Bexar County Warranty Bonds, Right-of-Way Insurance and Floodplain Rules

The City of San Antonio's performance agreement form, with a January 2024 footer, says a plat may be recorded only after the improvements are completed and accepted by the City and the County if applicable, or after a guarantee is filed. The guarantee is payable to the City and can be a performance bond, an irrevocable trust agreement, cash or a cashier's check or an irrevocable standby letter of credit, each in an amount equal to the cost estimate of the uncompleted and unaccepted improvements.

The form sets a three-year horizon. Improvements are to be built within three years, plat approval expires after three years and a letter of credit may not expire before three years and 90 days from plat approval. The City reviews the guarantee's adequacy periodically, and a top-up must be provided within 30 days of a request, which a surety will want to know about when it writes the bond.

How this form applies to a Bexar County plat outside the ETJ was not verified. For ETJ plats, the City guarantee and the County warranty bond are separate instruments with different obligees, so the developer may carry both at different points in the project.

Bexar County's Extended Warranty Bond Procedures were updated October 10, 2011, to reflect UDC changes effective January 1, 2011. The County still links them from its subdivision plats page. Because the procedure is that old, confirm with Public Works that it is current before relying on its figures. As posted, the bond equals 10% of the construction estimate or $25,000, whichever is greater, under UDC Section 35-501(h), and must run for 18 months. The current text of that UDC section was not read for this page.

Accepted forms are a bond, letter of credit or trust agreement from a surety authorized in Texas, or a cashier's check or cash, payable to the Bexar County Judge. The bond is posted before the developer requests final inspection of streets and drains. The warranty period is one year, starting on the later of plat recording or passing final inspection, and the County's maintenance bond template describes the developer's duty to maintain the work for at least one year against settlement, defective workmanship or defective materials, with the surety naming a Texas resident agent.

Release follows Commissioners Court acceptance and the County Engineer's acceptance letter, and the procedure states that no partial release will be allowed at any time. The procedure applies only to streets and drains dedicated to the public and maintained by the County; private streets in planned unit developments and enclaves are excluded.

The County's permit verification guidance, updated October 2025, says a Bexar County right-of-way permit is required for all work within a county maintained right of way. The right-of-way permits page lists fees of $35 per driveway, $75 for a median opening, $75 for an auxiliary lane and $35 per utility service line or activity. The utility permit requirements, updated February 2015, call for a separate permit for each construction activity. No right-of-way bond is stated on these pages, so ask the County whether one applies.

The permits page links to a County contractor liability insurance document, last modified in 2015. It asks for general liability of $1,000,000 aggregate with $500,000 bodily injury and $500,000 property damage each occurrence, including explosion, collapse and underground risks and pollution legal liability, with the County named as an additional insured. Auto liability is $1,000,000 aggregate and each occurrence, and workers' compensation is statutory with a waiver of subrogation for the County. Coverage must be primary and noncontributory, certificates and endorsements are due before execution and the County gets 30 days' notice of changes.

The document reads as a template, so how it applies to an individual permit is not stated; confirm the terms with Public Works. Even so, the pollution legal liability and underground wording are worth checking now, because many contractor liability forms restrict both, and adding them can vary by carrier guidelines and programs.

The County's floodplain development permit requirements cite the Bexar County Flood Damage Prevention Court Order effective August 22, 2023. Residential lowest floors must be elevated at least one foot above the current effective or the ultimate base flood elevation, whichever is greater. Flood studies must show no off-site rise, drainage easements must contain the ultimate condition and any required FEMA map revision needs County approval before the San Antonio Planning Commission and before recordation. The full order was not read for this page.

The permit guidance adds a $50 floodplain permit for work within 100 feet of a FEMA 1% floodplain and storm water quality and post-construction permits when one or more acres are disturbed. In the ETJ, the City sets detention requirements or a fee in lieu of detention. Over the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone, TCEQ requires an approved water pollution abatement plan before regulated construction begins.

Each of these steps can move the schedule and the bond dates. They also point to pollution and water damage exposures for site and drainage contractors, where contractors pollution liability and builders risk on drainage structures are often part of the program.

Bexar County Public Works' projected contracts list, dated September 2026, shows a pipeline of flood control and road work. It includes the Grosenbacher Road low water crossing at $3.3 million, the Cagnon Road bridge at $21.7 million, listed for the first quarter of 2027 and low water crossings on Zigmont Road ($5.6 million), Hollowell Road ($6.0 million), Jarratt Road ($8.0 million) and Wheeler Road ($5.1 million). Alamo Regional Mobility Authority projects on the list include Alamo Ranch Parkway at $90.0 million and Walzem Road at the Union Pacific crossing at $45.8 million.

For civil contractors, public work of this kind typically brings bid, performance and payment bonds and the owner's insurance terms, which can differ from the private right-of-way document. Surety capacity used on these contracts also affects what is available for private subdivision work in the same season.