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Sour Lake contractor bonds.
$250 flat.
Also known as the Sour Lake Contractor License Bond.
Builders and contractors who pull a construction permit in Sour Lake, Texas meet the bond on the City's own paperwork: the checklist on page 2 of every current permit application opens with "Do you have a $50,000 bond?" Ours is $250 flat for a term.
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Bond first, then the permit application.
The bond question is the first box on the City's permit checklist, and every application is reviewed and approved by the city manager and a city official before a permit issues. Here is the whole process:
Apply for the $50,000 bond
The bond amount is already set on the application. Enter your business details, the effective date, and your trade or permit type — for example "General contractor – building permit". No credit check.
Pay $250 & e-sign
The price is $250 flat for a term — no quote round-trip. Most applications are approved and issued right after purchase.
Submit with your permit
Your executed bond arrives by email. Check "Yes" on the bond question, submit the permit application with your plans to the City of Sour Lake, and allow up to 3 business days for the city manager and a city official to review it.
What it is and who needs it.
What the Sour Lake contractor bond covers
Sour Lake, the Hardin County city on State Highway 105 west of Beaumont, handles building permits through City Hall rather than through a contractor licensing board. To pull a permit, the City points applicants to one of three forms under its Permitting tab: the Residential Construction Permit Application (single-family, multi-family, and manufactured or modular homes), the Commercial Construction Permit Application, and the Repair / Alteration Construction Permit Application. Page 2 of each opens its checklist with the same question: "Do you have a $50,000 bond?"
The bond is a three-party promise. You are the principal, the surety backs your obligation, and the City of Sour Lake is the obligee. The City's forms print no bond wording or conditions, but a municipal contractor bond of this kind generally backs your compliance with the City's building rules and the codes it enforces, and a valid claim is paid up to the $50,000 penal sum. It is not insurance for you — you repay the surety for any claim it pays.
The same checklist shows what else the City reviews: whether you can locate the 2015 International Residential Code (the 2015 International Building Code on commercial work, the International Existing Building Code on repair and alteration work), the company and license number of your HVAC technician, electrician and plumber — Sour Lake does not license those trades itself, so it asks for the state licenses — who performs your energy inspections, and your agreement to call for plumbing rough, foundation, framing and final inspections. Minor work the City exempts from permits, such as a one-story storage shed of 120 square feet or less or a fence no more than 7 feet high, never reaches these forms. A contractor registration ordinance is working its way through the City: its Planning & Zoning Commission approved a Contractor Registration Procedures Ordinance on May 12, 2026, and the terms could change once the City Council acts, so confirm the current requirement with City Hall before you file.
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 $50,000 bond amount. You then repay the surety: a surety bond is a guarantee of your performance, not insurance for you.
Renewal and term
The term is set on the carrier’s application; the premium covers the period shown there.
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
Submit with your permit. Your executed bond arrives by email. Check "Yes" on the bond question, submit the permit application with your plans to the City of Sour Lake, and allow up to 3 business days for the city manager and a city official to review it.
What sets the price
The premium is fixed at $250 at the $50,000 amount for every applicant: the carrier’s rate book prices this bond by the form, not by your credit or your business profile.
No credit check.
One application, issued instantly.
These are the actual issuing fields — your business details, the effective date, and your trade or permit type, with the bond amount already set. No credit check.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Texas bonds.
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Price and requirements checked on the carrier’s application, . Page updated .
Check the first box on your Sour Lake permit.
$250 flat, no credit check, bond often issued in the same sitting. Free until issued.