Jamestown right-of-way bonds.
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Before you dig, open or alter a street, sidewalk, grade or curb in the City of Jamestown, the City Code requires a right-of-way permit and a surety bond to the City. The Code sets the bond at $50,000 for excavation, for one job or as an annual bond covering a year of openings. A surety specialist returns your price, usually within one business day.
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How much does a Jamestown 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 your Jamestown right-of-way permit.
DPW issues the permit once the application, the bond and the insurance certificate are all on file. Here is the whole process:
Tell us the job and the term
Apply online with your business details, the bond amount, and whether this bond covers one permit or every excavation you make in the city for a year. There is no credit section and no SSN field on this application.
A surety specialist underwrites it
The City has already fixed the penal sum, so the review is about the work and the term. A specialist confirms your exact premium and tells you up front if anything more is needed.
Pay, e-sign & attach it to your permit
Once you accept the quote and pay, the executed bond arrives by email with the power of attorney, naming the City of Jamestown as obligee. Upload it with your DPW right-of-way permit application, alongside your liability insurance certificate. Wet-ink original mailed on request.
What it is and who needs it.
What the Jamestown right-of-way bond guarantees
Chapter 252 of the Jamestown City Code makes the street itself off-limits without a permit. Section 252-1 bars anyone from digging, marring, changing or altering any sidewalk, street, grade or highway, making any excavation in or under the pavement of a street, sidewalk or other public place, or moving a grade line or curbstone — except under a right-of-way permit issued by the Director of Public Works, applied for formally and accompanied by a bond. Under § 252-2 you file a written application with the Director naming the street, the lot or street number, the dates and the reason for the work.
Section 252-3 spells out the bond. It runs to the City, is approved as to form and sufficiency by the Corporation Counsel, must come from a surety authorized to do business in New York, and is conditioned on two things: that the work follows the City’s rules, regulations and ordinances, and that the street, sidewalk or highway is restored to its prior condition and made safe for public use. The amount is the one provided in Chapter 175 — and § 175-4 lists excavation at $50,000. A contractor who opens streets regularly may instead file one bond in that amount covering all of its excavations for a year from filing, though each job still needs its own permit and insurance certificate.
Restoration is where claims come from. Section 252-10, amended in April 2026, requires a stable temporary patch within 60 days of the NYS Dig Ticket start date, with DPW doing the work at your cost and fining you $250 and then $500 if you miss it — and if the repaired pavement sinks or turns uneven within five years, the Code presumes the cut was improperly filled and bills the repair to the permittee. It is not insurance for you: if the surety pays the City, 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 & attach it to your permit. Once you accept the quote and pay, the executed bond arrives by email with the power of attorney, naming the City of Jamestown as obligee. Upload it with your DPW right-of-way permit application, alongside your liability insurance certificate. 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 underwriting review.
These are the actual issuing fields — your business details, the bond amount, and whether the bond covers one permit or a full year of excavations. There is no credit section. Submit once and a surety specialist returns your exact price, typically within one business day. Free until your bond is issued.
Start the application →Common questions.
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Get the Jamestown bond off your permit checklist.
Tell us the amount and whether you need a single-permit or annual bond, and a surety specialist returns your price, typically within one business day. Free until issued.