Duluth Street Obstruction and Excavation Bond
What it is & who requires it
Anyone excavating in, obstructing, or placing a scaffold, equipment or materials in, upon or above a Duluth street, public sidewalk, avenue, alley, highway or public ground — or immediately adjacent to one. The scope is unusually wide for a street permit: it reaches material storage and scaffolding above the sidewalk as well as digging, and the city applies the same bond to a driveway apron permit and to the yearly vehicular obstruction permit that lets a contractor park equipment against a building it is working on. One filing covers all of them, which makes this the single most useful instrument a Duluth contractor can have on file. Two practical notes from the city’s own permit pages: excavation permits are issued for a two-week period but the excavator remains responsible for maintaining the trench afterwards, and a road closure application must be in at least five business days ahead.
Obligee: City of Duluth (Office of the City Engineer, Engineering Division). Citation: Duluth Legislative Code § 45-19 (Same—Surety bond and insurance required: no permit required by this Article shall be issued by the city engineer unless the applicant first files with the city engineer a corporate surety bond of an insurance company duly authorized by the laws of the state to transact business as a surety, in the sum of at least the amount the section states); § 45-15 (Permits—required generally: excavation, obstruction, scaffold, equipment or materials in, upon or above any street, public sidewalk, avenue, alley, highway or public ground, or immediately adjacent thereto); § 45-16 (city employees); § 45-18.1 (Yearly permit for certain types of vehicular obstructions — no such permit unless the § 45-19 bond and insurance are already filed); Ord. No. 6857, 6-27-1951; Ord. No. 7603, 11-20-1967; Ord. No. 8415, 8-7-1978; City of Duluth Bond of Street Obstruction and/or Excavation, With Corporate Surety (form, penal sum left blank).
Bond amount
Set by the obligee — the exact amount is confirmed automatically when you start your bond in our portal, or call 317-942-0549.
How to get it
This bond is individually underwritten, so it is not issued instantly. Request a quote and a licensed producer follows up to walk you through it.
Request a bond quote
Tell us about the bond and the project. A licensed producer follows up — these bonds are individually underwritten, so they are not issued instantly.
Term & renewal
Term: Filed with the city engineer before any permit issues under the obstruction and excavation article, and held against the work the permit authorizes; the bond and the permit are both conditioned to indemnify and save the city harmless from claims arising out of the work.
Renewal: Held on file with the city engineer rather than bought per cut — one filing serves the excavation permit, the obstruction permit and the driveway apron permit, and it is the precondition of the yearly vehicular obstruction permit as well.
Filing
Filed with the city engineer on the city’s own Bond of Street Obstruction and/or Excavation form, with a corporate surety holding a certificate of the Minnesota Insurance Commissioner. Comprehensive general liability insurance runs alongside at limits stated in the same section, with collapse and underground property damage coverage added where the permit authorizes excavation and explosion coverage added where it authorizes blasting, and the city named as an additional insured. No figure renders here and the reason is worth stating precisely, because it is the first case in this state where the operative-practice sources disagree with each other: the ordinance states a minimum rather than a sum, the city’s permit pages quote a flat figure, and the city’s own bond form leaves the amount blank on the line where it would be written. Where the obligee’s mandatory form prints a fixed sum, this directory treats a statutory floor as settled; where the form leaves it open, the floor stands.
Source
This bond requirement is corroborated by multiple public sources; City of Duluth (Office of the City Engineer, Engineering Division) sets the exact amount, which we confirm when you start your bond.
Related Minnesota bonds
Frequently asked questions
- Who requires the Duluth Street Obstruction and Excavation Bond?
- It’s required by City of Duluth (Office of the City Engineer, Engineering Division) (Duluth Legislative Code § 45-19 (Same—Surety bond and insurance required: no permit required by this Article shall be issued by the city engineer unless the applicant first files with the city engineer a corporate surety bond of an insurance company duly authorized by the laws of the state to transact business as a surety, in the sum of at least the amount the section states); § 45-15 (Permits—required generally: excavation, obstruction, scaffold, equipment or materials in, upon or above any street, public sidewalk, avenue, alley, highway or public ground, or immediately adjacent thereto); § 45-16 (city employees); § 45-18.1 (Yearly permit for certain types of vehicular obstructions — no such permit unless the § 45-19 bond and insurance are already filed); Ord. No. 6857, 6-27-1951; Ord. No. 7603, 11-20-1967; Ord. No. 8415, 8-7-1978; City of Duluth Bond of Street Obstruction and/or Excavation, With Corporate Surety (form, penal sum left blank)). Anyone excavating in, obstructing, or placing a scaffold, equipment or materials in, upon or above a Duluth street, public sidewalk, avenue, alley, highway or public ground — or immediately adjacent to one. The scope is unusually wide for a street permit: it reaches material storage and scaffolding above the sidewalk as well as digging, and the city applies the same bond to a driveway apron permit and to the yearly vehicular obstruction permit that lets a contractor park equipment against a building it is working on. One filing covers all of them, which makes this the single most useful instrument a Duluth contractor can have on file. Two practical notes from the city’s own permit pages: excavation permits are issued for a two-week period but the excavator remains responsible for maintaining the trench afterwards, and a road closure application must be in at least five business days ahead.
- How much is the Duluth Street Obstruction and Excavation Bond?
- Set by the obligee — the exact amount is confirmed automatically when you start your bond in our portal, or call 317-942-0549.
- How do I get the Duluth Street Obstruction and Excavation Bond?
- This bond is individually underwritten, so it is not issued instantly. Request a quote and a licensed producer follows up to walk you through it.
- What is the term?
- Filed with the city engineer before any permit issues under the obstruction and excavation article, and held against the work the permit authorizes; the bond and the permit are both conditioned to indemnify and save the city harmless from claims arising out of the work. Renewal: Held on file with the city engineer rather than bought per cut — one filing serves the excavation permit, the obstruction permit and the driveway apron permit, and it is the precondition of the yearly vehicular obstruction permit as well.
- Is this bond insurance for me?
- No. It protects the obligee and the public — not you. If a valid claim is paid, you repay the surety.
- How is this requirement verified?
- This bond requirement is corroborated by multiple public sources. The obligee sets the exact amount, which we confirm automatically when you start your bond in the portal or with a producer.
