Washington specialty contractor license bonds.
$150 flat.
Every Washington contractor registers with the Department of Labor & Industries (L&I), and RCW 18.27.040 requires a continuous surety bond naming the State of Washington as obligee: $15,000 for a specialty contractor. This is the specialty bond, e-filed with L&I for registered contractors. Ours is $150 flat.
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How much does a Washington specialty contractor license bond cost?
$150 at the $15,000 amount, the same for every applicant.
From application to registered with L&I.
Your registration cannot issue or stay active without a bond on file. Here is the whole process:
Send us the details
Your UBI number, your contractor registration number if you already have one, and your business details. That is the application. No credit check.
Pay & e-sign
The $150 premium is fixed — no specialist review, no waiting on a quote. Pay and e-sign in the same sitting.
Filed with L&I
If you are already registered, the bond is e-filed with L&I. If this is a new registration, you receive the executed bond to submit with your contractor registration application.
What it is and who needs it.
What the specialty contractor bond guarantees
Under RCW 18.27.020 every contractor must register with L&I, and RCW 18.27.040(1) requires each applicant to file a surety bond “in the sum of $30,000 if the applicant is a general contractor or $15,000 if the applicant is a specialty contractor.” The bond names the State of Washington as obligee and is continuous: it runs until the surety cancels it by written notice to L&I, and cancellation automatically suspends the registration. The registration itself is valid for two years (RCW 18.27.060).
A specialty contractor is one whose work does not fit the definition of a general contractor, and under RCW 18.27.010(12) “may only subcontract work that is incidental to the specialty contractor’s work” — roofers, painters, HVAC, concrete, tree service and the other single-trade specialties. A business that uses more than one building trade on a job, or superintends the work, is a general contractor and needs the $30,000 bond instead.
The standard $15,000 applies to contractors with no final judgments involving a residential single-family dwelling in the past five years. Under WAC 296-200A-030(2), L&I may raise the amount for a specialty contractor with one, two, or three or more such judgments to $20,000, $30,000 or $45,000, and under subsection (4) a raised amount is reviewed for reduction only at the next regular renewal. The bond answers claims for unpaid labor and employee benefits, taxes and contributions owed to the state, amounts owed to suppliers and equipment lessors, and breach-of-contract judgments. It is not insurance for you — if the surety pays a claim, you repay it.
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 $15,000 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
Filed with L&I. If you are already registered, the bond is e-filed with L&I. If this is a new registration, you receive the executed bond to submit with your contractor registration application.
What sets the price
The premium is fixed at $150 at the $15,000 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 short application, issued instantly.
These are the actual fields — your UBI number, your L&I registration number if you have one, and your business details. No credit check. Free until your bond is issued.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Washington bonds.
Been told you need a different amount?
Price and requirements checked on the carrier’s application, .
Get your specialty registration bonded.
$150 flat, no credit check, the bond issues the moment you pay. Free until issued.