Bid calculator
Menu
Retainage · Maine

Maine retainage law: 30-day release, 5% State withholding (2026)

By Sami Chicha, EditorUpdated Checked against primary sources · not yet reviewed by a licensed professionalFact-checked
Quick answer

Maine's Construction Contracts chapter (10 M.R.S. § 1116) sets no percentage ceiling on retainage but requires retained amounts to be paid within 30 days after final acceptance and passed to subcontractors within 7 days of the contractor receiving them; wrongful withholding draws a 1%-per-month penalty. On State public improvement contracts, 5 M.R.S. § 1746 has the State withhold 5% until the project is accepted.

Private work

Maine · Private workVerified 2026-09-22
Retainage cap
Maine's construction-contract chapter sets no percentage ceiling on retainage: it regulates only when retainage must be paid out. The chapter applies to any 'construction contract' for work on real property, but not to contracts entered into by the Department of Transportation (§ 1112) and not to a person buying materials for work on that person's own real property (§ 1120).
Deadline
30 days
Amounts retained during performance and due to be released on completion must be paid within 30 days after final acceptance of the work.
Statute
10 M.R.S. § 1116 (Chapter 201-A, Construction Contracts).
What the statute says
Notwithstanding any contrary agreement, a contractor shall pay to its subcontractors or material suppliers and each subcontractor shall in turn pay to its subcontractors or material suppliers, within 7 days after receipt of the retainage, the full amount due to each subcontractor or material supplier.
10 M.R.S. § 1116 (Chapter 201-A, Construction Contracts). · Archived copy of the official text, captured 2025-06-03

Public work

Maine · Public workVerified 2026-09-22
Retainage cap
5%
For State public improvement contracts, 5 M.R.S. § 1746 requires the State to withhold 5% of money due the contractor until the project has been accepted, with discretion to reduce the amount withheld after substantial completion on request. Chapter 201-A of Title 10 also applies to public owners because its definition of 'owner' (10 M.R.S. § 1111(6)) expressly includes the State, municipalities, school districts and school administrative districts, so the 30-day release rule of 10 M.R.S. § 1116 covers public work too, except Department of Transportation contracts.
Deadline
30 days
5 M.R.S. § 1746: the 5% is withheld 'until the project under the contract has been accepted by or for the State', and after substantial completion the State may, on request, further reduce the amounts withheld if it deems that desirable and prudent. 10 M.R.S. § 1116(1): retainage must be paid within 30 days after final acceptance of the work.
Statute
5 M.R.S. § 1746 (5% state withholding); 10 M.R.S. § 1116 (30-day release); 10 M.R.S. § 1111(6) ('owner' includes the State and its subdivisions).
What the statute says
In any contract awarded for any public improvement the State shall withhold 5% of the money due the contractor until the project under the contract has been accepted by or for the State, except that when the contract has been substantially completed the State may, upon request, further reduce the amounts withheld if it deems it desirable and prudent.
5 M.R.S. § 1746 (5% state withholding); 10 M.R.S. § 1116 (30-day release); 10 M.R.S. § 1111(6) ('owner' includes the State and its subdivisions). · Archived copy of the official text, captured 2025-05-31

Who this applies to

Maine handles retainage through two statutes that overlap on public work.

Chapter 201-A of Title 10 (Construction Contracts) reaches any construction contract for work on real property [3]. It leaves out contracts entered into by the Department of Transportation [3], and a person buying materials for work on their own real property [5]. Private owners are covered, and so are public ones: the chapter's definition of "owner" in § 1111(6) expressly includes the State, municipalities, school districts and school administrative districts [9].

5 M.R.S. § 1746 adds a withholding figure for one group of public jobs, State public improvement contracts [7].

What the rule says

On private work, chapter 201-A regulates timing rather than amount: it sets no percentage ceiling on retainage and controls only how quickly retained money has to be paid out [8]. On State public improvement contracts a percentage does apply, because the State withholds 5% of the money due the contractor until the project has been accepted by or for the State [7]. After the contract is substantially complete, the State may, on request, reduce what it is withholding if it considers that desirable and prudent [7]. The chapter's 30-day release rule then reaches public owners as well [8], Department of Transportation contracts aside [3].

How to comply

The clocks run from two different events, and each binds a different payer.

Whether a county, municipal or school-district owner faces a percentage limit is outside this page: chapter 201-A gives those owners the timing rule, and the 5% in § 1746 is written for State public improvement contracts [7]. Read the contract, and the sections listed in the Sources below, for the terms that govern your job.

What changed recently

Section 1746 was last amended by PL 2025, c. 390, Part A, § 9, which changed its custodial-services paragraph [6]. Its earlier paragraphs date from PL 1971, c. 593, § 22 and PL 1967, c. 437 [6]. Section 1116 was enacted by PL 1993, c. 461, § 1 [8], and the penalty section, § 1118, has been unchanged since [4].

Related

Run the numbers for Maine

How retainage is held on each payment and when it comes back: Retainage in construction. Bill it on the pay application template, which carries retainage on work and on stored materials.

Retainage laws: other states

Sources

  1. 10 M.R.S. § 1116, Retainage (Maine Revised Statutes, Office of the Revisor of Statutes) (retrieved 2026-09-22)
  2. 10 M.R.S. § 1111, Definitions (retrieved 2026-09-22)
  3. 10 M.R.S. § 1112, Application (retrieved 2026-09-22)
  4. 10 M.R.S. § 1118, Disputes; penalties; attorney's fees (retrieved 2026-09-22)
  5. 10 M.R.S. § 1120, Owner exclusion (retrieved 2026-09-22)
  6. 5 M.R.S. § 1746, Retention of part of contract price (retrieved 2026-09-22)
  7. 5 M.R.S. § 1746 (withholding on State public improvement contracts), Maine Legislature (archived copy, captured 2025-05-31)
  8. 10 M.R.S. § 1116 (retainage; 30-day release; 7-day pass-down), Maine Legislature (archived copy, captured 2025-06-03)
  9. 10 M.R.S. § 1111 (definitions; 'owner' includes the State and its subdivisions), Maine Legislature (archived copy, captured 2025-05-30)

Changelog

  1. : 1 more jurisdiction verified and published, 47 of 51 in all.
  2. : California private work corrected: Civ. Code § 8811 (SB 61) caps retention at 5% for contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2026; the row had said no cap.
  3. : Missouri private work corrected: Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 436.300 to 436.336 cap private retainage at 10% and require release within 30 days of substantial completion; the row had said no private retainage rule.
  4. : Tennessee corrected: Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-34-203 caps owner-to-prime retainage at 5% of the contract, on public and private work; escrow applies to prime contracts of $500,000 or more, and the $300-a-day damages do not apply to public owners.
  5. : Idaho private work added: Idaho Code § 29-115 caps private retention at 5% and requires release within 35 days of final completion; the row had left private work out.
  6. : Rhode Island corrected: the 5% cap in R.I. Gen. Laws § 37-12-10.1 also covers private lienable work of $250,000 or more, and a retainage application may be submitted only 60 days after substantial completion unless the contract allows earlier.
  7. : Oklahoma public work corrected: since November 1, 2022, 61 O.S. §§ 113.1 and 226 reduce retainage to 2.5% of the amount earned to date after 50% completion with satisfactory progress, with no bond condition.
  8. : Montana public work corrected: state and local public contracts are capped at 5% under Mont. Code Ann. § 18-2-316, and final payment on building contracts is due within 30 days of final acceptance (§ 18-2-306).
  9. : Delaware public work corrected: 29 Del. C. § 6516(f)(3) requires retainage to be paid within 60 days after completion or notice of completion, with interest available from the 61st day; the row had no release deadline.
  10. : District of Columbia corrected: D.C. Code § 2-203.01 requires a 10% retent on District construction contracts until completion and acceptance, and the Private Contractor and Subcontractor Prompt Payment Act counts retainage as an undisputed amount due on its schedule; both rows had said no statute.
  11. : Colorado private work updated: HB26-1311 lets a contractor or subcontractor tender a retainage bond of up to 5% in lieu of retainage on contracts from August 12, 2026, and the owner must accept a compliant bond.
  12. : Kentucky private work updated: 2025 Ky. Acts ch. 156 raised the KRS 371.160 escrow threshold to $2,000,000 and barred waiving it by contract.
  13. : 10 more jurisdictions verified and published, 46 of 51 in all.
  14. : Page published.
  15. : Dataset first published with 36 of 51 jurisdictions verified.