Ohio Local 396 wage bonds.
$8,000 flat.
United Association Local Union No. 396 — plumbers and pipefitters covering Ohio's Mahoning Valley out of Boardman and Canfield — requires a signatory contractor to post a wage and welfare bond before dispatching bargaining-unit labor to its jobs. At the top of the local's employee-count schedule, that bond runs $200,000, and ours is $8,000 flat.
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How much does an Ohio Local 396 wage bond cost?
$8,000 at the $200,000 amount, the same for every applicant.
Three steps. One sitting.
A union wage bond is about the simplest filing in surety once you know the amount. Here's the entire process:
Apply online
Business details, an effective date, and a credit consent authorizing a soft pull only. That's the application.
Pay & e-sign
Wage and welfare bonds like this are among the thousands of bond types that issue right after purchase. Issued when you pay. One soft credit pull, never a hard inquiry, and it never affects your score.
File with UA Local 396
Your executed bond and power of attorney arrive by email, ready to submit to the local's benefit office before dispatch. Wet-ink original mailed on request.
What it is and who needs it.
What the bond actually guarantees
This bond is not a state filing — it is a private, collective-bargaining-agreement obligation. United Association Local Union No. 396, the plumbers and pipefitters local serving Ohio's Mahoning Valley, requires every signatory contractor to post a wage and welfare bond before the local will dispatch bargaining-unit members to that contractor's jobs.
It's a three-party arrangement: the contractor (principal), the surety carrier, and Local 396's trust funds — health and welfare, pension, annuity, and training — as the obligee. If a signatory contractor falls behind on wages, fringe-benefit contributions, or dues checkoff owed under the CBA, the local can file a claim against the bond to recover what's owed to its members.
It is not insurance for the contractor — if the surety pays a claim, the contractor repays the surety. The $200,000 amount sits at the top of the local's employee-count bonding schedule; smaller contractor headcounts bond at lower tiers under the same agreement. Confirm your required tier with the local's benefit office before filing.
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 $200,000 bond amount. You then repay the surety: a surety bond is a guarantee of your performance, not insurance for you.
Renewal and term
The premium covers a one-year term from the effective date you choose; a longer term is the same price per year, chosen at checkout.
Renew before the expiry date to keep the bond in force: the license, permit or contract it backs expects continuous coverage.
How to file it
File with UA Local 396. Your executed bond and power of attorney arrive by email, ready to submit to the local's benefit office before dispatch. Wet-ink original mailed on request.
What sets the price
The premium is fixed at $8,000 at the $200,000 amount for every applicant: the carrier’s rate book prices this bond by the form, not by your credit or your business profile.
One soft credit pull, never a hard inquiry, and it never affects your score.
Where a check runs, it decides approval; the rate is the same for everyone approved.
One application, issued instantly.
These are the actual issuing fields — the only credit-related item is the consent for a soft pull.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Ohio bonds.
Been told you need a different amount?
Price and requirements checked on the carrier’s application, . Page updated .
Get bonded with UA Local 396 today.
$8,000 flat, soft pull only, bond often issued in the same sitting. Free until issued.