Information, not legal adviceRules checked Oct 4, 2026
Down payment: one-third at most
Contracts over $3,000
The limit
1/3
On contracts over $3,000, the down payment can't be more than one-third of the total price.
Exception: You and the contractor may agree in writing to waive this, after they explain your rights. You don't have to agree.
Ask: Can the down payment be one-third of the price or less?
Read the full rule
For home construction or repair contracts of more than $3,000, the initial down payment can be no more than one-third (1/3) of the total contract price. You and the contractor may agree to waive this, but only after the contractor tells you your rights under the law, and you do not have to agree.
The exceptions (3)
The one-third limit is part of the written-contract rule for jobs of more than $3,000 in materials or labor; it does not reach smaller contracts.
The homeowner and contractor may exempt themselves from it if the contractor first specifically tells the homeowner of their rights under the Home Construction Contracts Act and both agree (10 M.R.S. section 1489; the Attorney General says the agreement must be in writing).
Buildings used for commercial or business purposes, and dwellings with more than 3 living units, are not covered.
If they contacted you first, away from their office
SignDay 0
1Business day
2Business day
3Last day
Mail a written notice within 3 full business days after the sale. Money back within 15 days of mailing it.
Some sales are excepted, such as sales under $25.
The 3 exceptions, in the rule's words
Sales under $25, including any interest or carrying charges.
Credit sales covered by Maine's home solicitation sales law (Title 9-A, sections 3-501 to 3-507). That law gives its own right to cancel until midnight of the third business day after you sign, and the seller must return your payments within 20 days.
Sales of registered securities, certain insurance, and a supervised lender's credit services.
Read the full rule
When it applies
The contractor made the first contact without your asking (for example by a visit or a phone call; the Attorney General says an unsolicited piece of mail counts too), and that contact happened somewhere other than the contractor's place of business (Maine's consumer solicitation sales law).
If a contractor contacted you first without your asking (for example by a visit or a phone call) and not at its place of business, you can cancel by mailing a written notice within 3 full business days after the day of the sale. The contract must state this right. If the job permanently attaches anything to your home, the contractor may not start while you can still cancel. If you cancel and make any delivered goods available for return, the contractor must refund everything you paid within 15 days of your notice, which takes effect when you mail it.
An estimate isn't the contract. Ask for all 12 in writing before you sign.
Written & signed by bothJobs over $3,000; copies before work: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
Be in writing and signed by both you and the contractor when the job is more than $3,000 in materials or labor. It must contain the entire agreement, and both of you must get a copy before any work starts.
Names, addresses & phonesBoth of you, and the property location: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
Show the name, address and phone number of both the contractor and the homeowner, and the location of the property.
Start & finish datesWhen work begins and is mostly done: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
Give the estimated start date and the estimated date the work will be substantially completed.
Total contract price: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
State the total contract price, including all costs (or, for a cost-plus job, the agreed price and an estimate of labor and materials).
Payment method, 1/3 down maxDown payment of one-third or less: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
State the method of payment, with the initial down payment limited to no more than one-third of the total price.
Work & materials describedWhat work and materials are included: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
Give a general description of the work and the materials to be used.
Required warranty statementThe warranty wording the law requires: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
Include the warranty statement required by law: the work will be free from faulty materials, built to the building code that applies there, done in a skillful manner and fit for habitation or its intended use, with Maine Uniform Commercial Code warranty rights applying.
Dispute resolution choiceArbitration or mediation, shared cost: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
Let the two of you choose one of 3 ways, which you pay for jointly, to settle disputes that small claims court cannot resolve: binding arbitration, nonbinding arbitration or mediation.
Signed change ordersOld and new price on each change: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
Say that any change that alters the price happens only through a written change order. Each change order must be signed by both sides and state both the previous price and the revised price.
Your right to cancelIf they contacted you first: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
If the sale came from a door-to-door or other solicitation covered by Maine's cancellation laws, describe your right to cancel.
Energy standards statementNew homes, additions and insulation: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
Include the contractor's statement that Maine sets minimum energy efficiency building standards for new homes, and whether new construction or an addition will meet or exceed them; if insulation is being installed in an existing home, also include the insulation disclosures the law requires.
Attorney General addendumAttached, with the AG's contact info: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
Attach the Attorney General's consumer protection information on home construction and repair as an addendum, with a clear notice pointing you to the Attorney General's website and phone number.
All statute text was read directly on legislature.maine.gov. The Revisor's pages say their data was extracted on 10/20/2025, so any amendment after that date would not show. The Attorney General pages and the OPOR heat pump sheet were read on maine.gov on 2026-10-04. The federal rule was read through the eCFR (current as of 2026-10-01).
Deposit: 10 M.R.S. section 1487(5) requires the method of payment, 'with the initial down payment being limited to no more than 1/3 of the total contract price,' as a required part of every home construction contract over $3,000. Section 1486(2) defines 'down payment' as all payments made before or at signing. 'Home construction contract' covers building, remodeling or repairing a residence, including electrical, plumbing, heating, carpeting and window work (section 1486(4)). The app should state the one-third figure, the $3,000 threshold and the possible written waiver, and no dollar cap.
Waiver: section 1489 lets the parties drop any required contract part if the contractor specifically informs the homeowner of their rights and both agree. The statute itself does not say 'in writing'; the Attorney General's pages say the agreement must be in writing and that a homeowner is not required to waive. A one-third limit missing from a signed contract is therefore a reason to ask a question, not proof of a violation.
Registration is null: Maine has no statewide general or home-improvement contractor credential. The Attorney General's addendum page says Maine does not license or regulate home contractors, and its home construction and repair page says general contractors and trades such as roofing and framing are not licensed or regulated.
A narrower statewide license does exist. A transient seller of home repair services (a seller who sells home repair services by uninvited personal visits and has no permanent place of business in the town where the sale happens) must hold a door-to-door sales license from the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation, in addition to any trade license. The contract must show 'State door-to-door sales license #' (32 M.R.S. sections 14501, 14504, 14506). This is not a general contractor credential, so it is not used for the registration field.
Cancellation: Maine has two cancellation laws of its own. This entry uses the consumer solicitation sales law (32 M.R.S. sections 4661 to 4671), which covers cash and credit sales that start with the seller's own uninvited contact. The statute names a personal visit or a telephone call 'including, but not limited to'; the Attorney General's door-to-door page adds an unsolicited piece of mail. Credit sales solicited at your home fall under 9-A M.R.S. sections 3-501 to 3-507 instead: you can cancel until midnight of the third business day after signing, payments come back within 20 days, the seller may not start attaching goods to the home during that time, and the seller is not entitled to pay for services performed before you cancel. Under 10 M.R.S. section 1487(10), a home construction contract used for these sales must describe the right to cancel.
Refund timing: 32 M.R.S. section 4666(1) runs the 15 days from the effective date of the notice of cancellation, and section 4664 makes the notice effective when it is mailed. The refund duty applies once any delivered goods have been returned or made available for return.
Business day: the Title 32 subchapter does not define 'business day.' Title 9-A section 1-301 defines it, for rescission, as every calendar day except Sundays and listed holidays, but that definition belongs to the credit code. The app should not say whether Saturday counts for the Title 32 right.
The federal FTC Cooling-Off Rule (16 CFR Part 429) is a separate right. It covers sales of $25 or more made at the buyer's home, including visits the buyer invited. Where Maine's Title 32 right does not apply because the homeowner made the first contact, the federal 3-business-day right may still apply, subject to its own exclusions, for example a bona fide emergency with a handwritten waiver from the buyer. The federal rule was not used to build the cancellation field.
Trades left out of both lists: septic-well, because well drillers and pump installers are licensed statewide (32 M.R.S. section 4700-I) but the Attorney General says septic system installers do not have to be licensed (only site evaluators are, through DHHS). chimney-fireplace, because Fuel Board licensing covers chimneys within fuel-burning equipment installations but excludes solid-fuel fireplace stoves and room heaters not attached to a central heating system (32 M.R.S. sections 18101(6), 18104(3)). smart-home, because alarms and energy management count as electrical installations but telephone, cable, data and sound installers are exempt (32 M.R.S. sections 1101(2), 1201-A(4)). home-inspection was not checked.
The hvac decision partly rests on an OPOR consumer sheet on mini-split heat pumps dated 10/2013. It says the electrical part of the install needs a licensed electrician, or a licensed oil burner technician for units under 36,000 BTU in one- and two-family homes, and that a general contractor may set the components but not do the wiring. Current board rules were not re-checked against it.
notCoveredTrades: Maine is a 'varies' state with no general credential, so this list holds only trades that an official Attorney General page explicitly says are not licensed statewide (general contractors, roofing, framing). It does not mean other trades are licensed.
Independent verification on 2026-10-04 re-read every cited page. Corrections: the cancellation trigger is not limited to visits and calls; the 15-day refund runs from the mailed notice, not from when goods are made available; the dispute-resolution, insulation and Fuel Board wordings were brought closer to the statute text; one evidence citation was moved to the page that carries the quoted words.
General information from official Maine sources. For your situation, ask the state's consumer protection office or a lawyer.