Irrigation Contractor - Limited Liability ($20,000) Bond - Statewide in Illinois

Brief Summary

IDPH will not issue an irrigation contractor registration without this $20,000 filing, and the registration expires every February 28 regardless of when it was issued. The bond is the practical way to satisfy it. You pay an annual premium instead of asking a bank to tie up $20,000 in a letter of credit, and the executed LLC form goes into the registration packet alongside your certificate of insurance.

Illinois requires every irrigation contractor doing business in the state to file a $20,000 indemnification bond with the Illinois Department of Public Health, or an irrevocable letter of credit in the same amount naming the Department as sole beneficiary. The requirement is at 225 ILCS 320/2.5, with the registration rules at 77 Ill. Adm. Code Part 892. The amount is $20,000 flat and does not change with entity type, revenue or crew size. A limited liability company files the Limited Liability Irrigation Contractor Lawn Sprinkler Systems Surety Bond, form IL 482-0689, running to the Director of the Department of Public Health.

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How to Apply for a Irrigation Contractor - Limited Liability ($20,000) Bond:

• Confirm you need to register at all. Licensed plumbers and licensed apprentice plumbers may install lawn sprinkler systems without registering under Section 2.5.
• Use the LLC version of the IDPH form, IL 482-0689, not the corporation, partnership or sole proprietor version.
• Full legal LLC name exactly as it will appear on the IDPH registration application.
• Member or manager information for the underwriting and credit review.
• Complete the bond application and review the quoted premium.
• Receive the executed $20,000 bond naming the Director of the Department of Public Health, State of Illinois as obligee.
• File it with the irrigation contractor registration application, the original certificate of insurance, employee registrations and the fee for your employee count.
• Renew before February 28, when the registration expires.

Detailed Information About the Illinois Irrigation Contractor - Limited Liability ($20,000) Bond:

The $20,000 is fixed. Only the form changes.

Section 2.5 requires the contractor to provide, on a form supplied by the Department, an indemnification bond in the amount of $20,000 or an irrevocable letter of credit in the same amount. That figure is identical for a sole proprietor with one truck and an LLC with forty installers.

What your entity type decides is which of IDPH's four bond forms you use. There is one each for corporation, limited liability company, partnership and sole proprietor. The LLC version is IL 482-0689, titled Limited Liability Irrigation Contractor Lawn Sprinkler Systems Surety Bond, naming the Director of the Department of Public Health, State of Illinois as obligee and citing Section 320/2.5 of Chapter 225 and 77 Illinois Administrative Code Part 892.

What does scale with crew size is the registration fee and the number of licensed plumbers you have to carry.

Who is exempt

A licensed plumber or licensed apprentice plumber may install a lawn sprinkler system connected to any water source without registering under Section 2.5 at all. If licensed plumbers are doing the work, this registration and this bond are not your problem.

Part 892's definition of lawn sprinkler system also carves out two things. It does not include an irrigation system used primarily for agricultural purposes. And it does not include extension, relocation or modification of up to 200 linear yards of an existing lawn sprinkler system installed at a golf course prior to January 26, 2000. That golf course exclusion is date specific and it is the fact that almost never appears on competing pages.

The letter of credit alternative

The statute lets you substitute an irrevocable letter of credit from a financial institution. It is specific about the terms. Funds must be available only to the Department and released on the Department's written notification. The letter must be printed on the issuing institution's letterhead, signed by an officer of that institution, name the Department as sole beneficiary, and expire on February 28 of each year.

A bank will normally want the full $20,000 collateralized. The bond costs a premium instead, which is why most contractors post one.

February 28 runs the calendar

Registrations issued under Part 892 expire on February 28 of each year and renew from each succeeding March 1. It is a fixed date, not a rolling twelve months from your issue date, which catches contractors who register late in the year.

The annual registration fee is tied to employee count: $400 for 7 or fewer, $600 for 8 to 12, $900 for 13 to 20, $1,200 for 21 to 28, and $1,500 for 29 or more.

The rest of the packet, where filings get rejected

Insurance is a hard gate. Section 2.5 states no registration may be issued in the absence of the certificate of insurance, and it must stay in force for the registration to remain valid. The minimums are general liability of $100,000 per occurrence, bodily injury of $300,000 per occurrence, property damage of $50,000, and workers compensation of $500,000.

You must also show at least one irrigation employee who has completed and passed an approved class in lawn sprinkler design and installation. An approved course runs a minimum of two days of classroom instruction plus an exam and includes continuing education. Passing it does not substitute for the bond.

Licensed plumbers are required on a sliding scale: one for 7 or fewer registered installers, 2 for 8 to 12, 3 for 13 to 20, 4 for 21 to 28, 5 for 29 to 35, and 6 for 36 or more. A licensed plumber inspects every system, makes the physical connection to the backflow prevention device, and affixes the certification tag. No system installed after the amendatory Act may be operated without that tag. The Department may grant a temporary waiver of the plumber ratio for no more than three consecutive months and no more than six months in any two year period, and a waiver never removes the plumber inspection and connection requirement.

Systems installed after January 1, 2009 must include technology that inhibits or interrupts operation during periods of sufficient moisture or rainfall, adjustable by the end user or the contractor. That rule does not apply to golf courses or agricultural lands.

Two dates worth marking

The bond form lets the surety cancel as to further liability on at least 15 days written notice to the obligee. Because no registration stands without the filing, treat that notice as a replacement deadline.

And Section 2.5 carries a scheduled repeal date of January 1, 2029. Until the General Assembly acts, everything here is in force as written.

Eligibility and Requirements for a Illinois Irrigation Contractor - Limited Liability ($20,000) Bond:

• A surety company authorized to do business in Illinois.
• Bond amount of exactly $20,000. The figure does not change by entity type or company size.
• Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health as obligee, on the LLC form IL 482-0689.
• Original certificate of insurance showing general liability of at least $100,000 per occurrence, bodily injury of at least $300,000 per occurrence, property damage of at least $50,000, and workers compensation of at least $500,000.
• At least one registered irrigation employee who has completed and passed an approved lawn sprinkler design and installation class.
• Licensed plumbers employed or under contract at the ratio set for your registered installer count.
• LLC name on the bond matching the registration application exactly.
• Owner credit review. At this bond size credit generally shapes the rate rather than eligibility.

Illinois Irrigation Contractor - Limited Liability ($20,000) Bond FAQs:

Official and Additional Resources for the Illinois Irrigation Contractor - Limited Liability ($20,000) Bond: