Someone just handed you a number with a signature line under it.
Before you sign, let it be read by someone who isn't getting paid either way. I go through it line by line — what's in it, what quietly isn't, which allowances will come back as change orders, and what Maine law requires it to say. You get it back marked up and a list of what to ask for.
- Your proposal returned marked up
- A written list of what to change
- Thirty minutes on the phone
- Questions drafted for the contractor
Maine leaves more of this to you than most states.
Maine doesn't license general contractors. No state exam, no board, no number to look up. The Attorney General's office says so plainly.
Residential jobs over $3,000 must be written, cap the deposit at a third, and carry start and completion dates, a warranty, and written change orders.
An unpaid subcontractor can put a mechanic's lien on your house even when you paid your contractor everything you owed.
Maine Home Construction Contracts Act, 10 M.R.S. §§1486–1490, and the Attorney General's guide to home construction and repair.
The gap between what you think you're buying and what the paper says.
Most proposals aren't dishonest. They're written by the person who wrote them, for the person who wrote them.
Scope and money
- Work described specifically enough to hold someone to
- Exclusions — the stated ones and the missing ones
- Allowances, and whether the numbers are real
- Site work, demolition, disposal, permit fees
- Who pulls the permits and books the inspections — in writing
- Who supplies what, and who eats a delay
- Fixed price, cost-plus, or something in between
Terms and protection
- Deposit against the one-third statutory cap
- Payments tied to progress, not the calendar
- Start and substantial completion dates
- Written change orders and how they get priced
- Workmanship warranty language
- Insurance certificates and lien waivers on payment
A few things people ask.
Will this make my contractor difficult to work with?
A good one won't mind a clear question about an allowance. Several have told me they'd rather have that conversation now than during framing. If asking reasonable questions in writing costs you the relationship, that was useful information at a much cheaper moment.
Do you tell me not to hire them?
Rarely, and only when something specific warrants it. Most reviews end with "this is a fair proposal, here are five things to tighten first." That's a good outcome — you sign with more confidence and a better document.
Is this a legal review?
No. I'll flag where the document appears not to meet Maine's requirements and where terms run one way, but I'm not a lawyer and this isn't legal advice. On a large or unusual contract a construction attorney is money well spent, and I'll say so.
My contractor said he'd handle the permits. Is that enough?
Only if it's written down and you can check it. If a job that needed a permit never got one, the city treats it as an illegal build — your insurance may not cover problems in that space, you have to disclose it when you sell, and the city can require you to apply after the fact, which sometimes means opening finished walls so an inspector can see behind them. This happens more often than people think, and usually not because anyone was dishonest. It happens when the contractor is also the one giving the advice and treats the paperwork as a side job.
Work has already started. Too late?
No. Your options are narrower, but knowing exactly where you stand and what was actually agreed is worth having before the next payment goes out.