Burlington County road opening bonds.
Quote on review.
In Burlington County, New Jersey, the County Engineer issues no Road Opening Permit for excavation in a county road right-of-way until your deposit or surety bond is in place. The County's schedule sizes the bond to your opening, with a $1,500 minimum bond. A surety specialist returns your price, usually within one business day.
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How much does a Burlington County road opening 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 your County road opening permit.
The County Engineer's review — which the County expects to take no longer than 30 calendar days — only starts once the application is complete, bonding information included. Here is the bond side of that window, from quote to permit:
Send us the opening details
Apply online with your business details, the bond amount from the County schedule, the effective date, and the location or address of the opening — the county route and the stretch you are cutting, boring, or trenching. There is no credit section and no SSN field on this application.
A surety specialist prices it
The County schedule has already sized the bond from your square yards and linear feet, so the review is about the job and the restoration it promises, not about the amount. A specialist confirms your exact premium and sends it back for approval.
Pay, e-sign & file with the County
Once you accept the quote and pay, the executed bond arrives by email, ready to file with the Engineering Division's Land Development Section alongside your Application for Road Occupancy and Road Opening form. Wet-ink original mailed on request.
What it is and who needs it.
What the Burlington County road opening bond guarantees
Burlington County controls every cut into its county roads through a single rulebook: the Policy, Procedures and Specifications Manual for road occupancy, road opening, driveway access, charitable solicitation, and municipal events, which the Board of Commissioners adopted pursuant to N.J.S.A. 27:16-31. Section 2 makes it unlawful, outside an emergency, to occupy County right-of-way without a permit from the County Engineer, and requires a separate Road Opening Permit for any and all excavation in that right-of-way. Applications go to the Land Development Section of the Engineering Division, Department of Public Works.
Appendix B carries the bond. No permit issues until the deposit or surety is in place, and the County accepts either a check payable to the Burlington County Treasurer or a bond from a surety authorized to do business in New Jersey and acceptable to the County. The amount follows the schedule — $200 per square yard of roadway and handicap ramp work, $75 per square yard of roadside or grass work, $15 per linear foot of directional boring and curb, and a $1,500 minimum bond amount — which is why the Road Opening form asks for the size of your opening and whether it sits in paved roadway, shoulder, or grass. The bond is the County's performance guarantee: it backs proper closure and satisfactory reconstruction of the opening until the maintenance period is over, and the County Engineer may make repairs and move against the permit holder's surety bond if the work falls short. The permit holder then maintains the excavation for a minimum of two years after the County's final acceptance, and the County releases a surety bond after two years.
Two practical points save buyers a wasted filing. First, this is the County bond, not the City of Burlington street opening bond: Appendix B says bonds issued to another agency are not acceptable for County permits, so an opening on a county route runs through the County even inside Burlington City, while a City street needs the City's own bond. Second, it is a three-party arrangement: the permit holder (the principal), the surety carrier, and the County of Burlington (the obligee). It is not insurance for you — if the surety pays the County to repair a failed opening, 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
Pay, e-sign & file with the County. Once you accept the quote and pay, the executed bond arrives by email, ready to file with the Engineering Division's Land Development Section alongside your Application for Road Occupancy and Road Opening form. Wet-ink original mailed on request.
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 specialist review.
These are the actual issuing fields — your business details, the bond amount and effective date, and the location or address of the opening. There is no credit section on this bond. Submit once and a surety specialist returns your exact price, typically within one business day. Free until your bond is issued.
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Get the Burlington County road opening bond off your permit checklist.
Send us one short application with the amount your opening works out to, and a surety specialist returns your price, typically within one business day. Free until issued.