Tennessee vegetation control permit bonds.
From $100.
The bond TDOT requires before you cut or remove vegetation on the state right-of-way to expose a permitted off-premise sign. File it on the Department's surety bond or running surety form with your vegetation control permit — the premium is 1% of the bond amount, $100 minimum, and no credit check up to $25,000 for most applicants.
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How much does a Tennessee vegetation control permit bond cost?
1% of the bond amount, from $100. Enter your amount in the calculator for the exact price.
Three steps. One sitting.
No underwriting queue for the standard vegetation control bond — enter your amount, pay, and file with TDOT. Here is the whole thing:
Apply online
Your business details, the bond amount TDOT required, and the effective date — that is the application.
Issued on the spot
No credit check up to $25,000.
File with TDOT
Submit the executed bond on the Department's surety bond or running surety form with your vegetation control permit application. Wet-ink originals mailed whenever the Department insists.
What it is and who needs it.
What the vegetation control bond actually covers
TDOT's Outdoor Advertising office issues vegetation control permits that let a sign owner cut and remove vegetation on the state right-of-way adjacent to a permitted off-premise sign, so the sign stays visible. Because that work touches the public right-of-way, the Department conditions the permit on a surety bond.
TDOT provides the form — either a per-permit surety bond or a running surety form — and the bond must remain in full force throughout the 45-day duration of the permit and until the work is completed and approved by the Department. A certificate of renewal is required if the bond would expire mid-permit.
The bond backs your compliance with the permit and proper restoration of the right-of-way. (Separately, TDOT requires liability insurance — generally $300,000 per person and $1,000,000 per occurrence — which is not the same as this bond.) Enter the amount TDOT set and see your price — the premium is 1% of the bond amount, $100 minimum, and no credit check up to $25,000 for most applicants.
You need this bond if you are
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
The premium covers a one-year term from the effective date you choose.
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 TDOT. Submit the executed bond on the Department's surety bond or running surety form with your vegetation control permit application. Wet-ink originals mailed whenever the Department insists.
What sets the price
The premium is 1% of the bond amount, $100 minimum: the amount the obligee sets moves the price, not your business profile.
No credit check up to $25,000. Above that, the carrier may run a soft pull, which never affects your score.
Where a check runs, it decides approval; the rate is the same for everyone approved.
One application, issued on the spot.
Submit the application with the bond amount TDOT required — the executed bond is generated instantly, ready to file with your permit.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Tennessee bonds.
Price and requirements checked on the carrier’s application, . Page updated .
Vegetation control bond, issued today.
Premiums from $100. Enter the amount TDOT required and file with your permit the same day.