Minnesota Plumbing Contractor Bond
What it is & who requires it
Every person who performs or offers to perform plumbing work in Minnesota, and the sweep is wider than the license: the statute reaches “each person who performs or offers to perform plumbing work within the state, including any person who offers to perform or performs sewer or water service installation without a contractor’s license.” Read the routing before you buy, because Minnesota has three overlapping instruments and a contractor who buys the wrong one has bought a bond it does not owe. If you hold a plumbing contractor license, this is your bond, and you may write it to cover subsurface sewage treatment work as well as plumbing. If you install building sewers and water services but hold no plumbing contractor license, the department puts you on a separate pipe laying bond instead. And if you are licensed by the Pollution Control Agency for septic work, the department says in terms not to renew a pipe laying bond with it at all — you file with the Pollution Control Agency only, though a plumbing licensee who also holds the septic license files a duplicate original of this bond there. One more thing worth more than the number: this bond displaces municipal plumbing bonds outright. A Minnesota city may not require a plumbing contractor to post a bond as a condition of doing plumbing business, and the only exception the statute allows is a performance bond under an actual contract with that city.
Obligee: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (Construction Codes and Licensing Division). Citation: Minn. Stat. § 326B.46, subd. 2 (licensing, bond and insurance — bond to the state in the penal sum of at least $25,000 for plumbing work, or for plumbing work and subsurface sewage treatment work); Minn. Stat. § 326B.0921 (bond requirements — corporate surety only, commissioner’s form, in lieu of all other license bonds to any political subdivision, penal sum aggregated every two years, cancellation on 30 days’ notice); Minn. Stat. § 326B.44 (local regulations — no political subdivision may require a plumbing bond except the bond to the state under § 326B.46); Minn. Stat. § 326B.42 (definitions); Minn. Stat. § 115.56, subd. 2(e) (a single bond may cover both plumbing and subsurface sewage treatment work); DLI Plumbing Contractor Surety Bond form (penal sum printed as TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS ($25,000.00)).
Bond amount
The required bond amount is $25,000.
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: Continuous from the date of issue rather than written for a fixed term, cancellable by the surety only on 30 days’ written notice mailed to the commissioner by certified mail, and required to be in force at all times the license is active.
Renewal: The bond itself is not re-executed each cycle, but the penal sum is cumulative and aggregates every two years the bond is in force, so the surety’s exposure resets on a two-year clock rather than running as a single lifetime limit. A surety that pays a claim reducing the penal sum must notify the commissioner in writing within 15 days, and the licensee must restore the required sum.
Filing
Filed with the commissioner of labor and industry on the department’s own form — § 326B.0921(b) requires the commissioner’s form specifically, so a surety’s house form will not be accepted. The figure renders because the department prints it: the form carries $25,000.00 in the AMOUNT box at the head and binds principal and surety “in the penal sum of TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS ($25,000.00)” in the body, with no blank for a different number. The statute states the sum as a floor rather than as a fixed amount, and that is worth knowing, but the commissioner is given no power anywhere in the chapter to require more — the only escalator in this family sits in the insurance subdivision of a different section. Corporate surety licensed in Minnesota is mandatory and there is no cash, certificate of deposit or letter of credit alternative anywhere in chapter 326B. The bond runs to the state but answers to any person injured or suffering financial loss from the licensee’s failure to comply with the chapter, the State Building Code and all contracts entered into, so it is a consumer instrument wearing a state obligee. Sign before a notary; the department also asks for a certificate of insurance, a workers’ compensation certificate of compliance and a disclosure of owners, partners, officers and members with the application.
Source
Verified against the obligee source (last checked 2026-09-07).
Related Minnesota bonds
Frequently asked questions
- Who requires the Minnesota Plumbing Contractor Bond?
- It’s required by Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (Construction Codes and Licensing Division) (Minn. Stat. § 326B.46, subd. 2 (licensing, bond and insurance — bond to the state in the penal sum of at least $25,000 for plumbing work, or for plumbing work and subsurface sewage treatment work); Minn. Stat. § 326B.0921 (bond requirements — corporate surety only, commissioner’s form, in lieu of all other license bonds to any political subdivision, penal sum aggregated every two years, cancellation on 30 days’ notice); Minn. Stat. § 326B.44 (local regulations — no political subdivision may require a plumbing bond except the bond to the state under § 326B.46); Minn. Stat. § 326B.42 (definitions); Minn. Stat. § 115.56, subd. 2(e) (a single bond may cover both plumbing and subsurface sewage treatment work); DLI Plumbing Contractor Surety Bond form (penal sum printed as TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS ($25,000.00))). Every person who performs or offers to perform plumbing work in Minnesota, and the sweep is wider than the license: the statute reaches “each person who performs or offers to perform plumbing work within the state, including any person who offers to perform or performs sewer or water service installation without a contractor’s license.” Read the routing before you buy, because Minnesota has three overlapping instruments and a contractor who buys the wrong one has bought a bond it does not owe. If you hold a plumbing contractor license, this is your bond, and you may write it to cover subsurface sewage treatment work as well as plumbing. If you install building sewers and water services but hold no plumbing contractor license, the department puts you on a separate pipe laying bond instead. And if you are licensed by the Pollution Control Agency for septic work, the department says in terms not to renew a pipe laying bond with it at all — you file with the Pollution Control Agency only, though a plumbing licensee who also holds the septic license files a duplicate original of this bond there. One more thing worth more than the number: this bond displaces municipal plumbing bonds outright. A Minnesota city may not require a plumbing contractor to post a bond as a condition of doing plumbing business, and the only exception the statute allows is a performance bond under an actual contract with that city.
- How much is the Minnesota Plumbing Contractor Bond?
- The bond amount is $25,000.
- How do I get the Minnesota Plumbing Contractor 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?
- Continuous from the date of issue rather than written for a fixed term, cancellable by the surety only on 30 days’ written notice mailed to the commissioner by certified mail, and required to be in force at all times the license is active. Renewal: The bond itself is not re-executed each cycle, but the penal sum is cumulative and aggregates every two years the bond is in force, so the surety’s exposure resets on a two-year clock rather than running as a single lifetime limit. A surety that pays a claim reducing the penal sum must notify the commissioner in writing within 15 days, and the licensee must restore the required sum.
- 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?
- We verify it against the obligee’s primary source (last checked 2026-09-07); the source link is on this page.
