# Bakersfield Improvement Security, Warranty Terms and City Insurance Requirements

URL: https://mycontractorsinsurancequote.com/california/metros/bakersfield
Updated: 2026-10-29 · Reviewed by the Principal, Gleason Insurance Brokers, LLC
Publisher: My Contractors Insurance Quote, a website of Gleason Insurance Brokers, LLC

Inside Bakersfield city limits, the subdivision improvement chapter the City posts (dated December 2017) calls for faithful performance security of 100 percent of the estimated cost, labor and materials security of 50 percent and warranty security of 10 percent, and a surety bond carries an added $15,000 or 15 percent of the estimate, whichever is less. The City's design manual keeps the warranty open until a City release letter and requires the security and the insurance to stay in force for that whole period. Street permits bring their own deposit, which can be a bond of 100 percent performance and 100 percent labor and materials, plus contractor insurance approved by the City's Risk Management.

## Key Decision Points
- The City-posted copy of Bakersfield Municipal Code Chapter 16.32 (dated December 2017) sets 100 percent performance, 50 percent labor and materials and 10 percent warranty security; confirm the current chapter with the City.
- Security posted as a surety bond adds $15,000 or 15 percent of the estimated cost, whichever is less; cash and letters of credit do not carry that add-on.
- The warranty typically runs 365 days from recordation of the Notice of Completion, can be extended for deficiencies and ends on a City release letter.
- The City's March 2025 insurance sheet asks for occurrence-form general liability, auto, workers' compensation with a waiver of subrogation and a copy of the additional insured endorsement.
- The July 1, 2025, fee schedule lists a $657 encroachment permit and a $393 street permit, and notes that fees may change at any time.

## Bakersfield and the Kern Region Pipeline

Bakersfield carries the largest share of planned housing in Kern County's draft regional allocation, and housing and road work drive much of its public improvement volume. The City processed a General Plan amendment updating its 2023-2031 Housing Element, posted with the State Clearinghouse on September 5, 2025. The Kern Council of Governments' draft regional housing needs table assigns Bakersfield 37,461 units of a 57,650-unit county total. That table is marked draft, so treat the figure as a planning signal and confirm the adopted allocation.

Road building adds a second stream of work. The City's Bakersfield Freeways program lists the 24th Street Improvements, the Centennial Corridor and the Hageman Flyover as current projects, and its completed list includes the Westside Parkway and the State Route 58 Gap Closure. Caltrans describes the Centennial Corridor as extending State Route 58 west beyond State Route 99 and reports that it was awarded $330 million under a federal corridor program. For civil contractors, that means City, Caltrans and developer work often runs side by side, each with its own bond and insurance terms.

Statewide licensing, bonding and subdivision rules that sit behind Bakersfield's local terms are summarized on the page for [California construction insurance and bonding](https://mycontractorsinsurancequote.com/california).

## Improvement Security Under Chapter 16.32

The live code host did not open for this research, so the figures here come from the Chapter 16.32 PDF the City Clerk posts, which carries a December 2017 date. Ask the City whether the chapter has been amended since. In that copy, improvement security can be a corporate surety bond, a cash deposit with the City or an irrevocable letter of credit, and bond forms follow Government Code sections 66499.1 for performance and 66499.2 for labor and materials.

Faithful performance security is 100 percent of the total estimated cost. Labor and materials security is 50 percent, although cash or a letter of credit needs no separate sum for it if the instrument limits release to 50 percent until the 60-day lien period ends. The security also stands behind changes up to 10 percent of the original estimate, and release follows the terms of the improvement agreement rather than a reduction schedule in the code. The City's labor and materials bond form secures claims under Civil Code sections 9000 through 9566.

Monuments are handled separately where no streets are improved: the subdivider posts a faithful performance bond to guarantee the setting of stakes and monuments, and the chapter does not state an amount.

How California cities size, reduce and release improvement security is explained in [California subdivision improvement bonds](https://mycontractorsinsurancequote.com/construction-surety-bonds/subdivision-improvement-bonds/california).

### Illustrative scenario: A Southwest Bakersfield Tract with a Long Warranty

Fictional Panorama Ridge Homes records a 120-lot tract inside Bakersfield with an engineer's estimate of $3,200,000 at City bond prices. Under the City-posted chapter, it bonds $3,200,000 for faithful performance and $1,600,000 for labor and materials, and because it uses surety bonds the City adds $15,000, the lesser of that figure and 15 percent. At acceptance it posts a $320,000 warranty bond. The punch list turns up a failed curb ramp, so the City extends the warranty past the first year. The developer's general liability policy renews two months later, and the broker confirms the renewal carries the same occurrence form, completed-operations additional insured endorsement and primary wording so Risk Management receives updated endorsement copies without a gap. The details in this scenario are hypothetical, and a real program depends on the agency, the surety or carriers and the firm's own risk.

## The Surety Add-On: $15,000 or 15 Percent

The December 2017 chapter adds one term many developers miss. When the security is a surety bond or a lien contract, the City requires additional security of $15,000 or 15 percent of the total estimated cost, whichever is less. For any estimate above $100,000 the 15 percent figure is larger, so the add-on works out to $15,000 on most tracts. On a small improvement estimate of $80,000, 15 percent is $12,000, which becomes the add-on instead.

The add-on is modest in dollars, but it changes the bond schedule and the paperwork. Sureties underwrite the full penal sum, and a bond is credit, not insurance: if the City calls it, the surety pays and then recovers from the developer and any indemnitors. Some developers compare a bond against a letter of credit on a small job, where cash or credit capacity may matter less than the bank fees and collateral the letter requires.

How sureties underwrite and indemnify faithful performance security is covered under [performance bonds](https://mycontractorsinsurancequote.com/construction-surety-bonds/performance-bonds).

## A Warranty That Ends on a City Release Letter

Warranty security of 10 percent of the estimated cost must be provided before the City accepts the work, for at least one year after completion and acceptance. The chapter starts the warranty period on recordation of the notice of completion, and the City's maintenance bond form (last revised March 23, 2016) covers defects from faulty materials or workmanship that appear within 12 months of that recordation. The form leaves the penal sum blank and has the surety pay enforcement costs and attorney's fees on top of the face amount.

The design manual explains that the period is typically 365 days from recordation, may be extended indefinitely if deficiencies are found and ends only when the City issues a release letter after the one-year punch list. The developer requests the warranty inspection 30 days before expiry. All securities and insurance required by the agreement must stay in force through the period, and acceptance calls for updated insurance if a policy expires before the one-year warranty ends. Policy terms and completed-operations coverage should be planned around that open end date.

How warranty security is typically written and released is set out under [maintenance and warranty bonds](https://mycontractorsinsurancequote.com/construction-surety-bonds/maintenance-warranty-bonds).

## City Insurance Requirements in March 2025

The improvement agreement package in the City's Subdivision and Engineering Design Manual includes the engineer's estimate at City-adopted bond prices, the security, an insurance certificate matching the agreement, an endorsement adding the City and its officials, employees and volunteers as additional insureds and a workers' compensation waiver of subrogation. The map, agreement, security and insurance must all be in the same name, and deviations need approval from the Risk Manager and the City Attorney. The limits in the agreement itself were not available for this page, so read them in the agreement you receive.

Risk Management's insurance sheet, dated as of March 2025, applies to vendors and construction projects and sets this baseline, which the City may change per project:

- General liability of at least $1,000,000 per occurrence on an occurrence form, not claims-made, with additional insured wording; the sample certificate shows forms CG 20 10 04 13 and CG 20 37 04 13 for completed operations and CG 20 01 04 13 for primary wording
- Auto liability of $1,000,000 per occurrence covering owned, non-owned and hired autos
- Workers' compensation at statutory limits with a waiver of subrogation in favor of the City (WC 99 04 10 on the sample)
- Employers' liability shown on the sample certificate at $1,000,000 each accident, disease each employee and disease policy limit
- A copy of the endorsement, because a certificate statement naming the City is not enough
- Primary policies rated A-/VII or better, 30 days' notice of cancellation or material change and the same terms for subcontractors

Why the completed-operations endorsement and policy term matter through a long warranty is discussed under [completed operations coverage](https://mycontractorsinsurancequote.com/project-specific-liability-insurance/completed-operations).

## Street Permits, Encroachment Permits and July 2025 Fees

Public Works' street permit application (marked for use after July 1, 2024) bases the deposit on the amount of work in the right of way. It can be cash, a credit card up to $5,000, a check, a letter of credit or bonds of 100 percent performance and 100 percent labor and materials based on the engineer's estimate, double the labor and materials share the subdivision chapter uses. Homeowners need $300,000 of personal liability insurance, while contractors' insurance must be approved by Risk Management under the March 2025 sheet. Permits expire 120 days from issue, a Dig Alert ticket is required, and the form lists a $31 rider, a $98 cancellation and $100 per hour for inspections after the first two.

The July 1, 2025, Planning, Building and Public Works fee schedule lists a $657 encroachment permit and a $393 street permit, replacing the $310 printed on the older form. Public improvement plan check is $591 plus 1.25 percent of improvement value, inspection is $399 plus 1.91 percent of improvement valuation, grading plan check is $632 plus $24 per acre and final tract map check is $2,478 plus $63.50 per lot. The schedule notes that fees may change at any time. The street permit form contains no indemnity clause, and the code section on street permit security was not readable for this page, so confirm indemnity and security terms with Public Works.

How city and Caltrans permit security compares across the state is explained in [California encroachment and street permit bonds](https://mycontractorsinsurancequote.com/construction-surety-bonds/encroachment-permit-bonds/california).

## Outside City Limits: A Different Rulebook

These City terms stop at the city limit line. Tracts in unincorporated areas, including County plan areas such as Western Rosedale, Rosamond and Grapevine, fall under Kern County's Land Division Ordinance, where the percentages turn on the type of security and the insurance terms are written into the ordinance. A developer with projects on both sides of the line should expect two bond schedules and two sets of agreement exhibits.

Unincorporated security percentages, defect terms and energy project rules are covered on the page for [Kern County land division bonds and insurance](https://mycontractorsinsurancequote.com/california/metros/bakersfield/kern-county).

## Assembling a Bakersfield Program

Start with the improvement agreement and the engineer's estimate at City bond prices. Size performance, labor and materials and warranty security from it, add the surety add-on if bonds are used and decide early whether any piece is better posted as cash or a letter of credit. Then set insurance terms that match the City's form: occurrence general liability with completed-operations additional insured wording, endorsement copies ready for Risk Management and policy dates that reach past an open-ended warranty.

Terms are subject to underwriting and the terms of the bonds and policies issued, and they can vary by carrier guidelines and programs. To scope a specific Bakersfield project, request a quote or call 844-978-7283.

Developer exposures from map recording through acceptance are covered under [insurance and bonds for developers and subdividers](https://mycontractorsinsurancequote.com/who-we-serve/developers-subdividers).

## Before You Ask for a Quote

### What to Gather
- The improvement agreement and its insurance exhibit
- The engineer's estimate priced at City-adopted bond prices
- Current Chapter 16.32 text confirmed with the City
- Additional insured, primary and waiver of subrogation endorsement copies
- Street permit application and the deposit or bond form for right-of-way work
- Policy expiration dates set against the expected Notice of Completion date

### What to Ask the Insurer or Surety
- Is it cheaper to post this security as a surety bond with the add-on or as a letter of credit?
- Will our surety write a warranty bond with no fixed end date?
- Do our policies carry completed-operations additional insured wording the City accepts?
- Will our renewal keep the occurrence form and primary wording through the warranty?
- What insurance limits are written into this specific improvement agreement?
- Do our subcontractors carry the same City terms, including endorsement copies?

## Broker Notes

**Quick Answer:** In the City-posted copy of Bakersfield's Chapter 16.32 (dated December 2017), improvement security is 100 percent performance, 50 percent labor and materials and 10 percent warranty, with a surety add-on of $15,000 or 15 percent, whichever is less. Insurance must run through a warranty that ends on a City release letter.

**Common Mistake:** Letting a liability policy lapse or change form during a warranty the City has extended, or sending Risk Management a certificate without the endorsement copy it requires.

**Broker Perspective:** In Bakersfield, read the improvement agreement, the March 2025 insurance sheet and the warranty provisions together. The open end date on the warranty is what sets policy terms and bond duration.

**Coverage Impact:** Improvement and warranty bonds are credit that stays on the surety program until the City releases them. General liability typically needs an occurrence form and completed-operations additional insured wording, and terms remain subject to underwriting.

## Questions Buyers Ask

### What is the extra $15,000 Bakersfield adds to a subdivision bond?

The City-posted Chapter 16.32 requires additional security of $15,000 or 15 percent of the total estimated cost, whichever is less, when security is a surety bond or a lien contract. On most tracts that works out to $15,000. Cash and letters of credit do not carry the add-on. Confirm the current chapter with the City.

### When does a Bakersfield improvement warranty end?

The design manual says the warranty is typically 365 days from recordation of the Notice of Completion, may be extended indefinitely if deficiencies are found and ends with a City release letter after the one-year punch list. Request the warranty inspection 30 days before expiry and keep security and insurance in force until release.

### Does Bakersfield accept a certificate of insurance naming the City as additional insured?

Not by itself. The City's March 2025 requirements state that a certificate statement naming the City is not sufficient, and a copy of the endorsement is required. The sample certificate shows CG 20 10 and CG 20 37 additional insured forms and CG 20 01 primary wording.

### How much is the deposit for a Bakersfield street permit?

The application bases the deposit on the amount of work in the right of way. It can be cash, a credit card up to $5,000, a check, a letter of credit or bonds of 100 percent performance and 100 percent labor and materials based on the engineer's estimate. The July 2025 permit fee is $393.

### Do Bakersfield's bond percentages apply to a tract just outside the city?

No. City figures apply inside city limits. Unincorporated tracts fall under Kern County's Land Division Ordinance, which uses different percentages for surety bonds and other security and writes its own insurance terms. Confirm which agency holds the map before sizing the bond schedule.

## Official Sources

1. [Bakersfield Municipal Code Chapter 16.32, Improvements (City-posted PDF dated December 2017)](https://docs.bakersfieldcity.us/weblink/0/edoc/1376273/16.32%20%20%20Improvements.pdf), City of Bakersfield City Clerk. Security forms (surety bond, cash, letter of credit); bond forms under Gov. Code 66499.1 and 66499.2; 100% faithful performance, 50% labor and materials with the cash/LOC alternative, 10% warranty for at least one year; surety add-on of $15,000 or 15%, whichever is less; changes up to 10%; release per agreement; warranty starts on recordation of notice of completion; monument bond where no streets are improved. Whether the chapter was amended after December 2017 was not confirmed. Verified 2026-10-25.
2. [Subdivision and Engineering Design Manual, Division One: General Requirements](https://content.civicplus.com/api/assets/ca-bakersfield/a6c73852-20e0-4f3a-a100-ee7df4abbbf8/division-1-general-pdf-.pdf?sq=e23288fa-d5c7-5b44-6265-5b9bda74c806&scope=all), City of Bakersfield Public Works Department. Agreement package (estimate at City bond prices, security, certificate, additional insured endorsement, WC waiver); same-name rule; Risk Manager and City Attorney approval for deviations; updated insurance at acceptance; warranty typically 365 days from Notice of Completion, extendable indefinitely, ended by release letter; securities and insurance in force through warranty; inspection request 30 days before expiry. Verified 2026-10-25.
3. [City of Bakersfield Maintenance Bond form (last revised March 23, 2016)](https://content.civicplus.com/api/assets/84954f6a-9b32-4dca-9e1a-2e6dba9a8e90?cache=1800), City of Bakersfield. Defects appearing within 12 months of recordation of the notice of completion; penal sum blank; surety pays enforcement costs and attorney's fees beyond face value. Verified 2026-10-25.
4. [City of Bakersfield Labor and Materials Bond form (last revised November 20, 2013)](https://content.civicplus.com/api/assets/87e651e9-9e02-4fee-aa8c-6b5db4c8f983?cache=1800), City of Bakersfield. Payment bond securing claims under Civil Code sections 9000 through 9566. Verified 2026-10-25.
5. [Street Permit Application Form](https://content.civicplus.com/api/assets/4c048d47-f6aa-4719-ad46-952a7dddfab3), City of Bakersfield Public Works Department. Deposit based on right-of-way work: cash, credit card ($5,000 limit), check, letter of credit or 100% performance and 100% labor and materials bonds on the engineer's estimate; $300,000 homeowner liability; contractor insurance approved by Risk Management; 120-day expiration; $31 rider, $98 cancellation, $100/hour extra inspections; Dig Alert; no indemnity clause on the form. Verified 2026-10-25.
6. [City Insurance Requirements (as of March 2025) with sample certificate](https://content.civicplus.com/api/assets/c38980b3-4987-4ba3-a329-5a5f77a75ae4?cache=1800), City of Bakersfield Risk Management. Applies to vendors and construction projects; $1,000,000 occurrence-form CGL with additional insured endorsement; $1,000,000 auto for owned, non-owned and hired autos; WC with waiver of subrogation; EL $1,000,000 on the sample certificate; endorsement copy required; 30-day notice; primary, A-/VII; subcontractors; sample forms CG 20 10 04 13, CG 20 37 04 13, CG 20 01 04 13, WC 99 04 10. Verified 2026-10-25.
7. [Planning, Building and Public Works Fee Schedule (July 1, 2025)](https://content.civicplus.com/api/assets/6ba09f4a-c60e-426e-aec7-94175357e3dd?cache=1800), City of Bakersfield Development Services and Public Works. Encroachment permit $657; street permit $393; public improvement plan check $591 + 1.25%; inspection $399 + 1.91%; grading plan check $632 + $24/acre; final tract map check $2,478 + $63.50/lot; fees may change at any time. Verified 2026-10-25.
8. [Bakersfield Freeways program and Completed Projects](https://www.bakersfieldcity.us/540/Bakersfield-Freeways), City of Bakersfield Public Works. Current projects listed as 24th Street Improvements, Centennial Corridor and Hageman Flyover; completed projects include the Westside Parkway and the State Route 58 Gap Closure. Verified 2026-10-25.
9. [Centennial Corridor Project](https://dot.ca.gov/caltrans-near-me/district-6/district-6-projects/d6-centennial-corridor), California Department of Transportation, District 6. Project extends State Route 58 west beyond State Route 99; awarded $330 million under the federal National Corridor Infrastructure Improvement Program. Verified 2026-10-25.
10. [Notice of Exemption, Bakersfield 6th Cycle Housing Element 2023-2031 (SCH 2025090215)](https://ceqanet.lci.ca.gov/2025090215), State Clearinghouse, CEQAnet (lead agency City of Bakersfield). General Plan amendment updating the 2023-2031 Housing Element, received and posted September 5, 2025. Verified 2026-10-25.
11. [Draft RHNA Table, Addendum (May 27, 2022)](https://www.kerncog.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Draft-RHNA-Table_Addendum5-27-22.pdf), Kern Council of Governments. Draft 2023-2031 allocations: Bakersfield 37,461 units; total Kern County 57,650. Marked draft. Verified 2026-10-25.

## Related Decisions

- [unincorporated Kern County bond and insurance rules](https://mycontractorsinsurancequote.com/california/metros/bakersfield/kern-county)
- [California subdivision improvement security](https://mycontractorsinsurancequote.com/construction-surety-bonds/subdivision-improvement-bonds/california)
- [California encroachment permit bonds](https://mycontractorsinsurancequote.com/construction-surety-bonds/encroachment-permit-bonds/california)
- [insurance and bonds for civil and underground contractors](https://mycontractorsinsurancequote.com/who-we-serve/civil-underground-utilities)
- [builders risk for residential subdivisions](https://mycontractorsinsurancequote.com/builders-risk-insurance/residential-subdivisions)
- [California construction insurance overview](https://mycontractorsinsurancequote.com/california)

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