Not in Oregon? Browse bonds by state
Oregon landowner water well bonds.
$100 flat.
Before you drill, deepen, or decommission a well on your own land, Oregon's Water Resources Department wants a $10,000 bond on file — unless you hire a licensed well constructor. Ours is $100 flat, set by our carrier's rate book for this bond, with one soft credit pull that never touches your score.
Trusted by industry leaders
Three steps to your permit.
Your landowner well permit waits on this bond. Here's the whole process:
Apply once, online
Business or property-owner details and an effective date. The only extra step is a one-time consent to a soft credit pull.
Approved
Most are approved as soon as you apply. The credit check is a soft pull that never affects your score. If it needs a second look, one to two business days at most.
File with the Water Resources Department
Your executed bond arrives by email, ready to file with your landowner well construction permit application. Wet-ink originals mailed when the Department insists.
What it is and who needs it.
What the bond actually guarantees
Oregon lets a landowner construct, alter, convert, or abandon a water supply well on their own land without a Water Supply Well Constructor's license — but only with a landowner permit and a $10,000 bond on file first. The bond is a compliance guarantee that the work meets Oregon's well-construction standards.
It's a three-party arrangement: you (the principal), the surety carrier, and the State of Oregon (the obligee). If your well work violates ORS 537.505 to 537.795 or the Water Resources Commission's construction rules and someone is harmed — including the state, by having to remediate — they can recover against the bond.
The bond covers each well for three years after the well report is filed. Only the owner of record, an immediate family member, or a non-well-drilling full-time employee may run the rig under a landowner permit. If the surety pays a claim, you repay the surety — so do the work to standard and the bond is a formality.
You need this bond if you're
One application, issued instantly.
These are the actual underwriting fields, including a one-time consent to a soft credit pull. Submit once and your bond is issued when you pay.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Oregon bonds.
Your well permit waits on one document.
$100 flat, short application, bond issued when you pay. Free until issued.