Kern County Improvement Security, Defect Guarantees and Insurance Terms for Unincorporated Projects

The live County code host did not open for this research, so the figures here come from the Land Division Ordinance PDF that the Planning and Natural Resources Department posts, labeled as the March 2009 revision. Ask the County whether Chapter 18.55 has been amended since, and use the current text in any agreement.

In that copy, the security amount rests on the engineer's estimate and may include insurance, contingencies, inflation, contract administration, other agencies' bonds and construction staking. Faithful performance security is 100 percent of the estimated cost if it is a corporate surety bond and 110 percent in any other form. Labor and materials security is 50 percent for a surety bond and 60 percent for any other form, and enforcement costs and fees come on top of the bond's face amount. As work is partly completed, the County may reduce performance security but keeps at least 100 percent of the incomplete work plus 10 percent of completed work for a bond, or 110 percent plus 11 percent for other forms.

The completion agreement gives the subdivider one year from final map approval to finish the work, requires improvement securities and insurance certificates and states that the subdivider's liability is not limited to the amount of the security.

Take a $2,000,000 engineer's estimate. If the security is posted as surety bonds, the County-posted ordinance calls for $2,000,000 of performance security and $1,000,000 of labor and materials security, $3,000,000 in all. If it is posted as cash or a letter of credit, the same work takes $2,200,000 and $1,200,000, or $3,400,000, and that money or bank capacity is tied up until release.

Letters of credit carry their own conditions. The issuer must have California offices, FDIC membership and $10,000,000 in capital, the term must be at least one year with automatic one-year renewal and a replacement is due 60 days before expiry. A bond moves the obligation to the surety's balance sheet instead, but it is credit, not insurance: the surety pays a valid claim and then recovers from the developer and its indemnitors. Monument security is separate and equals the County Surveyor's estimate of the cost of setting monuments, in cash or a surety bond, released only after the Surveyor certifies they are set.

On acceptance, the posted ordinance releases performance security but retains 10 percent for the guarantee against defects, and the Board of Supervisors may set a lesser or greater amount. The guarantee lasts one year after acceptance, and the subdivider must correct defects within 14 days of notice. The defect security is released a year after acceptance if no defects are reported. Unit-by-unit reductions are allowed as portions of the work are accepted.

Labor and materials security may be released after the lien-recording period, less the amount of any pending claims. That staggered release means a single tract can carry three live obligations for a year or more: retained defect security, labor and materials security awaiting the lien period and monument security awaiting the Surveyor's certificate.

The County-posted Chapter 18.55 writes insurance scope into the ordinance itself, and the terms reach the subdivider's contractors as well:

• Workers' compensation for the subdivider and its contractors and subcontractors
• General liability naming the County, its governing board, officers, employees and agents as additional insureds
• Blanket contractual liability for the subdivider's indemnity
• Broad form property damage including blasting, collapse and underground utilities, with no x, c or u exclusions
• Products and completed operations coverage, plus separation of insureds
• County insurance treated as excess and noncontributing, with 30 days' notice of cancellation
• Coverage kept in force until one year after acceptance, with certified policy copies and premium receipts due within 30 days of map approval

The zoning ordinance copy the County posts carries a February 2026 date. For wind energy, the soil erosion, sedimentation and revegetation plan must include a surety bond or other security in an amount set by Engineering and Survey Services, and it is required before a grading permit issues. Turbines out of operation for 12 months are treated as abandoned, and an extension beyond two years requires financial assurance in the form of a corporate surety bond, an irrevocable letter of credit or an irrevocable certificate of deposit naming the County as sole beneficiary.

Occupancy before required landscaping is installed calls for financial assurance of 150 percent of the estimated installation cost, with up to a year to install. Surface mining operations post reclamation financial assurance under Public Resources Code section 2773.1, reviewed annually with a 45-day Department of Conservation review. The ordinance copy did not show a decommissioning security for commercial solar or battery storage, so ask the Planning Department whether project conditions impose one.

Local oil and gas permitting in unincorporated Kern runs under Zoning Ordinance Chapter 19.98. The County reports that the 2025 amendment was approved June 26, 2025, and took effect July 28, 2025. Permitting opened January 2, 2026, with applications through Accela and a 2026 new well air quality mitigation fee table. The amended chapter includes sections on idle wells and on plugging and abandonment, and permittees must notify the County within 30 days. Neither the County page nor the chapter text states a County bond or insurance requirement, so contractors on well sites should confirm with the County and the operator which security and insurance terms apply.