Fresno County Bonds and Insurance for Tracts, Road Encroachments and Water-Short Land

The clearest County figures come from one executed agreement: Agreement No. 21-485 for Tract 6189 in the Millerton Specific Plan, approved by the Board of Supervisors on November 16, 2021. These are that project's terms, not a published County formula, and the Ordinance Code text could not be read for this page. The Board agenda item for the tract describes three securities under Ordinance Code Section 17.56.040: a performance and maintenance security, a labor and materials security and a monumentation bond for survey monuments.

The agreement states a performance and maintenance security of $3,746,249.65, described as 100 percent of the estimated on-site improvement cost, a labor and materials security at 50 percent of the estimated cost of the required on-site improvements and $5,000 to secure placement of survey monuments. The performance security also stands behind changes that do not exceed 10 percent of the original estimate. Partial reductions were allowed in increments of $3,000,000 or more, at 90 percent of each increment.

After acceptance, the security steps down to a maintenance amount. The agreement maintains the new roads for two years after completion and electrical and mechanical work, basins, landscaping and lighting for one year. For a surety, that means the bond can stay outstanding well past acceptance, subject to underwriting and the terms of the bonds issued.

Section 10 of the same agreement set the subdivider's insurance: general liability with at least $1,000,000 each occurrence and a $2,000,000 annual aggregate; auto liability of $250,000 per person and $500,000 per accident for bodily injury and $50,000 property damage, or a $500,000 combined single limit; professional liability of $1,000,000 per claim and $3,000,000 aggregate if licensed professional staff are used; and workers' compensation. The County was to be an additional insured, coverage primary, with 30 days' notice and insurers rated A.M. Best A FSC VII.

Section 9.C added a broad indemnity of the County, its Board, officers and employees. Whether a GL policy responds to liability assumed under that indemnity typically depends on the insured-contract definition and any endorsements that narrow it, and it can vary by carrier guidelines and programs. The professional liability term catches developers that use in-house engineers or surveyors, a cost many tract budgets do not plan for.

A Board item dated March 22, 2022, for Tract 5990 in the Shaver Lake area shows a release in practice. On acceptance, the Board reduced the performance and maintenance security from $702,064 to $102,500, about 14.6 percent, leaving that amount to secure maintenance by the subdivider for two years, and it released the $319,120 labor and materials security and the $5,000 monumentation security.

The same item is internally inconsistent: the body places the improvements into a two-year warranty period, while its fiscal paragraph refers to a one-year warranty period. Do not rely on either sentence for your own tract. Read the warranty and maintenance terms in your executed agreement and confirm the current requirement with the County before you plan the bond's release date.

The County's 2024 Road Encroachment Application is issued under Ordinance Code Sections 13.04.040, 13.08.010 and 13.08.020 and Chapter 5.5 of the Streets and Highways Code. The applicant indemnifies the County and its officers, employees and agents. The form also carries a bond number field. The County reserves the right to require a performance bond of an amount warranted by the nature of the work and may require a deposit before it makes repairs. The permittee maintains the surface over anything placed under the permit for one year after acceptance, and work follows the Fresno County Improvement Standards dated October 1966.

The form states no fixed bond amount and no insurance limits, and County encroachment insurance requirements were not confirmed for this page. Ask the Road Maintenance and Operations Division what bond, deposit and certificate it will expect before pricing the job. The Road Improvement Application for curb, gutter and approaches carries the same terms. That one-year surface duty is a completed-operations exposure for utility and paving contractors, separate from any tract security.

Water rules can stop a County project before any bond is called. County Environmental Health permits the installation of wells, but Groundwater Sustainability Agencies regulate their use in critically overdrafted subbasins working toward a 2040 sustainability target, and the County states that it cannot enforce or negotiate a GSA's requirements. A well permit is valid for 180 days.

In mapped water-short areas, a County Public Works and Planning document states that building permits issue only on evidence that adequate water is available, such as a will-serve letter or a certified well yield test lasting 4 to 48 hours with minimum rates that vary by season. That document is undated and its file data suggests 2009, so confirm it is current. A failed yield test or a GSA restriction can push a schedule out, which is a soft-cost and delay question for the developer's builders risk.

A Board item dated April 21, 2026, for Tract 6382 in Prather shows the County annexing the subdivider's land into Community Facilities District No. 2006-01 for Sheriff services, with private roads maintained by owners under a cost-sharing agreement. That item lists no securities, a reminder that conditions differ tract by tract.

Start with the executed or draft subdivision agreement: security amounts, reduction steps, maintenance periods, insurance limits and the indemnity. Then confirm water supply, encroachment bond and deposit terms and any CFD annexation. Surety capacity, liability limits and builders risk for site and road work typically follow from those documents. To discuss a specific County project, request a quote or call 844-978-7283.