In short
Act No. 111 of 22 June 1961 requires every contractor in charge of the construction, reconstruction, enlargement, alteration or repair of a work, building or construction whose estimated cost, as stated in the construction permit, exceeds fifteen thousand dollars, to post a payment bond in favour of the Secretary of Labor and Human Resources. That bond is mandatory and effective from the date work begins, not whenever the contractor gets round to it. It exists to answer for the wages of the workers on the job: if the contractor vanishes or goes under, the bond is what is left. And the warning the Department itself prints on its sheet leaves no room for doubt: any contractor who begins a work, building or construction without having posted the bond the law requires shall be guilty of a felony. The filing is done at the Bureau of Labor Standards with the Bond Certification Application, a copy of the construction permit and of the contract for the work.
What is it?
It is a payment bond the contractor deposits in favour of the Secretary of Labor and Human Resources before starting a work that exceeds the cost threshold. DTRH’s Bureau of Labor Standards administers it and issues the corresponding certification. It is not the owner’s insurance nor a quality guarantee: it is a payment guarantee tied to the protective labour legislation that Bureau administers.
Who can do it?
It reaches every contractor in charge of the construction, reconstruction, enlargement, alteration or repair of a work, building or construction whose estimated cost, as stated in the construction permit issued, exceeds fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000). The threshold is set by the permit, not by the invoice or an informal estimate.
Requirements
- That the work’s estimated cost, as stated in the construction permit, exceed fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000).Verified against the official source
- Posting the bond in favour of the Secretary of Labor and Human Resources before starting the work: it is mandatory and effective from that date.Verified against the official source
Documents you need
Cost
Step by step
Step 1: Look at the permit, not the estimate
The threshold triggering the duty is the work’s estimated cost as stated in the construction permit issued. If that figure exceeds fifteen thousand dollars, the bond must be posted. It is an objective rule and leaves little room: the number is written on the permit.
Step 2: The bond runs from the day work starts
The Department’s sheet puts it thus: the bond shall be mandatory and effective from the date work begins. It is not a filing that can wait until after the first wall goes up. Posting it late does not cure the problem of the period worked without it.
Step 3: What is filed
The Bond Certification Application, form NNT-FCS-5 FR 7-24, and with it: the bond in favour of the Secretary of Labor and Human Resources; a copy of the construction permit granted and of the contract for the work; a copy of the Certificate of Incorporation if the contractor is incorporated; and postal address, physical address and telephone number.
Step 4: How it may be posted
In two ways, each with its own requirement. If presented through an insurance company, the bond must cite the provisions of that Act, state the work guaranteed, the amount guaranteed and the total estimated cost of the work per the construction permit granted. If deposited in cash or certified cheque, a bond contract is signed at the Bureau of Labor Standards itself.
Step 5: The warning the Department itself prints
The sheet reproduces it in quotation marks and it is worth reading in full: "Any contractor who begins a work, building or construction without having posted the bond in favour of the Secretary of Labor that this Act requires shall be guilty of a felony." It is not an administrative fine. The Department closes that paragraph urging compliance.
Step 6: Why it matters to the worker
Because the payment bond is meant to answer for what is owed to the people who worked on the job. The same sheet explains, when describing the parallel bond for security agencies, that the purpose of those bonds in favour of the Secretary is to answer possible claims for wages and other workers’ rights. If you worked on a job and the contractor did not pay, asking the Bureau of Labor Standards whether that job had a bond is worth the effort.
Where to do it
At the Bureau of Labor Standards of the Department of Labor and Human Resources, which administers these bonds and issues the certifications. The Department’s sheet states that for more information on the process or to send documents one may write to normas@trabajo.pr.gov, and that copies of laws and regulations are at www.trabajo.pr.gov.
How long it takes
What to do if something goes wrong
If you are a contractor and the permit says more than fifteen thousand dollars, the bond is not optional and must be in place before the first day of work. If you own the job, asking for the bond certification before signing is a cheap way to know who you are dealing with. If you are a worker who was not paid, ask the Bureau of Labor Standards whether the job had a bond deposited. Three honest caveats. First: this guide comes from the information sheet DTRH publishes, not from the text of Act 111-1961; we could not read the Act because bvirtualogp.pr.gov is serving an expired certificate. Second: the sheet publishes neither the cost of the filing nor how long the certification takes, so we do not invent them. Third: the sheet describes the permit as issued by the Permits Office of the Planning Board, and we report it exactly as published; we did not verify whether that function sits with another body today.
Common mistakes
- Computing the threshold with the informal estimate instead of the estimated cost stated in the construction permit.
- Starting work and posting the bond afterwards: it is mandatory and effective from the date work begins.
- Filing an insurance-company bond that does not state the work guaranteed, the amount guaranteed and the total estimated cost per the permit.
- Forgetting to attach a copy of the construction permit and of the contract for the work.
- Confusing this bond with the security-agency bond or the private employment agency licence, which the same sheet treats separately and which have different requirements.
- Treating the matter as an administrative lapse: the sheet warns that starting without the bond is a felony.
Frequently asked questions
From what amount is the bond required?
When the work’s estimated cost, as stated in the construction permit issued, exceeds fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000).
When must it be posted?
Before starting. The bond is mandatory and effective from the date work begins.
What if the contractor starts without it?
The Department’s sheet says it verbatim: any contractor who begins a work, building or construction without having posted the bond the Act requires shall be guilty of a felony.
May it be deposited in cash?
Yes, in cash or certified cheque, and in that case a bond contract is signed at the Bureau of Labor Standards. The other route is through an insurance company.
What does the filing cost?
DTRH’s sheet publishes no cost for this certification, and we do not invent one here. Nor does it publish a processing term.
Official sources
These are the government pages this guide is based on.
- Departamento del Trabajo y Recursos Humanos (DTRH)
Departamento del Trabajo
www.trabajo.pr.gov
- DTRH — Bureau of Labor Standards
dtrh
www.trabajo.pr.gov
Last verified
September 2, 2026
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