Minnesota Sign Contractor Bond
What it is & who requires it
Sign installation contractors who work in more than one Minnesota city. Read the mechanism before the figure, because this is the only bond in the state family the contractor elects rather than owes. Cities that license sign contractors require a bond to issue the license. The department’s own instruction is that you may either file a bond with each city, or file one with the state — and if you file with the state, the cities cannot require you to file a separate bond with them. So a sign company working one city posts that city’s bond; a company working ten posts this one and stops. What it does not reach is worth knowing too. The statute defines a sign narrowly as a device, structure, fixture or placard erected on the premises of an establishment, naming the establishment or identifying what is available there — an on-premise sign. Off-premise advertising is a different animal, and the largest city in the state proves the point: Minneapolis accepts either this bond or its own for its sign hanger license, and requires its own, larger bond for the billposting and sign painting license with no state alternative offered.
Obligee: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (Construction Codes and Licensing Division). Citation: Minn. Stat. § 326B.865(a) (sign contractor; bond — a sign contractor may post a compliance bond with the commissioner, conditioned that the contractor shall faithfully perform duties and comply with laws, ordinances, rules and contracts entered into for the installation of signs; renewed biennially; aggregate liability capped; cancellable on 30 days’ notice by United States mail); § 326B.865(b) (the amount of the bond shall be $8,000; drawn upon only by a local unit of government that requires sign contractors to post a compliance bond; in lieu of any compliance bond required by a local unit of government); § 326B.865(c) (definition of sign — a device, structure, fixture or placard erected on the premises of an establishment); § 326B.865(d) (biennial bond filing fee of $100); DLI Sign Contractor Bond form (penal sum printed as EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS ($8,000.00)).
Bond amount
The required bond amount is $8,000.
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: Written to a two-year term and maintained for so long as the commissioner determines; cancellable as to future liability by the surety on 30 days’ written notice mailed to the commissioner, with the surety remaining liable for acts covered up to the date of cancellation.
Renewal: Biennial, with a filing fee charged each cycle. Once the filing is processed the company appears in the department’s online database, and cities use that lookup to verify bonding status before issuing their own licenses.
Filing
Filed with the commissioner on the department’s Sign Contractor Bond form, which prints the penal sum in the AMOUNT box and twice in the body — once as the obligation and once as the aggregate cap. The figure renders because the statute fixes it in terms and the form prints it, and because the only alternative the statute writes is a different bond rather than a deposit: there is no cash, certificate of deposit or letter of credit route anywhere in the section. Corporate surety authorized in Minnesota. Two structural features matter for pricing. First, the obligee is unusual — the bond may be drawn upon only by a local unit of government that requires sign contractors to post a compliance bond, so a private claimant is not a direct beneficiary. Second, the aggregate liability of the surety for all claims, regardless of the number of claims or the number of years the bond remains in force, may not exceed the stated sum. The department publishes a filing-instructions packet running from business formation through tax identification numbers to the executed bond, and asks for the bond signed before a notary with the filing fee.
Source
Verified against the obligee source (last checked 2026-09-07).
Related Minnesota bonds
Frequently asked questions
- Who requires the Minnesota Sign Contractor Bond?
- It’s required by Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (Construction Codes and Licensing Division) (Minn. Stat. § 326B.865(a) (sign contractor; bond — a sign contractor may post a compliance bond with the commissioner, conditioned that the contractor shall faithfully perform duties and comply with laws, ordinances, rules and contracts entered into for the installation of signs; renewed biennially; aggregate liability capped; cancellable on 30 days’ notice by United States mail); § 326B.865(b) (the amount of the bond shall be $8,000; drawn upon only by a local unit of government that requires sign contractors to post a compliance bond; in lieu of any compliance bond required by a local unit of government); § 326B.865(c) (definition of sign — a device, structure, fixture or placard erected on the premises of an establishment); § 326B.865(d) (biennial bond filing fee of $100); DLI Sign Contractor Bond form (penal sum printed as EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS ($8,000.00))). Sign installation contractors who work in more than one Minnesota city. Read the mechanism before the figure, because this is the only bond in the state family the contractor elects rather than owes. Cities that license sign contractors require a bond to issue the license. The department’s own instruction is that you may either file a bond with each city, or file one with the state — and if you file with the state, the cities cannot require you to file a separate bond with them. So a sign company working one city posts that city’s bond; a company working ten posts this one and stops. What it does not reach is worth knowing too. The statute defines a sign narrowly as a device, structure, fixture or placard erected on the premises of an establishment, naming the establishment or identifying what is available there — an on-premise sign. Off-premise advertising is a different animal, and the largest city in the state proves the point: Minneapolis accepts either this bond or its own for its sign hanger license, and requires its own, larger bond for the billposting and sign painting license with no state alternative offered.
- How much is the Minnesota Sign Contractor Bond?
- The bond amount is $8,000.
- How do I get the Minnesota Sign 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?
- Written to a two-year term and maintained for so long as the commissioner determines; cancellable as to future liability by the surety on 30 days’ written notice mailed to the commissioner, with the surety remaining liable for acts covered up to the date of cancellation. Renewal: Biennial, with a filing fee charged each cycle. Once the filing is processed the company appears in the department’s online database, and cities use that lookup to verify bonding status before issuing their own licenses.
- 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.
