Blanket Right of Way Permit Bond - Michigan DOT in Michigan

Brief Summary

There is no published bond amount for this permit, so anyone quoting you a figure off a website is guessing. Mich. Admin. Code R 247.227 and MDOT's own general conditions both leave the number to the Department, which sets it per permit. Get your amount from MDOT first. The other thing worth knowing before you start is that you cannot file the bond yourself. MDOT takes it only through its E-Performance Bond and Certificate of Insurance system, and only surety and insurance agents have access to it.

MDOT does not publish a fixed bond amount for right of way construction permits. Under MDOT Form 2205-1, the general conditions for department permits, the permittee must furnish a performance surety deposit in the form of a bond, cash, certified check or, when authorized by the Department, an irrevocable letter of credit, in such amount as deemed necessary by the Department. Mich. Admin. Code R 247.227 takes the same approach, leaving a reasonable amount of coverage to be determined by the department, exempting governmental agencies, and allowing a certified check or money order payable to the department or a surety bond executed on forms obtainable from the department. What MDOT does publish is the permit fee, and for annual permits that fee runs on four tiers from $525.00 to $2,100.00 depending on the number of activities and whether the permit is regional or statewide.

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How to Apply for a Blanket Right of Way Permit Bond:

• Ask MDOT for the bond amount before doing anything else. It is not published, and the Department sets it per permit under Form 2205-1 and R 247.227.
• Ask for the insurance limit at the same time. Form 2205-1 requires proof of coverage in an amount pre-specified rather than a published figure.
• Use MDOT's term. The Department calls this an annual permit rather than a blanket permit.
• Count your activities and decide whether you need a routine maintenance or a statewide permit. The fee tiers turn on both.
• Budget the permit fee, $525.00 for routine maintenance under 50 activities, $700.00 for 50 or more, $1,575.00 statewide under 150 activities and $2,100.00 statewide for 150 or more.
• Legal business name exactly as it will appear on the permit application.
• Owner or principal information and authorization for a credit review.
• Complete the bond application, review the quoted premium, and pay it.
• Have the bond executed on the form obtainable from the department rather than on a surety's own form.
• Give your surety agent and your insurance agent the job of filing. Only they have access to the MDOT E-Performance Bond and Certificate of Insurance system, and the applicant does not register for it.
• Tell your insurance agent that Marsh forms and Acord forms are not acceptable.
• Apply and pay through the MDOT Permit Gateway via MiLogin.
• If a certified check, money order, cash or an authorized irrevocable letter of credit suits you better than a bond, R 247.227 and Form 2205-1 allow those instead.
• If you are a governmental agency, check the exemptions. R 247.227 does not require a bond from a governmental agency, and Form 2235 exempts governmental bodies from fees within their corporate limits.

Detailed Information About the Michigan Blanket Right of Way Permit Bond:

The bond amount is not published anywhere

Start here, because it is what most pages about this permit get wrong by implying otherwise.

MDOT Form 2205-1, the general conditions attached to department permits, requires the permittee to furnish a performance surety deposit in the form of a bond, cash, certified check or, when authorized by the Department, an irrevocable letter of credit, in such amount as deemed necessary by the Department.

The administrative rule works the same way. Mich. Admin. Code R 247.227 provides that a reasonable amount of coverage of the bond shall be determined by the department.

So the number comes from your permit, not from a schedule and not from a statute. Ask MDOT what it is before you go shopping, because a surety cannot quote a penal sum nobody has set.

MDOT calls it an annual permit

Blanket is the industry word. MDOT's own fee schedule uses annual permit, and if you search their material for blanket you will not find much.

That matters when you call. Ask for an annual permit and you will get to the right desk faster.

The fee does tier, and it is published

This is the part that has real numbers behind it. From the MDOT Construction Permit Fee Schedule, Form 2235:

Routine maintenance with fewer than 50 activities is $525.00. Routine maintenance with 50 or more activities is $700.00. Statewide with fewer than 150 activities is $1,575.00. Statewide with 150 or more activities is $2,100.00.

Two variables, then. How many activities the permit covers, and whether it is a routine maintenance permit or a statewide one. Count your activities honestly before you apply, because the 50 and 150 thresholds move the fee by hundreds of dollars.

Other annual permits sit outside those four tiers. Soil boring is $90.00 annual per region and $270.00 annual statewide. Land survey is the same, $90.00 per region and $270.00 statewide. Seismographic work is $525.00 annual per region and $1,575.00 annual statewide. Billboard survey is $525.00 per region and $1,575.00 statewide. A sidewalk cafe annual permit is $45.00.

You cannot file the bond yourself

This one catches contractors out, and it is not obvious from anywhere else.

Proof of insurance and the permit performance bond must be submitted electronically via the MDOT E-Performance Bond and Certificate of Insurance online application system. Only surety and insurance agents are given access to that application. The applicant and the contractor do not register for it.

So the sequence is that you buy the bond and your agent files it. Emailing a PDF to your permit coordinator is not the process. MDOT's contact for that system is MDOT-ePerformanceBondCOI@Michigan.gov.

One more trap in the same place. Marsh forms and Acord forms are not acceptable. That is worth telling your insurance agent before they send the certificate, because an Acord is what most of them produce by default.

What can stand in for a surety bond

Both sources give alternatives, which is unusual and worth knowing if the surety route is difficult.

R 247.227 accepts a certified check or money order payable to the department, or a surety bond executed on forms obtainable from the department. Form 2205-1 adds cash and, when the Department authorizes it, an irrevocable letter of credit.

The trade is the obvious one. A certified check ties up the full amount. A bond costs a premium and leaves the money in your business. At a small penal sum the check may be simpler. At a large one it usually is not.

Note also that the bond goes on forms obtainable from the department. Do not have a surety issue on its own paper.

Who is exempt

R 247.227 states that a bond shall not be required from a governmental agency.

Separately on fees, Form 2235 provides that governmental bodies are exempt within their corporate limits, and that fees are waived when the work is in the Department's interest. All permit and application fees are nonrefundable.

Two more fee rules worth having. When a combination of activities is included in one permit, the fee is based on the fee for the single highest fee rather than added together. And the review fee increases when permit review time exceeds the ordinary review time, currently at $45.00 per hour for review exceeding typical.

Where MDOT does fix an amount

Worth knowing so you can tell the difference, because it shows the Department is capable of publishing a figure when it wants to.

For seismic exploration, the infrastructure permits page states an individual performance bond in the amount of $50,000, required for each permitted activity. It also limits annual permits in that programme, saying annual permits shall only be used for transverse cable crossings in free access right of way.

If that is your work, that $50,000 is your number and it is per activity rather than per permit. For everything else on the annual permit side, the amount is set case by case.

The insurance runs alongside

Form 2205-1 requires the permittee, on request, to furnish proof of insurance coverage for the term of the permit in an amount pre-specified. Insurers must give 30 days written notice before cancellation or a material change in coverage.

Like the bond, the limit is set rather than published, so ask for it at the same time you ask for the bond amount. And route the certificate through the same E-Performance Bond and Certificate of Insurance system, not by email, and not on an Acord.

The legal framework and how to apply

MDOT cites four acts for right of way construction permits: Public Act 200 of 1969, the Driveway, Banner and Parade Act, together with the administrative rules regulating driveways, banners and parades, Public Act 368 of 1925, the Encroachment Act, and Public Act 106 of 1972, the Highway Advertising Act.

One caution on R 247.227. It sits inside the driveways, banners and parades rules and is written around construction or reconstruction of a commercial driveway. The annual permit programme is broader than that, which is another reason the operative bond requirement for your permit comes from Form 2205-1 and from what the Department specifies rather than from a rule you can look up.

Applications are submitted and purchased through the MDOT Permit Gateway via MiLogin. The statewide construction permit coordinator is Joe Rios at 517-241-2103, and each MDOT Transportation Service Center handles permits in its own area.

Eligibility and Requirements for a Michigan Blanket Right of Way Permit Bond:

• A performance surety deposit in such amount as deemed necessary by the Department, under MDOT Form 2205-1.
• A reasonable amount of coverage determined by the department, under Mich. Admin. Code R 247.227.
• A surety bond executed on forms obtainable from the department.
• Acceptable alternatives of cash, a certified check or money order payable to the department, or an irrevocable letter of credit when authorized by the Department.
• Electronic filing of the bond and the certificate of insurance through the MDOT E-Performance Bond and Certificate of Insurance online application system, by a surety or insurance agent.
• Marsh forms and Acord forms not accepted.
• Proof of insurance for the term of the permit in an amount pre-specified, with 30 days written notice of cancellation or material change.
• An annual permit fee of $525.00 for routine maintenance with fewer than 50 activities.
• An annual permit fee of $700.00 for routine maintenance with 50 or more activities.
• An annual permit fee of $1,575.00 statewide with fewer than 150 activities.
• An annual permit fee of $2,100.00 statewide with 150 or more activities.
• No bond required from a governmental agency.
• Business name on the bond matching the permit application exactly.

Michigan Blanket Right of Way Permit Bond FAQs:

Official and Additional Resources for the Michigan Blanket Right of Way Permit Bond: