Contractor License ($5,000) Bond - City of Forest, MS in Mississippi

Brief Summary

$5,000 flat, and it does not multiply. The registration fee does. Forest charges $50.00 per registered trade, so a contractor registering as a general and a mechanical and a plumbing contractor pays the fee three times while carrying one $5,000 bond. The thing that stops most applications is upstream of both. The City requires a copy of a valid licence issued by the State of Mississippi, so if you do not hold your state licence yet, that comes first.

The City of Forest requires a $5,000.00 contractors bond payable to the City of Forest, Mississippi as part of contractor registration. The amount is flat and does not vary by trade or job size. Registration also requires a completed registration form, a copy of a valid licence issued by the State of Mississippi, the declaration page of the general liability policy with the City of Forest named as certificate holder, and a $50.00 registration fee payable to the City of Forest for each registered trade. A new form must be completed annually or whenever there has been a change within the registering company, and the applicant must present photo identification in person.

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

• Confirm you hold a valid licence issued by the State of Mississippi. The City requires a copy of it and will not register you without one.
• If you do not hold a state licence, check the thresholds. A residential builder licence is required where the total cost of the undertaking exceeds $50,000.00, and a remodeler licence where the total cost of the improvements exceeds $10,000.00.
• Count the trades you need to register in. The form lists General Contractor, Residential Contractor, Remodel Contractor, Mechanical Contractor, Electrical Contractor, Plumbing Contractor and Other.
• Legal business name exactly as it appears on your state licence and on the registration form.
• Owner or principal information and authorization for a credit review.
• Complete the bond application, review the quoted premium, and pay it.
• Have the bond written for $5,000.00 payable to the City of Forest, Mississippi.
• Ask your insurance agent for the declaration page of your general liability policy with the City of Forest named as the certificate holder.
• Complete the registration form and have the licence holder sign it.
• Decide which up to three people will be listed as authorized to pull permits.
• Pay the $50.00 registration fee for each registered trade.
• Bring photo identification and present it in person. This is not a mail in filing.
• Diary the annual renewal, and file a new form immediately if anything changes within the company.
• Confirm the registration term dates and any exemptions with the Code and Zone Office on (601) 469-2251, since the published ordinance scan is not searchable.

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

$5,000 flat, but the fee is per trade

The bond does not tier. It is $5,000.00 payable to the City of Forest, Mississippi, and it does not change with the size of your jobs, your revenue or which trade you work in.

The registration fee behaves differently. It is $50.00 payable to the City of Forest, and the form states that it applies to each registered trade.

The trades on the form are General Contractor, Residential Contractor, Remodel Contractor, Mechanical Contractor, Electrical Contractor, Plumbing Contractor and Other. A firm registering in three of those pays $150.00 in fees and still carries one $5,000 bond.

Count your trades before you go in, and do not let anybody talk you into multiple bonds.

Your state licence comes first

This is the item that sends people home from the counter.

The City's registration form requires a copy of a valid licence issued by the State of Mississippi. Forest is layering a municipal registration on top of state licensure rather than replacing it, so the state credential is a prerequisite, not an alternative.

If you do not hold one yet, work out whether you need one. The Mississippi State Board of Contractors requires a residential builder licence where the total cost of the undertaking exceeds $50,000.00, and a remodeler licence where the total cost of the improvements exceeds $10,000.00, both under Mississippi Code 73-59-1.

The definitions matter as much as the numbers. A residential builder is an entity that constructs a building or structure for sale for use by another as a residence, or undertakes construction of structures not more than three floors in height to be used by another as a residence. A remodeler undertakes or offers to undertake the construction, or superintending of the construction, of improvements to an existing residence.

Notice the gap between the two thresholds. Remodeling work crosses into licensure at $10,000, five times sooner than new residential building at $50,000.

The state does not require a bond, which is why this one is the City's

Worth knowing so you understand what you are actually buying.

The Mississippi residential builder and remodeler statutes and rules require proof of general liability insurance, and workers' compensation insurance where applicable, under Mississippi Code 73-59-3(1) and (2). They contain no bonding requirement.

So the $5,000 bond is not a state filing that Forest happens to collect. It is a City of Forest requirement, payable to the City of Forest, and it exists only because you are registering in this municipality.

The insurance detail that gets certificates rejected

The form asks for the declaration page of the general liability policy with the City of Forest named as the certificate holder.

That is a specific instruction. A certificate that names your own company, or that names a customer, or a summary page without the City listed, is not what they are asking for. Tell your agent to issue it with the City of Forest as certificate holder before you make the trip.

You have to show up

The applicant must present photo identification in person, and the licence holder signs the application.

This is not a filing you can complete entirely by mail or email. Build a visit to the Code and Zone Office into your timeline, and bring the bond, the state licence copy, the insurance declaration page, the completed form, the photo ID and the fee together rather than in pieces.

The form also captures company details, licence information, contact numbers and up to three authorized permit pullers. Decide in advance who those three people are, because they are the ones who can pull permits on your registration.

Renewal is annual, and change triggered

A new form must be completed annually. It must also be completed whenever there has been a change within the registering company.

That second trigger is the one people forget. A change of ownership, a change of licence holder, a new address or a different set of authorized permit pullers means a new form, not a note to the file.

What to confirm before you go

The City publishes its Contractor Ordinance as a scanned document, and the scan carries no searchable text, so the ordinance number, the exact registration term dates, any exemptions and the penalty provisions are not readable from it online.

Call the Code and Zone Office on (601) 469-2251 and ask three things. Whether your trade requires registration at all. Whether the registration runs on a calendar year or from your issue date. And whether anything on your file needs updating before you come in.

The City's mailing address is 301 South Main Street, P.O. Box 298, Forest, MS 39074.

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

• A $5,000.00 contractors bond payable to the City of Forest, Mississippi.
• A flat amount that does not vary by trade, job size or revenue.
• A completed registration form, signed by the licence holder.
• A copy of a valid licence issued by the State of Mississippi.
• The declaration page of the general liability policy with the City of Forest as the certificate holder.
• A $50.00 registration fee payable to the City of Forest for each registered trade.
• Photo identification presented in person by the applicant.
• A new registration form completed annually, or whenever there has been a change within the registering company.
• Up to three individuals named as authorized to pull permits.
• Business name on the bond matching the registration form and the state licence exactly.

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

Official and Additional Resources for the Mississippi Contractor License ($5,000) Bond: