Washington: a bond sized to the registration type
Washington sets its contractor bond at 30,000 dollars for a general contractor and 15,000 dollars for a specialty contractor, on top of liability insurance of 200,000 dollars public liability and 50,000 dollars property damage, or a 250,000-dollar combined single limit.[1]
A homeowner's claim against that bond for breach of contract has to be filed in superior court within two years of the work being finished or abandoned.[2]
Beyond the bond, Washington's Homeowner Recovery Fund can pay an owner-occupant of a home with four units or fewer up to 25,000 dollars, depending on available funds, after a qualifying court judgment.[3]
California: one bond covering every job at once
California's contractor bond sits at 25,000 dollars, and that ceiling is not per project. It is the total available across every job a contractor has open during the life of that single bond.[4]
General liability insurance is not required outright, though CSLB recommends asking for proof of it since it is what covers damage to your property. Workers' compensation is required once a contractor has employees.[4]
Florida: insurance first, a recovery fund behind it
Florida requires proof of workers' compensation plus liability and property damage insurance before a license is issued or renewed. General and building contractors need 300,000 dollars in liability coverage and 50,000 dollars in property damage; other contractor categories need 100,000 dollars and 25,000 dollars.[5]
Its Construction Industries Recovery Fund sits behind all of that, and only pays after a homeowner has already exhausted any available bond, insurance or other security.[6]
For contracts signed on or after July 1, 2024, that fund caps a single Division I claim at 100,000 dollars, and a Division II claim at 30,000 dollars, with higher aggregate limits per contractor license.[7]
Why 'secondary' matters
Florida's structure asks you to chase every other source of recovery first; Washington and California put their bond forward as a more direct first stop, even though the dollar amounts involved are smaller.
The limit that catches people off guard
California's own licensing board notes that a single 25,000-dollar bond can be too small once several homeowners file claims against the same contractor, or when one project's damages simply exceed it.[4]
The same math applies wherever a bond amount is fixed by license type rather than by project size: a 30,000-dollar Washington bond covers a 30,000-dollar bathroom remodel very differently than it covers a claim on a much larger job.[1]
What insurance covers that a bond does not
A bond is there for the contractor's own failures, walking off a job or doing defective work. Liability insurance is what answers for damage the work itself causes to your property, a very different kind of claim.[4]
Asking to see proof, not just take their word
A certificate of insurance, or the name of the carrier and agency, is a reasonable thing to ask for directly rather than trusting a verbal answer.[4]