Surety Bonds

Overview

Surety bonds help protect consumers who hire Technical Safety BC licensed gas and electrical contractors.

We require a $10,000 surety bond prior to issuing or renewing an electrical or gas contractor licence. If the licensed gas or electrical contractor neglects or refuses to rectify non-compliances that they are responsible for as documented on the Certificate of Inspection, the provincial safety manager may call the bond, requiring the surety to hire a licensed contractor to correct or rectify the non-compliances up to the maximum amount $10,000.

Surety Bond Requirements

To be considered valid, electronically submitted bonds must contain all of the following information:

• Bond number
• Bond Amount: $10,000
• Full legal business name or sole proprietor’s own legal name. The name on the bond must match the business name or the sole proprietor’s own legal name, whichever is provided on the application. Business names must match exactly with the full legal business name registered in BC.
• Obligee: British Columbia Safety Authority. The name of the “Obligee” listed on the bond should be “British Columbia Safety Authority” as this remains our legal name
• Principal’s signature
• Insurer’s signature
• Seal
• Date

Calling a Bond

If a provincial safety manager calls a bond, the licence is suspended. Once the licence is suspended, the contractor is no longer authorized to obtain permits or perform regulated work in the province until a new bond is submitted.

A safety manager may choose to call a bond under the following circumstances:

• In the case of non-compliances which also pose a safety hazard;
• Where the contractor refuses to rectify the deficiency after adequate notice;
• Where the contractor cannot be located or is believed to be out of business;
• Where the contractor is legally unable to perform the work himself or herself, for example due to expiry, suspension or revocation of any necessary permission; or
• In some circumstances where the contractor is physically unable to do the work, such as due to accident or illness.