Washington release of retainage bonds.
From $125.
A Washington public body holds back up to five percent of what you earn on a public improvement contract as retainage. RCW 60.28.011(6) lets you hand it a surety bond for all or any portion of that money instead. Premiums cost 2% of the bond amount plus a $25 fee, from $125.
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How much does a Washington release of retainage bond cost?
2% of the bond amount plus a $25 fee, from $125. Enter your amount in the calculator for the exact price.
Three steps. One sitting.
The statute puts a thirty-day clock on the public body once it accepts your bond, so the only slow part is the paperwork you control. Here is the whole thing:
Apply online
Your company details, the public body requiring the bond, the contract date, a short description of the work, and the retainage amount you want bonded.
Pay & e-sign
One consent to a soft credit pull — a soft inquiry that never affects your score — and the bond issues. Your exact premium is calculated from the amount you enter, so nothing changes at checkout.
Deliver it to the public body
Submit the executed bond in the form the public body accepts. Under RCW 60.28.011(6) it must release the bonded portion of your retained funds within thirty days of accepting it.
What it is and who needs it.
What the retainage bond actually does
Under RCW 60.28.011(1)(a), public improvement contracts must provide and public bodies must reserve a contract retainage not to exceed five percent of the moneys earned by the contractor, held as a trust fund for the claims of any person arising under the contract and for state taxes, increases, and penalties under Titles 50, 51, and 82 RCW. Anyone furnishing labor or supplies toward the improvement has a lien on those reserved moneys, and a claimant’s notice of lien has to be given within forty-five days of completion of the contract work.
That trust fund is your money, and on a long job it can sit for a year or more. RCW 60.28.011(6) is the release valve: "A contractor may submit a bond for all or any portion of the contract retainage in a form acceptable to the public body and from an authorized surety insurer." The public body may insist the surety carry a minimum A.M. Best financial strength rating — so long as that minimum does not exceed A- — and must comply with RCW 48.28.010. Once it accepts the bond, it must release the bonded portion of the retained funds within thirty days.
The obligation travels downstream. Before final formal acceptance of the project, a subcontractor may ask the contractor to submit a bond to the public owner for the sub’s share of retainage; within thirty days of that request the contractor must provide, and the public body must accept, a conforming bond — unless the public body can demonstrate good cause for refusing, the bond is not commercially available, or the subcontractor refuses to pay its portion of the premium and provide a like bond. And whenever a public body accepts a bond in lieu of retained funds from a contractor, that contractor must accept like bonds from its own subcontractors and suppliers and release their retained funds within thirty days. One thing the bond does not do is shrink your exposure: the contractor’s bond and any proceeds from it stay subject to all claims and liens, in the same manner and priority as the retained percentage it replaced.
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
Deliver it to the public body. Submit the executed bond in the form the public body accepts. Under RCW 60.28.011(6) it must release the bonded portion of your retained funds within thirty days of accepting it.
What sets the price
The premium is 2% of the bond amount plus a $25 fee, $125 minimum: the amount the obligee sets moves the price, not 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 underwriting fields, including the public body requiring the bond and a one-time consent to a soft credit pull. Submit once and deliver the bond to the owner.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Washington bonds.
Price and requirements checked on the carrier’s application, . Page updated .
Get your retainage out of the owner’s trust fund.
From $125. Enter the retainage you want released and start the thirty-day clock today. Free until issued.