Surety Bonds in Tulsa, Issued the Same Day
City of Tulsa right of way, sidewalk and excavation bonds, plus every Oklahoma state license bond. You apply online and the executed bond arrives by email the same day with the Power of Attorney letter attached. No office visit, no waiting on the mail.
City of Tulsa bonds are separate from your state bond
This is the part that catches Tulsa contractors out, and it is worth being blunt about. The City of Tulsa runs its own bonding requirements, and they are not the same as the state's. A plumber or an electrician already carrying the $5,000 Construction Industries Board bond is licensed to do the trade; that bond does not cover work in a Tulsa right of way. The city is a separate obligee with separate forms, and it wants its own bond before it issues the permit.
Tulsa handles this through its Development Services Division, Infrastructure Development, and it publishes three bond forms that cover most of the work:
- Annual Right of Way Bond, Arterial
- Annual Right of Way Bond, Non-Arterial
- Two Year Major Construction Maintenance Bond
Which of the first two applies depends on the street you are working in, not on the kind of company you run. Arterial and non-arterial are city road classifications, so the same contractor can need either one depending on the job, and plenty of firms end up carrying both across a year.
The Right of Way Minor Construction permit
Smaller jobs go through Tulsa's Right of Way Minor Construction permit, which covers temporary use of a street, street and alley cuts, irrigation, boring, and sidewalk and driveway work. If you pour sidewalk, driveway or curb in a Tulsa right of way, or you open the ground in one, this is the lane you are in.
Two practical notes that save phone calls. Street cuts for utility connections inside a public right of way or alley need their own separate right of way permit, not just the one attached to your main job. And a Temporary Sewer Plug Permit takes a $10,000 security deposit, which is a deposit and not a surety bond. Different instrument, different process, and no surety company is involved. Agencies blur those two constantly and it wastes a week.
How much is the bond? The permit application decides
The city does not publish the bond amounts next to those forms. The figure comes off the permit application you are actually filing, and Tulsa can revise it. The sidewalk and driveway bond and the excavation activities bond are commonly written at $5,000 and commonly run to December 31, but that is the bond market's shorthand rather than a number the city publishes, so treat it as a starting point and not a quote.
The fastest way through this is simple: send us the permit application you were handed. The obligee, the amount and the required form are all on it, and reading it takes a minute. Guessing at the amount and buying the wrong bond costs you the permit date, which is the expensive part.
Send Us Your Tulsa Permit Application
City of Tulsa Sidewalk and Driveway Contractor's Bond
If your permit calls for the City of Tulsa Sidewalk and Driveway Contractor's Bond, you do not have to wait on anybody. That one is set up to buy directly online, and the executed bond comes back with the Power of Attorney letter attached, ready to file with the city.
BUY THE TULSA SIDEWALK AND DRIVEWAY BOND
If the permit asks for excavation, temporary use of street, or one of the annual right of way bonds instead, send it over rather than guessing. Those run on different forms.
The Oklahoma state bonds a Tulsa business still needs
City bonds sit on top of the state ones, and most Tulsa businesses need at least one of these. Each has its own page with the detail, so this is the short version.
- Used motor vehicle and wholesale dealers, $25,000. Required under 47 O.S. 583 before the state issues the license, and it runs on a two year cycle expiring 31 December of odd numbered years. Oklahoma dealer bond.
- Electrical, plumbing and mechanical contractors, $5,000. The Construction Industries Board bond, written in the individual license holder's name, continuous, with thirty days cancellation notice. Electrician, plumber, HVAC and mechanical, or the contractor bond overview.
- Notaries, $1,000, filed with the Secretary of State for the four year commission. Oklahoma notary bond.
- Security guards and private investigators, $5,000 unarmed, $10,000 armed, $100,000 for an agency. Security guard bond.
- OMMA commercial growers, $50,000. Worth knowing that HB 3143 closed new Oklahoma cannabis licenses until 1 August 2028, so this is a renewal market right now. OMMA surety bond.
- Probate, guardianship and court bonds, where the court sets the amount and the form.
How a Tulsa bond gets written from an Oklahoma City office
Nothing about a surety bond requires a handshake, and that is the honest answer to why an Oklahoma City agency can serve Tulsa properly. There is no inspection, no site visit and nothing to sign in person. Most license and permit bonds are applied for online and issue in minutes, and the executed bond arrives by email the same day with the Power of Attorney letter attached. You file it with the obligee, or we send it across for you.
Keep the Power of Attorney attached to the bond when you file it. That letter is what proves the person who signed for the surety company was authorised to bind it, and an obligee will hand the bond straight back without it. It is the most common reason a bond bounces on the first submission, and it is entirely avoidable: file the pages exactly as they arrive, in the order they arrive.
Good credit takes the fastest path. A score under 700, or a bond needed in another state alongside the Tulsa one, moves to a specialty market, which usually costs more but still issues online. Either way you get a real person on the phone in Oklahoma rather than a call centre, and the same person who wrote the bond handles the renewal.
We serve Tulsa, Broken Arrow, Owasso, Jenks, Bixby, Sand Springs and Sapulpa the same way, because the process does not change with the address.
Credit score 700 or better
Good credit qualifies for the fastest option: bonded online in minutes, with the Power of Attorney letter attached to the bond.
GET AN ONLINE QUOTE NOW, RLI SURETY
Under 700 credit, or a bond in another state
A score under 700 does not stop the bond, and neither does needing one outside Oklahoma. We can bond you in any state our surety partner writes, entirely online: pay, and the executed bond arrives by email with the Power of Attorney letter attached, ready to print and file.
GET AN ONLINE QUOTE NOW, ANY STATE
What a Tulsa surety bond costs
The premium is a fraction of the bond amount, and what moves it is your credit and the type of bond, not which agency sells it. The bond document itself is identical no matter who writes it, because the obligee sets the form. What actually differs between agencies is how fast you get issued and what you pay for it.
We will not quote you a figure on a web page for a bond whose amount the city has not published yet. Send the permit application or the license requirement and you get a real number back. The full breakdown of how bond pricing works sits on our Oklahoma surety bonds page.
Tulsa surety bond questions we get asked
I already have the state contractor bond. Do I still need a City of Tulsa bond?
Usually yes. The $5,000 Construction Industries Board bond licenses you for the trade statewide. The City of Tulsa is a separate obligee and requires its own bond before it will issue a right of way or minor construction permit. They are two different bonds doing two different jobs, and holding one does not satisfy the other.
Arterial or non-arterial? How do I know which Tulsa right of way bond I need?
It depends on the classification of the street you are working in, not on your company. Tulsa publishes both an Annual Right of Way Bond for arterial streets and one for non-arterial. The permit application tells you which applies to that job, and contractors working across the city often end up carrying both over a year.
How much is a City of Tulsa sidewalk or excavation bond?
The city does not publish the amount alongside its bond forms, so the permit application you are filing is what decides it. Both are commonly written at $5,000 in the bond market, but that is shorthand rather than a published city figure. Send us the application and you get the real number instead of a guess.
When do Tulsa contractor bonds expire?
The city's sidewalk, driveway and excavation bonds commonly run to 31 December and renew annually, which is why a lot of Tulsa contractors get caught in January. The state bonds run on their own clocks: the $25,000 dealer bond expires 31 December of odd numbered years, and the Construction Industries Board bond is continuous with thirty days cancellation notice.
Can an Oklahoma City agency write a bond for a Tulsa job?
Yes, and nothing is lost by it. A surety bond has no inspection and nothing to sign in person. It is applied for online and the executed bond is emailed the same day with the Power of Attorney letter attached, so an office in Oklahoma City is no further from your Tulsa permit than one on Main Street.
My bond was rejected. What did I do wrong?
Nine times out of ten the Power of Attorney letter was not attached. That letter proves the person who signed for the surety company had authority to bind it, and an obligee will hand the bond back without it. File the pages exactly as they arrive from us, in the order they arrive, and keep a copy of both.
Is the Temporary Sewer Plug Permit deposit a surety bond?
No. That one takes a $10,000 security deposit, which is money held by the city, not a surety bond written by a carrier. No surety company is involved and there is nothing for us to issue. It gets confused with the bonds constantly, so it is worth checking which one your permit actually asks for before you start.
Send us the permit. We will tell you the bond.
Call or text a local independent broker and get the amount, the form and the price without guessing.