Surety & Bonds in Utah.
Surety isn't insurance — it's a three-party guarantee. License and permit bonds let you get licensed and pull permits; bid bonds back your bid; and performance & payment bonds guarantee you finish the job and pay your subs and suppliers. You can't get a contractor license or bid public work without the right bonds, and underwriting looks at credit, experience, and financials.
What surety & bonds protects.
License & permit bonds — required to get licensed and pull permits
Bid bonds — backing your bid on a project
Performance bonds — guaranteeing you finish the job
Payment bonds — guaranteeing you pay subs and suppliers
Single and aggregate bonding capacity that grows with your business
What surety & bonds costs in Utah.
What drives the price: the bond amount, the bond type, and your personal/business credit and financials (bonds are credit-driven, not loss-rated).
A Utah contractor's license/permit bond is a small fixed amount; a performance bond on a job is priced as a percentage of the contract value, lower with strong credit.
Illustrative only — not a quote. Surety & Bonds pricing is set by the carrier; your real number comes from a licensed producer after we shop A-rated carriers for you.
Contractors getting or holding a license, and anyone bidding public work or larger private jobs. Public and many private projects require bid plus performance & payment bonds — often via the Little Miller Act on public work — so your bonding capacity becomes a ceiling on what you can take on.
Utah DOPL requires a contractor license, and many license classifications and local jurisdictions require a license or permit bond. Public projects in Utah require statutory payment & performance bonds. We get your license bond in place and build the bonding capacity your public bids need.
How Keel handles your surety & bonds.
Tell us about it
Text us what you need for surety & bonds — no forms, no phone tag.
We shop A-rated carriers
We compare the carriers we're appointed with and bring back real options, not estimates.
A licensed producer reviews
A real producer checks the coverage and limits — nothing binds automatically.
Bound, proof in hand
Once you're set we bind it and send your documents, often the same day.
Surety & Bonds in Utah
01Is a surety bond the same as insurance?
No. A bond is a three-party guarantee — if you don't perform, the surety pays the obligee and then collects from you. Insurance pays a covered loss without expecting repayment. They're different products that often sit side by side.
02What bonds do I need to be a licensed contractor in Utah?
Utah DOPL requires a contractor license, and many classifications and local jurisdictions require a license or permit bond — usually a small fixed amount set by the state or municipality. We confirm what your classification and jurisdiction require.
03What's the difference between a performance bond and a payment bond?
A performance bond guarantees you finish the job to contract; a payment bond guarantees you pay your subs and suppliers. Public work (and many private jobs) requires both — often together via the Little Miller Act on public projects.
04What does surety underwriting look at?
Bonds are credit-based: underwriting weighs your personal and business credit, experience, and financials, then sets your single and aggregate bonding capacity. That capacity caps the size and number of jobs you can take on — we work to grow it as you do.
Coverage that often goes with it.
General Liability
General liability is the coverage clients, landlords, and contracts ask you to carry.
Learn more →Business Owner's Policy
A Business Owner's Policy (BOP) bundles two essentials — property and general liability — into one policy, usually at a better price than buying them separately.
Learn more →Workers' Compensation
Workers' compensation covers medical bills and lost wages when an employee is hurt on the job — and protects you from most related lawsuits.
Learn more →Ready to get surety & bonds handled?
Text us and we’ll shop it — a licensed producer reviews before anything binds.