Surety Bond Encyclopedia

Contractor License ($5,000) Bond - City of Emporia, KS in Kansas

Brief Summary

The amount is $5,000 and it does not tier by licence class. What most people miss is the phrase per each contractor's license in the ordinance. A firm holding a general contractor licence, a plumbing licence and a roofing specialty licence posts three $5,000 bonds, not one. The other thing to get right is the date. The bond expires December 31 following issuance no matter when in the year you bought it, so a bond written in November is a six week bond, not a twelve month one.

Article II, Division 3, Section 5 of the City of Emporia Building and Construction Regulations requires that before the issuance of any contractor's license the applicant submit a surety bond in the amount of five thousand dollars, per each contractor's license, approved by the city manager or the city manager's authorized personnel. The bond is conditioned that the principal will comply with all provisions of the regulations relating to the type of work the licence is requested for, and that the city or any person injured or damaged by the principal's failure to comply may sue on the bond to recover damages. Under Section 8 the licence is annual and both it and the bond expire on December 31 following issuance.

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How to Apply for a Contractor License ($5,000) Bond:

Count the licences you need. The bond is $5,000 per each contractor's license, so several licences means several bonds.
Pick the right class. Class A is unlimited, Class B stops at three stories, Class C is one and two family dwellings, and Class D carries a per project cost cap.
If you are doing demolition under a specialty licence, arrange public liability insurance of $100,000 per person, $300,000 per accident and $50,000 property damage alongside the bond.
Make sure the individuals doing the work hold current certification from the building trades board. The firm licence does not cover that.
Legal business name exactly as it will appear on the licence application.
Owner or principal information and authorization for a credit review.
Complete the bond application, review the quoted premium, and pay it.
Have each bond written for $5,000 in favour of the City of Emporia, conditioned on compliance with the regulations for the type of work licensed.
Submit the bond for approval by the city manager or the city manager's authorized personnel before the licence is issued.
Pay the licence fee, $75 for General, Building, Residential, Electrical, Plumbing or Mechanical, or $50 for Class D, Specialty or Limited.
Diary December 31. Both the licence and the bond expire on the December 31 following issuance regardless of the date you were issued.
Renew each year with the prescribed licence fee and a fresh bond.
If you do roofing work, hold the separate Kansas roofing contractor registration from the Attorney General as well.
Confirm the current Class D project cost cap and the adopted code editions with the Building Department at 620-343-4250. The City's documents are inconsistent on both.

Detailed Information About the Kansas Contractor License ($5,000) Bond:

$5,000, but per licence rather than per company

The amount does not change by class. A Class A general contractor and a lawn sprinkler installer post the same $5,000.

What changes is how many you post. Section 5 requires the bond in the amount of five thousand dollars, per each contractor's license. Emporia licenses by trade, so a firm that holds a general contractor licence, a mechanical licence and a roofing specialty licence is holding three licences and needs three bonds.

Count your licences before you get a quote. That single phrase is the difference between a $5,000 file and a $15,000 one.

The expiry date is fixed, not rolling

Section 8 is short and it catches people every year. The license for a contractor shall be an annual license and it and the bond shall expire on December 31 following its issuance.

Both the licence and the bond. On December 31. Not twelve months from the day you were issued.

So a bond bought in February runs most of a year and a bond bought in November runs a few weeks. Licences are renewable each year on payment of the prescribed licence fee and submission of the required bond, which means a fresh bond every renewal cycle rather than a continuation certificate.

What the bond covers, and who can sue on it

Two conditions, and the second is broader than most municipal bonds this size.

The bond is conditioned that the principal will comply with all provisions of these regulations relating to the type of work that the license is requested for. And further conditioned that the city, or any person that may be injured or damaged by the principal's failure to comply with such ordinances, may sue on such bond to recover damages.

Note the second limb. It is not only the city that can claim. A property owner damaged by your failure to comply with the regulations has a direct route to the bond.

Cancellation gives ten days, and does not wipe the slate

Cancellation requires written notice, and it takes effect ten days after receipt of that notice. The surety remains liable for any injury or damage incurred prior to the effective date of the cancellation.

Ten days is short. If a bond is cancelled you are looking at a very quick turnaround to replace it before the licence is unsupported.

The licence classes, and where the limits sit

Eight categories under Section 2, and the scope limits are what decide which one you need.

Class A General Contractor covers unlimited erection, alteration, addition or repair of any building or structure. Class B Building Contractor is limited to erection, remodeling or addition to any building not exceeding three stories in height, plus non structural remodeling of any building. Class C Residential Contractor covers one or two family dwellings. Class D carries a per project cost cap on all labour and materials for any one project.

Electrical, Mechanical and Plumbing contractors are each unrestricted in scope within their trade. A Limited Contractor is restricted to in plant operations for which certification was issued. A Specialty Contractor is restricted to a specified area of work.

The specialty categories named in the regulations include structural concrete, pools, roofing, masonry, siding, windows, electrical equipment repair, mechanical systems, mobile home utility installers, lawn sprinkler installers, fire extinguishing system installers and solar panel installation.

One thing to verify with the Building Department. The Class D cost cap is written inconsistently in the regulations, with the words saying forty thousand and the figure in brackets saying $45,000. Do not plan a project against either number without confirming which one the City applies.

Insurance attaches to one category, not all

Section 6 is narrower than people assume. In conjunction with the required bond, the specialty contractor demolition contractor is required to furnish public liability insurance of not less than $100,000 for any injury to any one person, $300,000 for injury in any one accident, and $50,000 for damages to property in any one accident.

If you are doing demolition work under a specialty licence, arrange the certificate alongside the bond. Those limits are a bigger lift than a $5,000 bond and are not something to sort out on the day.

The licence is not the same thing as the certification

Emporia runs two layers, and confusing them is the most common reason an application stalls.

The licence goes to the firm. The certification goes to the individual, through the building trades board. Only persons so certified and employed by a licensed firm may perform the regulated work.

Certification requires passing a test with a score of 75 percent or better, administered locally or through a state recognized agency such as IAPMO, Prometric or ICC, offered not less than once each quarter. A journeyman needs a minimum of two years field experience. A master needs proof of a valid journeyman certificate for a minimum of two years.

Fees are separate too. Licence fees are $75 for General, Building, Residential, Electrical, Plumbing and Mechanical, and $50 for Class D, Specialty and Limited. Individual certification fees run $25 for masters and general, building and residential contractors, $15 for journeymen, supervisors and specialty contractors, and $5 for apprentices.

Who does not need a licence

Six exemptions in Division 3, Section 1, and two of them come up constantly.

An owner of record of a single family dwelling who occupies it, or is designed to occupy it, as a permanent mailing and living address for a minimum of 24 months, and who personally performs the principal labour. Both halves matter. Living there is not enough if you hire the work out, and doing the work yourself is not enough if you have not been there 24 months.

An owner occupant of a one or two family dwelling applying roof coverings, siding or replacement windows.

The rest cover subcontractors performing building construction under the supervision of a licensed contractor, an owner demolishing a structure they own under personal supervision, public utility construction contractors with licensed engineers and an on site project engineer, and 501(c)(3) non profit organisations working on single family dwellings with a certified construction supervisor on site during structural work.

None of those is a bond waiver in itself. They are exemptions from needing the licence at all, and the bond only exists because the licence does.

Roofers have a second, state level filing

The City's own permit application asks for a Kansas Roofing Contractor Registration number, which is a separate credential from anything Emporia issues.

Under the Kansas Roofing Registration Act, every roofing contractor must obtain a roofing contractor registration certificate from the Kansas Attorney General in order to legally provide commercial or residential roofing services for a fee in Kansas. That has been mandatory since July 1, 2013.

Holding the state registration does not remove the Emporia roofing specialty licence or its bond, and holding the city licence does not satisfy the state. Roofers working in Emporia need both.

One more thing to confirm rather than assume

The City's own documents do not agree on which code editions are in force. The Building Department page lists the 2021 International Building Code and 2021 International Residential Code with local modifications. The Building and Construction Regulations PDF references 2015 editions along with the 2011 National Electrical Code and 2021 Uniform Mechanical and Plumbing Codes.

That matters for how you build rather than for the bond, but it is worth a call to the Building Department at 620-343-4250 before you rely on either list.

Eligibility and Requirements for a Kansas Contractor License ($5,000) Bond:

A surety bond of $5,000 per each contractor's license under Article II, Division 3, Section 5.
Approval of the bond by the city manager or the city manager's authorized personnel before licence issuance.
The bond conditioned on compliance with all provisions of the regulations relating to the type of work licensed.
A right for the city, or any person injured or damaged by the principal's failure to comply, to sue on the bond.
Ten days notice for cancellation, with the surety remaining liable for injury or damage incurred before the effective date.
Expiration of both the licence and the bond on the December 31 following issuance.
Annual renewal on payment of the prescribed licence fee and submission of the required bond.
Public liability insurance of $100,000 per person, $300,000 per accident and $50,000 property damage for the specialty demolition contractor.
A licence fee of $75 for General, Building, Residential, Electrical, Plumbing and Mechanical contractors, and $50 for Class D, Specialty and Limited contractors.
Certification of the individuals performing the work by the building trades board, at a passing score of 75 percent.
Business name on each bond matching the licence application exactly.

Kansas Contractor License ($5,000) Bond FAQs:

Is one $5,000 bond enough for my company?

Only if you hold one licence. Section 5 requires the bond in the amount of five thousand dollars, per each contractor's license. Emporia licenses by trade, so a firm holding a general contractor licence plus a mechanical licence plus a specialty licence needs three bonds. Count your licences before you shop.

Does the amount change with my licence class or the size of my jobs?

No. It is $5,000 flat across every class, from a Class A general contractor down to a lawn sprinkler installer. What scales is the number of licences, not the class.

When does the bond expire?

December 31 following its issuance, along with the licence. Section 8 says the licence is an annual licence and it and the bond shall expire on that date. It is a fixed calendar date, not twelve months from issue, so a bond written in the autumn covers only the remainder of that year.

Who can make a claim against it?

The city or any person injured or damaged. The exact wording is that the city, or any person that may be injured or damaged by the principal's failure to comply with such ordinances, may sue on such bond to recover damages. A property owner has a direct route to it, not just the City.

What happens if the bond is cancelled?

Cancellation requires written notice and takes effect ten days after receipt of that notice. The surety remains liable for any injury or damage incurred prior to the effective date. Ten days is a short window to replace it, so treat a cancellation notice as urgent.

Do I need insurance as well?

Only in one case under Section 6. The specialty contractor demolition contractor must furnish public liability insurance of not less than $100,000 for any injury to any one person, $300,000 for injury in any one accident, and $50,000 for damages to property in any one accident. The section ties that requirement to the bond, so arrange both together.

Am I exempt as a homeowner?

Possibly, and there are two separate routes. One covers an owner of record of a single family dwelling occupied or designed to be occupied as their permanent mailing and living address for a minimum of 24 months, where the owner personally performs the principal labour. The other covers owner occupants of one or two family dwellings applying roof coverings, siding or replacement windows. Both conditions in the first one have to be met together.

Are subcontractors exempt?

Subcontractors performing building construction under the supervision of a licensed contractor are among the exemptions in Division 3, Section 1. That is narrower than it sounds, so confirm your arrangement with the Building Department rather than assuming it fits.

Does the licence cover the people doing the work?

No, those are two separate things. The licence goes to the firm and certification goes to the individual through the building trades board, and only certified persons employed by a licensed firm may perform the regulated work. Certification takes a score of 75 percent or better on a test given at least quarterly, two years field experience for a journeyman, and two years holding a journeyman certificate for a master.

I already have my Kansas roofing registration. Does that cover Emporia?

No. The Kansas Roofing Registration Act requires every roofing contractor to hold a registration certificate from the Kansas Attorney General to provide commercial or residential roofing services for a fee in Kansas, and that has been mandatory since July 1, 2013. It is a state credential. Emporia's roofing specialty licence and its $5,000 bond are separate, and roofers working in the city need both.

What does the bond cost?

You pay an annual premium rather than the $5,000. At this size the rate is driven mainly by the owner's personal credit, and a $5,000 municipal licence bond is a small exposure written routinely. Multiple licences multiply the total. Rates vary enough between applicants that publishing a percentage would mislead rather than help. Get your actual number, it takes a couple of minutes.