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Maine Public Works Performance and Payment Bonds

Maine’s general Public Works Contractors’ Surety Bond Law requires separate full-contract performance and payment bonds for public construction, alteration, or repair contracts over $125,000, with an exception tied to Title 5 §1745. Maine separately requires competitive procurement by the Bureau of General Services for state-owned-in-fee public improvements over $100,000, excluding professional, architectural, and engineering services. 1,2

What Is Surety Bonds?

A surety bond guarantees that your business meets a specific obligation to a customer, contracting party or government agency. If a contract, license or permit requires one, get its exact form and amount; a bond is not insurance for your own losses. Read the national Surety bonds guide.

Maine Requirements

RequirementDetails
Public works over $125,000Before award of covered public work contracts exceeding $125,000, a contractor must furnish a full-contract performance bond and a full-contract payment bond, except as provided in Title 5 §1745. 1
State-held-in-fee projectsFor public improvements over $100,000 held in fee by the State or its agencies, the Bureau of General Services awards the contract under Title 5 §1743; professional, architectural, and engineering services are excluded. 2
Bid security can precede project bondsThe contracting authority may require bid security to ensure the contractor can be bonded. Successful bidders receive non-bond security back after executing the contract and delivering satisfactory performance and payment bonds. 1

What to Watch for in Maine

  • Performance and payment protect different parties

    The performance bond protects the awarding State or contracting body. The payment bond protects labor and material claimants, including equipment rental providers. They are separate obligations even though both are generally full contract amount. 1

  • Check the Title 5 exception

    Title 14 §871 expressly excepts Title 5 §1745. Before treating $125,000 as a universal threshold for state projects, identify the delivery method and owner route and review that linked exception. 1,2

  • Local highway performance bond has a different minimum

    Maine’s Local Highway Law separately says a contract is not awarded unless performance is secured to the State for at least 20% of contract amount. Do not use that highway rule to reduce the general public-works bond requirement. 3,1

Who Regulates Insurance in Maine

Maine Bureau of Insurance

The Maine Bureau of Insurance licenses producers and companies, enforces Maine insurance laws, and investigates property and casualty complaints including commercial coverage complaints. You can use its state lookup or complaint service to check a license or raise an insurance issue. 4,5,6

Surplus-lines tax and stamping office

Reported tax rate: 3% of gross direct premium when Maine is the insured's home state Maine charges 3% of gross direct premium when it is the insured's home state; your broker handles the tax and may include it with the premium. Surplus-lines policies are outside Maine guaranty-association protection. Maine generally requires a diligent search, with an exempt-commercial-purchaser exception requiring broker disclosure and the purchaser's written request. 7,8,9

Providers With Documented State Licenses

These providers publish a national listing for Surety bonds; the state records document licenses for the entities and roles shown below. Some records rely on company-reported information rather than independent regulator verification. A national listing does not confirm the product is available in Maine. Check the regulator’s license lookup and confirm state availability for your business when requesting a quote.

  • TechInsuranceSpecialty Program Group LLCInsurance producer · checked 2026-09-28TechInsurance’s current licensing page names Specialty Program Group LLC / SPG Insurance Solutions and lists state license numbers, but labels Rhode Island “Individual licenses” rather than identifying a license for the named agency. RI is omitted because this disclosure does not establish agency authority there; this is a search limitation, not an assertion that the company is unlicensed. The remaining state entries are company-reported and are not an insurance product availability map. 15

Questions to Ask Before You Buy in Maine

  1. Which solicitation, statute, and project category does the obligee say governs this contract?
  2. What bond form, penal sum, obligee name, effective date, and filing deadline must the surety meet?
  3. What indemnity, collateral, or personal guarantee would the surety require from the principal, and how could a claim affect the business?

Surety Bonds in Maine: FAQ

Is bid security always mandatory? 1

No. Title 14 §871 says the contracting authority may require bid security to ensure the contractor is bondable; it is discretionary in that statute, while the post-award performance and payment bonds are mandatory when §871 applies. 1

What should a Maine bidder confirm? 1,2

Confirm whether §871 or the §1745 exception applies, whether the owner’s documents require bid security, the face amount and obligee for both bonds, and when the authority will return bid security after final bonds are delivered. 1,2

Surety Bonds in Other States

Other Coverage in Maine

Sources

  1. Title 14 M.R.S. §871, Public Works Contractors’ Surety Bond Law of 1971. Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes; Subsections 3–4, threshold, bond amounts, claimant scope, bid security and return of successful bid security; page data extracted October 20, 2025. Accessed 2026-09-28.
  2. Title 5 M.R.S. §1743, Public improvement construction contracts. Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes; Opening paragraph, state-held-in-fee projects over $100,000 and professional-services exclusion; current page viewed September 28, 2026. Accessed 2026-09-28.
  3. Title 23 M.R.S. §3054, Performance bonds required. Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes; Local Highway Law; single paragraph requiring performance security at least 20%. Accessed 2026-09-28.
  4. Maine Bureau of Insurance. Maine Bureau of Insurance; Homepage and commercial insurance resources. Accessed 2026-09-28.
  5. Insurance License Lookup. Maine Bureau of Insurance; State-designated producer/company search. Accessed 2026-09-28.
  6. File an Insurance Complaint. Maine Bureau of Insurance; State complaint process and contact. Accessed 2026-09-28.
  7. 36 M.R.S. §2531. Maine Legislature; 36 M.R.S. §2531(1)-(2), current page: home-state basis; 3% tax; producer pays on chapter 19 surplus lines. Accessed 2026-09-28.
  8. 24-A M.R.S. §4433. Maine Legislature; Surplus-lines contracts excluded from guaranty association. Accessed 2026-09-28.
  9. 24-A M.R.S. §2002-A. Maine Legislature; ECP disclosure and written-request procedure. Accessed 2026-09-28.
  10. Licenses. At-Bay; Current producer introduction and state table; At-Bay Insurance Services LLC; P&C and surplus-lines identifiers. Accessed 2026-09-21.
  11. Licenses and Carriers. Coalition; Licenses and Carriers, re-read 22 September 2026: Insurance Licenses table for Coalition Insurance Solutions, Inc., national producer number 18419475, with producer and surplus-lines numbers for all 50 states and DC including California 0L76155, Georgia 196479, Texas 2199630 and 2205589, Pennsylvania 815731 and 817452, Colorado 539028 and Wisconsin 3000108852. Insurance Carriers table naming, with NAIC numbers, Allianz Underwriters Insurance Company 36420, Arch Specialty Insurance Company 21199, Ascot Specialty Insurance Company 45055, Ascot Insurance Company 23752, Aspen Specialty Insurance Company 10717, Chaucer Insurance Company DAC, Coalition Insurance Company 29530, Fireman's Fund Indemnity Corporation 11380, Fortegra Specialty Insurance Company 16823, Lloyd's of London, MSIG Specialty Insurance USA Inc. 34886, MS Transverse Specialty Insurance Company 41807, Steadfast Insurance Company 26387, Vantage Risk Specialty Insurance Company 16275 and Zurich American Insurance Company 16535. Accessed 2026-09-22.
  12. Insurance Producer Licenses. Corgi Insurance; Current complete Insurance Producer Licenses table for Corgi Insurance Services, Inc.; 50 rows covering 49 states and DC (DC 3003091619); no New Mexico row; no NPN or as-of date shown. Accessed 2026-09-28.
  13. About Hiscox US Insurance. Hiscox; Hiscox Insurance Company Inc. NAIC 10200 as Chicago, IL domiciled insurer admitted or licensed in all 50 states and D.C.; Hiscox Inc. as general agent and Lloyd’s coverholder for Syndicates 33 and 3624; surplus-lines placements through licensed surplus-lines brokers; A.M. Best rating statement. Accessed 2026-09-16.
  14. Licenses. ERGO NEXT Insurance; Current entity-by-state license table reopened 28 September 2026: 50 rows under Next First Insurance Agency, Inc., including Washington, DC; New York rows instead list Next Insurance Services PC-1423070 and AP Intego BR-1198885. Accessed 2026-09-28.
  15. Insurance Licenses by State. TechInsurance; Current state table; identifies TechInsurance as a division of Specialty Program Group LLC d/b/a SPG Insurance Solutions; lists DC 3000041536 and labels Rhode Island “Individual licenses,” without an agency license number. Accessed 2026-09-28.
  16. Licenses. Vouch; Effective 16 January 2025: Vouch Specialty Insurance Services, LLC, NPN 19926463; P&C table (50 states and DC); surplus-lines table includes Idaho 870820; footnote says Georgia and Idaho do not issue agency-level surplus-lines licenses; Idaho retained as producer-only due to conflict. Accessed 2026-09-15.

Updated .

This guide is informational and does not determine whether a policy is available or meets your needs. Editorial policy. To suggest a correction, contact Spot with a supporting source.

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