Every bid on a Washington State Department of Transportation highway contract must come with a 5% bid deposit, and most contractors post it as a surety bond on DOT Form 272-001. The bond guarantees that the winning bidder will sign the contract and furnish the WSDOT contract bond.
| Title / common name | Proposal Bond (WSDOT DOT Form 272-001), the Washington State Department of Transportation bid bond for highway construction proposals WSDOT also publishes a separate Local Agency Proposal Bond (Form 272-001A) for local agency projects. This card covers the WSDOT state form only. |
|---|---|
| Bond type | Contract — bid (proposal) bond |
| Industry / license category | Construction / contract surety |
| Jurisdiction | United States → Washington → Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) → highway construction bidding, chapter 47.28 RCW RCW 47.28.090 says all bids must be under sealed cover and accompanied by a deposit in cash, certified check, cashier’s check or surety bond, and “a bid shall not be considered unless the deposit is enclosed with it”. |
| Obligee | State of Washington The bond reads “held and firmly bound unto the State of Washington”. The surety must be a corporation “authorized to do business in the State of Washington”. |
| Typical penal sum | 5% of the total bid amount The form fixes the sum at “five (5) percent of the total amount of the bid proposal of said principal”, matching the deposit “in an amount equal to five percent of the amount of the bid” in RCW 47.28.090. There is no dollar blank to fill in, so the bond scales with the bid. |
| Who needs it | Contractors bidding WSDOT highway construction projects who use a surety bond instead of a cash, certified check or cashier’s check deposit The form names the principal, the surety and its state of incorporation, and the project being bid. It is signed by the principal, the surety and the surety’s attorney-in-fact. |
| What it covers | That the bidder, if awarded the contract, will sign it and furnish the contract bond The bond is void if the bid is accepted and the principal signs the contract and furnishes “a contract bond as required by the Department of Transportation and RCW 39.08 et. seq.” For WSDOT highway work that contract bond is DOT Form 272-002B. |
| Forfeiture | The deposit is forfeited to the state if the low bidder fails to sign and bond within 20 days of award Under RCW 47.28.100 a successful bidder who does not enter into the contract and furnish satisfactory bond within twenty days from the award (not counting the award day) forfeits the deposit, which goes to the motor vehicle fund. WSDOT may then award to the next lowest responsible bidder and may extend the time by up to 20 more days. Unsuccessful bidders’ deposits are returned. |
| Form number / edition | DOT Form 272-001 · Revised 01/2020 · 1 page Revision date printed on the official PDF, checked 2026-11-02. The WSDOT electronic forms index still lists an older 12/1997 date beside this form; the PDF footer shows the current revision. |
| Effective / cancellation | From bid submission until the contract is signed and the contract bond is furnished, or the bid is rejected The form has no cancellation clause. It becomes “null and void” once the condition is met; otherwise it remains “in full force and effect”. |
| Source | WSDOT DOT Form 272-001 — Proposal Bond (PDF) (official state form · revised 01/2020 · 1 page · linked, not hosted) Also: WSDOT — Electronic forms · RCW 47.28.090 · RCW 47.28.100 |
| Status | current |
| Last verified | 2026-11-02 |
From DOT Form 272-001: “If the said proposal bid by said principal be accepted, and the contract be awarded to said principal, and if said principal shall duly make and enter into and execute said contract and shall furnish a contract bond as required by the Department of Transportation and RCW 39.08 et. seq. then this obligation shall be null and void”.
WSDOT fixes the penal sum in the form text at 5% of the bid. Federal bid bonds on the SF 24 bid bond carry a bid guarantee the contracting officer sets at no less than 20% of the bid price (capped at $3 million) under FAR 28.101-2, and private owners often use the AIA A310-2010 bid bond with the amount set in the bidding documents. In Canada the CCDC 220-2024 bid bond plays the same role, and our bid bonds and CCDC 220 tendering guide explains how bid security is sized and when it is forfeited.
The proposal bond only runs until award. Once WSDOT awards the job, the contractor has 20 days to sign and post the WSDOT 272-002B contract bond for the full contract price. Bidders should confirm their surety will write the final bond before they bid. The contract surety guide covers how sureties pre-qualify bidders, and the Miller Act and little Miller Act guide explains Washington’s public works bond statute in context.
Open the Source link above for the official WSDOT PDF. We summarize field facts and quote one short key clause rather than reproducing the form. Use the current form from WSDOT when bidding; Global Guarantors does not host copies.