San Bernardino County Improvement Security, Permit Deposits and Flood Control Insurance Terms

Section 87.07.040 requires the owner to enter, as contractor, into an improvement agreement with the Board when improvements are not complete before the parcel or final map is approved. Security may be a corporate surety bond, a deposit of money or negotiable bonds or a letter or instrument of credit, at the option of and subject to the approval of the Board, and bonds must be substantially in the Subdivision Map Act forms.

The posted code sets ranges rather than single figures. Faithful performance security is not less than 100 percent of the total estimated cost. Labor and materials security, which secures payment to contractors, subcontractors and suppliers, is not less than 50 percent nor more than 100 percent. Costs and attorney's fees are added to the face amount. Because the labor and materials percentage can reach 100 percent, ask the County which figure applies before the surety prices the bonds.

The readable copy is the County's full Development Code PDF dated April 24, 2014, whose Section 87.07.040 pages cite Ordinance 4011 from 2007 and Ordinance 4116 from 2010. The current online code could not be read for this page, so confirm the current text with Land Use Services or Public Works before relying on these percentages.

Warranty security under the posted code is not more than 25 percent of the total estimated cost, held for 12 months after completion and acceptance, and the Director of Public Works sets the amount. It is released if no claims of defective work have been filed with the Board during that year, so a punch-list dispute can hold the bond open.

If the work is not complete within two years of the agreement, the Board may forfeit the performance security to the County or the Flood Control District. That two-year window shapes the schedule a surety will accept and the capacity a developer should reserve for a slow phase.

Exoneration follows inspection. The Director of Public Works inspects the improvements, except flood control works, which the Flood Control Engineer inspects. Performance security is released on completion and acceptance, and labor and materials security is reduced to the total of recorded lien claims or released in full.

Lien agreements are closed. The posted code states that no lien agreement or extension is valid unless entered into on or before Dec. 31, 2015, so new maps generally rely on bonds, cash or credit instruments.

Landscaping carries its own security when the Director requires it. The posted Development Code calls for surety equal to 120 percent of the total value of all plant materials, irrigation equipment, installation and maintenance, posted for two years. That is a separate line from the improvement agreement and can sit on the developer's surety program after the streets are accepted.

Street trees in residential subdivisions are guaranteed for a minimum of one year after acceptance of the tract or until 80 percent of the units are occupied, whichever is later. On a slow-selling tract the occupancy test can stretch the obligation well past a year, which matters to the builder, the landscape subcontractor and anyone buying lots mid-phase.

The Department of Public Works fee schedule effective July 1, 2026, states that security deposits may be required at application and lists a $3,000 deposit for a tract permit, $1,000 for an excavation permit and $200 for a special event permit. Permit fees are $271 for encroachment, $311 for construction, $491 for a tract permit and $753 for a road closure. Tract inspection is billed at actual cost with an initial deposit of three-quarters of 1 percent of the value of the work, and non-tract public road improvements carry an initial inspection deposit of $1,112 for commercial and $560 for residential work.

The General Permit Conditions, updated Sept. 1, 2019, require the permittee to indemnify, hold harmless and defend the County, citing County Code Section 51.0113. Crews give the inspector 2 working days' notice, call DigAlert 48 hours ahead and notify residents and businesses within a 300-foot segment at least 5 working days before work. The conditions state no insurance limits, though road closure approval may be contingent on insurance documents, so request the current certificate terms with the permit.

The San Bernardino County Flood Control District states that a certificate of insurance is required from the permittee or contractor before permit issuance. Its certificate form, revised July 2021, sets liability at not less than $1,000,000 per occurrence and names the District and the County, with their elected officials, employees, agents and volunteers, as additional insureds.

The form also requires primary wording, coverage valid for at least one calendar year from the permit date, an insurer rated AM Best VII/A- or better and admitted in California and 30 days' written notice of cancellation, or 10 days for nonpayment. A contractor whose policy renews mid-year, or whose carrier is nonadmitted, may need to adjust before the District will issue the permit. Whether a given policy can meet these terms is subject to underwriting and the terms of the policies issued.

The Development Code's Fire Safety Overlay divides fire-prone land into three areas: FS1 in the mountains and foothills, generally within the San Bernardino National Forest boundary; FS2 at the mountain-desert interface; and FS3 in the Valley wildland-urban interface, subject to Santa Ana wind conditions. Applications in the overlay go to the fire authority, whose recommendations become conditions of approval. A later countywide overlay amendment exists, so confirm the current map. Wildfire exposure can affect builders risk terms and where the property can be placed.

Growth is concentrated in the Valley. The Countywide Plan draft report, which projects 2016 to 2040, focuses employment growth in unincorporated parts of the Valley region, particularly the Fontana sphere of influence, the East Valley Area Plan and Bloomington, and residential growth in Bloomington and master planned communities in the Apple Valley sphere of influence. Industrial builders working beside Fontana or Ontario should check whether a site is County land or city land before relying on either agency's bond schedule.