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DC conditions a refrigeration and air conditioning contractor license on a $5,000 trade bond filed with the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection. Our carrier's rate book prices this bond at a flat $100. The bond issues the moment you pay — no credit review of any kind, not even a soft pull.
















Trade license bonds are about the simplest thing in surety. Here's the entire process:
Business details and an effective date. No financials, no credit section, no follow-up scavenger hunt.
Small fixed-amount trade bonds like this are among the bond types that issue right after purchase.
Your executed bond arrives by email, ready to file with your DLCP refrigeration/A/C contractor license. Wet-ink original mailed on request.
The District licenses construction trades — including refrigeration and air conditioning — through the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection (DLCP) and its Board of Industrial Trades. The license is conditioned on a $5,000 surety bond standing behind your compliance with the District's licensing and trade regulations.
It's a three-party arrangement: you (the principal), the surety carrier, and the District of Columbia (the obligee), with the public as the protected party. If a contractor violates the trade regulations and someone is harmed, they can recover against the bond.
It is not insurance for you — if the surety pays a valid claim, you repay the surety. The bond runs on a fixed statutory cycle (DC refrigeration/A/C bonds generally expire September 30), and it must stay continuous for your license to stay valid; we send renewal notices 60 and 30 days out.
These are the actual issuing fields — no credit section, because this bond doesn't collect credit information.
Start the application →$100 flat, no credit review, bond often issued in the same sitting. Free until issued.