Who this applies to
Every Nevada contractor's license comes with a bond requirement. Each applicant, and each licensee at renewal, in every classification, posts a surety bond or a cash deposit in its place [1]. What varies is the amount. The Nevada State Contractors Board (NSCB) sets it contractor by contractor, anywhere from $1,000 to $500,000 [1], and there is no published dollar schedule by license class.
Three other provisions reach particular contractors:
- Residential pool and spa contractors post a second bond or cash deposit, solely for the benefit of consumers who contracted for residential pool or spa work, within a range of $10,000 to $400,000 under NRS 624.276 [1].
- A contractor with three substantiated wage claims in 2 years must have a bond or deposit imposed by the Board under NRS 624.270(6) [1].
- Pool and spa or residential photovoltaic contractors who have violated NRS 624.301 to 624.305, or had contracts voided, can be required to furnish performance and payment bonds of at least 50% of the contract amount [1].
Unlike the license bond, the pool and spa bond has a published schedule. NAC 624.69575(2) sets the amount by the greater of the prior or expected 12-month aggregate value of residential pool and spa contracts [1]:
- $25,000 or less: $10,000 [1]
- $25,001 to $50,000: $15,000 [1]
- $50,001 to $100,000: $30,000 [1]
- $100,001 to $250,000: $50,000 [1]
- $250,001 to $500,000: $100,000 [1]
- $500,001 to $1,000,000: $200,000 [1]
- $1,000,001 to $5,000,000: $300,000 [1]
- more than $5,000,000: $400,000 [1]
What the rule says
NRS 624.270 tells the Board to fix each bond or deposit with reference to the contractor's financial and professional responsibility and the magnitude of its operations, within the $1,000 floor and $500,000 ceiling [1]. The Board's licensing page spells out what it weighs: the type of license, the monetary limit, past, present or future financial responsibility, experience, and the applicant's character [2]. The bond is in favor of the State of Nevada, for the benefit of owners, laborers, material suppliers and others damaged by the contractor, under NRS 624.273 [1].
How to comply
- The amount comes from the Board, not from a table: for the license bond, the NSCB decides it within the statutory range [1].
- A cash deposit can take the place of a surety bond; it carries a $200 biennial administrative fee [3].
- After 5 consecutive years licensed in Nevada, the Board may relieve a licensee of the license bond under NRS 624.270(5) [1], and it may relieve a pool or spa contractor of that second bond after 5 consecutive years of licensure [1].
- Residential contractors also pay a biennial Recovery Fund assessment under NRS 624.470, which is not a bond: up to $200 for a monetary limit of not more than $1,000,000, $500 for a limit of more than $1,000,000 that is still limited, or $1,000 for an unlimited license [1].
The Board's site is nvcontractorsboard.com, and the amount set for a particular license is the NSCB's to confirm.
What changed recently
NRS 624.270 was last amended in 2021 [1]. The pool and spa schedule in NAC 624.69575 was last amended by regulation R047-23, effective April 19, 2024 [1].
Related
- Contractor license bond cost calculator, once the Board has set the amount.
- All states' bond requirements, side by side.