Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 43, § 29 (2026)

Public contracts; form; required approvals; bond, etc

✓ current as of July 2026

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Section 29. All contracts made by any department, board or commission where the amount involved is five thousand dollars or more shall be in writing, and no such contract shall be deemed to have been made or executed until the approval of the mayor under Plan A, B, C or F, or of the city manager under Plan D or E, and also of the officer or the head of the department or of the chairman of the board, as the case may be, making the contract is affixed thereto. Any contract made as aforesaid may be required to be accompanied by a bond with sureties satisfactory to the board or official having the matter in charge, or by a deposit of money, certified check or other security for the faithful performance thereof, and such bonds or other securities shall be deposited with the city treasurer until the contract has been carried out in all respects; and no such contract shall be altered except by a written agreement of the contractor, the sureties on his bond, if any, and the officer, department or board, as the case may be, making the contract, with the approval of the mayor under Plan A, B, C, D or F, or of the city manager under Plan E, affixed thereto. Any cash deposit or check payable to a city received as security for performance under this section may be deposited by said treasurer in any bank or trust company under a separate account to be known as a performance deposit account.

The provisions of this section shall be deemed to have been complied with on all purchases made under the provisions of sections twenty-two A and twenty-two B of chapter seven when one municipality acting on behalf of other municipalities complies with the provisions of this section, or when purchases are made from a vendor holding a contract with the commonwealth for the item or items being purchased.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 19 cases, 1932–2016 · leading case: Park Drive Towing, Inc. v. City of Revere, 809 N.E.2d 1045 (Mass. 2004).

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Park Drive Towing, Inc. v. City of Revere, 809 N.E.2d 1045 (Mass. 2004). · cites it 11× “The defendants rely primarily on G. L. c. 43, § 29, which sets forth requirements for municipal contracts.”

Lumarose Equip. Corp. v. City of Springfield, 446 N.E.2d 1087 (Mass. App. Ct. 1983). · cites it 6× “By its counterclaim the city sought (among other things) recovery of various amounts claimed to have been paid to the plaintiff in violation of G. L. c. 43, § 29, as most recently amended by St.”

Boston Taxi Owners Ass'n v. City of Boston, 180 F. Supp. 3d 108 (D. Mass. 2016). “principle that a party dealing with a city or town cannot recover if statutory requirements [such as those contained in G.L. c. 43, § 29] have not been observed.”

Richard D. Kimball Co. v. City of Medford, 166 N.E.2d 708 (Mass. 1960). · cites it 2× “Other than the above mentioned letters there was no contract “in writing” between either Tiffany or Kimball and the city.”

B & R Realty Co. v. Springfield Redevelopment Auth., 708 F. Supp. 450 (D. Mass. 1989). · cites it 4× “Applicability of Mass.Gen.Laws ch. 43, § 29 and Section 4-08.”

City of Boston v. Massachusetts Bay Transp. Auth., 370 N.E.2d 1359 (Mass. 1977). “G. L. c. 43, § 29, as amended through St.”

United States Leasing Corp. v. City of Chicopee, 521 N.E.2d 741 (Mass. 1988). “G. L. c. 43, § 29 (1986 ed.). The city’s motion was granted on April 21, 1982.”

Massachusetts Gen. Hosp. v. City of Revere, 434 N.E.2d 185 (Mass. 1982). “G. L. c. 43, § 29. Except in an emergency, a city department could not incur liabilities in excess of its appropriation.”

Urban Transp., Inc. v. Mayor of Boston, 369 N.E.2d 1135 (Mass. 1977). “Mayor of Fall River, supra at 234-237, the petitioner, a transportation company, unsuccessfully argued that the broad powers of school committees precluded any construction of G. L. c. 43, § 29 (similar to St. 1890, c.”

Archambault v. Mayor of Lowell, 180 N.E. 157 (Mass. 1932). · cites it 2× “There is no specific finding that the mayor in approving the contract as required by G. L. c. 43, § 29, acted in bad faith or arbitrarily.”

Park Drive Towing, Inc. v. City of Revere, 800 N.E.2d 331 (Mass. App. Ct. 2003). · cites it 4× “Two judges of the Superior Court disagreed, and with a bow to G. L. c. 43, § 29, they separately ruled in the defendants’ favor on the defendants’ motions for summary judgment and dismissed Park Drive’s complaint in its entirety.”

Sullivan v. Sch. Comm. of Revere, 202 N.E.2d 612 (Mass. 1964). “632 , on which the plaintiff relies, we held that the committee in making a three year contract with a one year renewal option with a football coach 1 was not limited by G. L. c. 43, § 29, that requires in part that “ [a] 11 contracts made by any department, board or commission…”

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