How much is an Oregon CCB contractor bond?

Short answer

It depends on your endorsement. A residential general contractor needs a $25,000 surety bond. A residential specialty contractor needs $20,000, and a commercial general contractor needs $80,000 at level 1 or $25,000 at level 2. You do not pay those amounts — you pay an annual premium that is a small percentage of the bond and is driven mainly by your credit.

Updated September 2026 · Oregon CCB — License requirements

Surety bond amounts Oregon CCB · Effective Jan 1, 2024

Residential general contractor$25,000

Residential specialty contractor$20,000

Residential limited contractor$15,000

Residential developer$25,000

Residential locksmith$15,000

Home inspector$15,000

Home services contractor$15,000

Residential restoration contractor$15,000

Commercial general, level 1$80,000

Commercial general, level 2$25,000

Commercial specialty, level 1$55,000

Commercial specialty, level 2$25,000

Commercial developer$25,000

House Bill 2922 raised every endorsement by $5,000 effective January 1, 2024. Figures verified against the Oregon CCB, September 2026.

Required general liability Oregon CCB · Separate from the bond

Residential general contractor$500,000 per occurrence

Residential specialty contractor$300,000 per occurrence

Residential limited contractor$100,000 per occurrence

Residential developer$500,000 per occurrence

Commercial general, level 1$2,000,000 aggregate

Commercial general, level 2$1,000,000 aggregate

Commercial specialty, level 1$1,000,000 aggregate

Commercial specialty, level 2$500,000 per occurrence

Commercial developer$500,000 per occurrence

Liability insurance is a separate requirement from the bond. You need both, and both must stay in force for the whole licensing period.

A bond is not insurance

This trips up almost every contractor who buys one. Insurance protects you. A surety bond protects your customers and the CCB. If a claim is paid against your bond, the surety comes to you for the money.

That is why bond pricing is a credit decision rather than a risk-of-loss decision. The surety is not really betting on whether you do good work — it is betting on whether you can repay them if someone says you didn’t.

What it actually costs

You pay an annual premium, not the face amount. For applicants with solid credit the premium on a $25,000 residential bond is typically a small percentage of the bond amount each year. Weaker credit raises the rate, sometimes substantially, but rarely makes a license bond unobtainable.

Because credit drives the price, two contractors with identical experience can be quoted very differently. That is exactly the situation where shopping several sureties pays.

The amounts went up in 2024

House Bill 2922 raised every CCB endorsement bond by $5,000, effective January 1, 2024. Residential general went from $20,000 to $25,000, commercial general level 1 from $75,000 to $80,000, and so on down the chart.

Be careful what you read on this. Some state-adjacent directories and a great deal of third-party surety content still publish the pre-2024 figures. The CCB’s own licensing page is the authority — everything above is taken from it.

If you also bid public work

Contractors on qualifying public works projects over $100,000 must file a separate $30,000 public works bond with the CCB before starting. It is in addition to your license bond, not instead of it.

Both residential and commercial?

If you hold endorsements on both sides, the CCB requires a residential bond and a commercial bond. They are separate filings with separate amounts.

General information, not legal or coverage advice. Requirements and figures change — verify anything you intend to rely on with the state or with us. Coverage is governed solely by the policy issued. Anthony Core Insurance Agency Inc · Oregon License #100171326