Washington State Department of Transportation highway contractors post one contract bond that does the work of two: it guarantees performance of the contract and payment of workers, subcontractors, suppliers and state taxes. DOT Form 272-002B is the WSDOT form, and RCW 39.08 sets the full contract price as the penal sum.
| Title / common name | Contract Bond — Highway Construction (WSDOT DOT Form 272-002B), Washington State Department of Transportation contract bond One instrument that combines a performance bond and a payment bond. Federal and private-sector practice usually splits these into two bonds, such as the SF 25 performance bond and SF 25A payment bond. |
|---|---|
| Bond type | Contract — combined performance and payment bond (public works) |
| Industry / license category | Construction / contract surety |
| Jurisdiction | United States → Washington → Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) → public works contractor’s bond, chapter 39.08 RCW RCW 39.08.010 requires a public body contracting for work to take a bond from a surety company conditioned on performance, payment of laborers, subcontractors and suppliers, and the listed taxes. |
| Obligee | State of Washington The bond text reads “jointly and severally held and bound unto the State of Washington”. The form is executed for WSDOT by the Secretary of Transportation and carries the Surety Bond No. and the WSDOT Contract No. |
| Typical penal sum | The full contract price RCW 39.08.030(1)(a) says the bond “must be in an amount equal to the full contract price agreed to be paid for such work or improvement”. On contracts of $150,000 or less, the contractor may choose to have the public entity retain 10 percent of the contract amount instead of a bond (RCW 39.08.010(3)). |
| Who needs it | Contractors awarded a WSDOT highway construction contract The form is signed by the contractor’s authorized signer and by the surety’s attorney-in-fact, with the bonding agent’s name, mailing address and phone number. WSDOT marks the attorney-in-fact as “verified as an authorized signer” on the form. |
| What it covers | Faithful performance of the contract until the work is accepted, payment of everyone who supplies labor, materials or provisions, and payment of the listed state taxes The condition covers all approved change orders as if they were in the original contract; payment of “all laborers, mechanics, subcontractors, and material providers” and of anyone supplying provisions and supplies to the contractor or a subcontractor; and taxes under Titles 50, 51 and 82 RCW (unemployment insurance, industrial insurance and excise taxes). The contract itself is incorporated into the bond by reference. |
| Claims on the bond | Labor, subcontractor and supplier claimants must file a written notice of claim within 30 days after the contract is completed and the work is accepted Under RCW 39.08.030, claimants other than the state (for taxes) have no right of action on the bond unless they file the notice with the public body within that 30-day window. See the statute for the notice wording and suit rules. |
| Form number / edition | DOT Form 272-002B · Revised 07/2021 · 2 pages Revision date printed on both pages of the official PDF, re-checked 2026-10-30. WSDOT publishes it on its electronic forms index alongside the companion 272-001 Proposal Bond. |
| Effective / cancellation | In force from execution until the contract is performed, the work accepted and the payment conditions met The form has no surety cancellation clause. It is “void” only once the principal has performed and paid as the condition requires; otherwise it stays “in full force and effect”. |
| Source | WSDOT DOT Form 272-002B — Contract Bond, Highway Construction (PDF) (official state form · revised 07/2021 · 2 pages · linked, not hosted) Also: WSDOT — Electronic forms · RCW 39.08.010 · RCW 39.08.030 |
| Status | current |
| Last verified | 2026-10-30 |
From DOT Form 272-002B: “This bond shall cover all approved change orders as if they were in the original contract.”
And the condition requires the principal to “pay all laborers, mechanics, subcontractors, and material providers, and all persons who shall supply such contractor or subcontractor with provisions and supplies for the carrying on of such work”.
WSDOT uses a single penal sum for both performance and payment, which follows the one-bond structure of RCW 39.08.010. Federal projects split the two under the Miller Act, with the SF 25 performance bond and the SF 25A payment bond, and private owners usually use the paired AIA A312-2010 performance and payment bonds. In Canada the comparable pair is the CCDC 221-2024 performance bond with CCDC 222. Our Miller Act and little Miller Act guide explains how state public works bond statutes like RCW 39.08 compare.
The 30-day notice window after acceptance is short, so track the acceptance date on WSDOT jobs. Our subcontractor payment bond claim guide walks through notices, documentation and timing, and the contract surety guide covers how sureties underwrite and handle claims on contract bonds.
Open the Source link above for the official WSDOT PDF. We summarize field facts and quote short key clauses rather than reproducing the form. Use the current form from WSDOT when filing; Global Guarantors does not host copies.