the obligee). If the City has to correct a failed trench after you ignore a Public Works notice, it can recover the cost, and if the surety pays a claim, you repay the surety.
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 & file with P&CD. Once you bind, we issue the executed bond with the power of attorney attached, ready to file with the Planning and Community Development Department at the Civic Center with your verification form, certificate of insurance and State contractor registration.
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 $5,000 penal sum, the term 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.
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Get bonded and open the street.
Send us your details and the two-year term you need, and a surety specialist underwrites and quotes the Great Falls street opening bond — typically within one business day. Free until issued.