Maine Surety Bonds
Contractor License & Permit Bonds in Maine
Find the exact license, permit, right-of-way, or public-works bond your Maine obligee requires — by city, county, and the state. Maine bonds are quoted, not issued online — request a quote and a licensed producer follows up.
How contractor bonding works in Maine
In Maine, the bond contractors most often need is contract surety
Maine does not license or bond contractors at the state level, so the surety bond a Maine contractor actually needs is usually contract surety — a bid bond, performance bond, or payment bond on a construction project. On Maine public works — for the Department of Transportation (MaineDOT), the Bureau of General Services, or a municipality — a contractor furnishes a performance bond and a labor-and-materials payment bond on the awarded contract, and a bid bond as the proposal guaranty. Maine’s Public Works Contractors’ Surety Bond Law of 1971 (14 M.R.S. §871) requires the performance and payment bonds on any public contract exceeding $125,000, each in the full amount of the contract. Private project owners ask for the same bonds. The amount tracks the contract, so it is set per project and confirmed when you request your bond.
Maine does not license contractors or require a state contractor bond
If you searched for a “Maine contractor license bond,” here is the honest answer: there is no statewide contractor surety bond in Maine, because Maine does not license or register contractors at the state level at all. The state’s Home Construction Contracts Act (10 M.R.S. Chapter 219-A) requires a written, signed contract for residential work over $3,000 — covering price, schedule, warranty, and a consumer-protection addendum — but it is a contract requirement, not a bond, and it creates no license, registration, or board. Maine’s licensed trades, electricians and plumbers, are exam-and-license credentials with no state bond either. So the aggregators selling a “Maine contractor license bond” are describing something the state does not require. What a Maine contractor genuinely posts is contract surety and, in many cities, a municipal street-opening bond.
Many Maine cities require a street-opening bond
Maine’s municipal layer is a real set, not an afterthought: a number of cities require a contractor to post a bond before cutting into a public street, sidewalk, or right-of-way. The City of Biddeford fixes its requirement by code — a $4,000 street-opening bond a contractor must post before the permit is approved (Biddeford Code Ch. 62). It is the one Maine municipal bond with a flat, mandatory amount. Every other city sets the bond as one option among several — a surety bond or a cash deposit, certified check, escrow, or letter of credit — or sizes it per permit or by the public-works director, so there is no single dollar figure to publish. We carry the Portland, Lewiston, Bangor, South Portland, Augusta, and Saco street-opening and excavation bonds without a fixed dollar on the page and confirm the exact figure when you request your bond.
How Maine bonds are issued
Because Maine’s bonds are contract surety and obligee-set municipal bonds rather than fixed state license bonds, they are individually quoted — there is no instant-issue online portal for Maine. Tell us the project or the city, the bond, and the contract or work, and a licensed producer follows up with the exact bond. Request a quote on any Maine bond page or from the form on this page.
Maine bonds we write
Contractor License & Permit Bonds
Bid Bonds
Statewide / General-Use Bonds
Performance & Payment Bonds
Statewide / General-Use Bonds
Underwritten bonds in Maine
Bid, performance, and payment bonds are individually underwritten — request a quote rather than the instant portal:
Maine surety bond FAQ
- Does Maine require a state contractor license bond?
- No. Maine does not license or register contractors at the state level, so there is no statewide contractor license or surety bond. Its Home Construction Contracts Act (10 M.R.S. Chapter 219-A) requires a written contract for residential work over $3,000 — not a bond. Electricians and plumbers are licensed by exam and insured, not bonded.
- What bonds do Maine contractors actually need?
- Contract surety. On public works — MaineDOT, the Bureau of General Services, or a municipality — and on many private projects, a contractor posts a bid bond to bid, then a performance bond and a payment bond on the awarded contract. The amount tracks the contract.
- Are Maine public-works performance and payment bonds required by law?
- Yes. Maine’s Public Works Contractors’ Surety Bond Law of 1971 (14 M.R.S. §871) requires a performance bond and a payment bond, each equal to the full contract amount, on any State, municipal, or quasi-municipal public-works contract exceeding $125,000. Bid security is required when the contracting authority directs.
- Does Maine have municipal contractor bonds?
- Yes — a real set. Biddeford fixes a $4,000 street-opening bond by code, and Portland, Lewiston, Bangor, South Portland, Augusta, and Saco each require a street-opening or excavation bond before a contractor cuts into a public street. Most of those cities accept a cash deposit, escrow, or letter of credit in lieu of the surety bond, or set the amount per permit.
- How are Maine bonds issued — can I get one online instantly?
- Maine bonds are individually quoted rather than issued from an instant portal, because the amounts are set by the contract or the local obligee. Request a quote with your project or city and the bond, and a licensed producer follows up with the exact bond.
- Who is Wexford Bonds?
- Wexford Bonds is the surety bond brand of Wexford Insurance, LLC, licensed in 48 states. In Maine we write contract surety — bid, performance, and payment bonds for public-works and private projects — and the municipal street-opening bonds (Biddeford, Portland, Lewiston, Bangor, South Portland, Augusta, Saco). Maine bonds are individually quoted; request a quote and a licensed producer follows up.
Request a bond quote
Tell us about the bond and the project. A licensed producer follows up — these bonds are individually underwritten, so they are not issued instantly.
Get bonded in Maine
Find your bond above, then request a quote — Maine bonds are individually quoted, and a licensed producer follows up to walk you through it.