ND unemployment trust fund bonds.
From $100. Enter your amount.

North Dakota puts a guarantee behind the unemployment insurance owed on its largest construction jobs. Under N.D.C.C. 52-04-06.1, a project with an estimated construction cost of $50 million or more has to be backed by a surety bond posted with Job Service North Dakota before work begins. Job Service sets the amount; we price it at 1.5% of the bond amount, $100 minimum. Enter the figure on your determination letter and your exact price appears at the application.

Filed with Job Service North Dakota as construction project risk protection under N.D.C.C. 52-04-06.1
Triggered by a $50 million estimated construction cost on a project scheduled to finish inside seven years
Job Service calculates the amount — you enter it, and your price is set from it at the application
From $1001.5% of the bond amountInstantissued the moment you payA-ratedA.M. Best carriers
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How it works

Apply to filed in one sitting.

The bond has to be on file before construction work starts, so there is no underwriting queue to wait out. Enter your amount, pay, and file. Here is the whole thing:

TODAY · ONLINE

Apply online

Company details, the bond amount from your Job Service determination, the effective date, and the project itself — the application asks for the project name, the company you hold your contract with, and the contract date, because this bond is written to one job rather than to your business generally.

INSTANTLY

Pay & e-sign

The price is final at checkout — 1.5% of the amount you entered, with a $100 floor — and the bond issues right after payment. One-, two- and three-year terms are available, so a multi-year build does not need a fresh purchase every twelve months.

BEFORE GROUNDBREAKING

File with Job Service North Dakota

Send the executed bond to the Unemployment Insurance unit at Job Service North Dakota in Bismarck before construction work commences. Keep it with the written notice you owe the bureau within thirty days of every contract award on the project.

About this bond

What it is and who needs it.

What the trust fund bond actually covers

A very large construction project pulls thousands of workers through dozens of employing units, and when it ends they file for unemployment all at once. Their benefits are paid out of the state's unemployment insurance trust fund, but the contributions collected from short-lived project employers rarely cover them — the fund absorbs the difference, which every other North Dakota employer eventually pays for. Construction project risk protection is the statute that closes that gap.

The duty sits at the top of the job. N.D.C.C. 52-04-06.1 requires the general or prime contractor — or the owner, where there is no general or prime contractor — to post a surety bond or an irrevocable letter of credit with Job Service North Dakota before construction work commences, on behalf of each employing unit on the project, insuring payment of all benefits claimed by employees of every employing unit working it. Design and engineering firms are carved out. Everyone else — contractor, subcontractor, or otherwise — is inside the project for purposes of this section, keeps separate payroll records for it, and reports project wages under a separate account. That is why this application asks for the project name and the company you hold your contract with: the bond is written to a job, not to a business.

The amount is not negotiated. The bureau calculates it as half the difference between projected benefits and projected contributions: projected contributions are the current year's positive-employer minimum rate times the current year's taxable wage base times the headcount in the project plans times the years from start to completion; projected benefits are that same headcount times the current year's maximum weekly benefit amount times twelve weeks per year across the same span. Job Service can adjust the figure as reported construction costs move, and a contractor or owner who will not post the bond can be ordered to by a court and held in contempt. Thirty months after the project finishes the bureau tallies actual benefits against actual contributions and bills the shortfall; if it goes unpaid, Job Service redeems the bond, and the general contractor or owner stays liable for anything above it.

N.D.C.C. 52-04-06.1N.D.C.C. 52-04-06.1 (construction project risk protection) applies to any project in North Dakota with an estimated construction cost of at least $50,000,000 that is planned to be completed or discontinued within seven years, for which bids were let after August 1, 2001, and where the state is not the owner or contractor. The general or prime contractor — or the owner where there is none — must post a bond executed by a surety authorized in the state, or an irrevocable letter of credit from an FDIC-insured state or nationally chartered bank, before construction work commences, and must report any change in construction costs annually within thirty days of the project's anniversary date. The amount is the difference between estimated benefits paid and estimated contributions, multiplied by fifty percent, on the statutory formula in subsection 3, and the bureau may adjust it for significant cost changes. Every employing unit on the project — contractor, subcontractor or otherwise, excluding design and engineering firms — must keep separate project payroll records and file separate quarterly contribution and wage reports under a project account. Job Service North Dakota (the "bureau," per N.D.C.C. 52-01-01(8)) must also be notified in writing within thirty days of every contract award, and thirty months after completion or discontinuance it determines total benefits paid against contributions collected and collects any excess, redeeming the bond if the general or prime contractor or owner does not pay. Confirm your required amount on the determination Job Service issues for your project.

You need this bond if you are

A general or prime contractor on a North Dakota project estimated at $50 million or more
The project owner where the job is being built without a general or prime contractor
An employing unit on a covered project that has been asked to bond its own portion of the work
Replacing a letter of credit with a surety bond to free up the bank collateral it is tying up

One application, priced at your amount.

Enter the bond amount from your Job Service determination along with the project details. The price is final at checkout and the bond issues right after payment.

Start the application →
FAQ

Common questions.

How much is the North Dakota unemployment insurance trust fund bond?The premium is 1.5% of the bond amount, with a $100 minimum. Because Job Service North Dakota sets the bond amount from its own formula, the amount is the input and the price follows from it — enter the figure on your determination and the exact premium appears at the application.
What bond amount should I enter?The one Job Service North Dakota determined for your project. Under N.D.C.C. 52-04-06.1 the bureau calculates it as fifty percent of the difference between the benefits it projects will be paid to everyone working the project and the contributions it projects will be collected from the employers on it, using the headcount in the project plans and the current year’s taxable wage base and maximum weekly benefit amount. It can move as construction costs are reported, so use the most recent figure you have in writing.
Who has to post it — the general contractor or each subcontractor?The statute puts the duty on the general or prime contractor, or on the owner where there is no general or prime contractor, and the bond is posted on behalf of each employing unit on the project. Every employing unit on the job — contractor, subcontractor or otherwise, excluding design and engineering firms — is nonetheless inside the project for record-keeping and reporting. In practice a prime will sometimes ask a trade contractor to bond its own share, which is why this application asks for the project name, the company you hold your contract with, and the contract date.
Do I pay the full bond amount?No. You pay the premium — 1.5% of the bond amount, $100 minimum. The bond amount is the surety’s maximum exposure if Job Service has to collect a shortfall after the thirty-month settlement. Nothing is deposited, and nobody holds your money.
Is there a credit check?The application includes a credit consent, but it authorizes a soft credit pull only — a soft inquiry that never affects your score. No hard inquiry ever runs on this bond. Larger filings can draw a brief look from an underwriter, but the price you see at the application is the price at checkout.
Related bonds

Other North Dakota bonds.

Bond it before the first shovel.

Enter the amount Job Service determined, see the exact premium, and file the executed bond before construction work commences. Free until issued.

Your premiumfrom $100
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