Where a Maine general contractor license transfers

Maine has no general, commercial, building or unlimited contractor license at any level of government, so there is nothing for an out-of-state general contractor's license to transfer into, no qualifying party to name, no business-and-law examination and no reciprocity list. Maine is also not one of the agencies that accept the NASCLA Accredited Examination for Commercial General Building Contractors, because it holds no contractor examination for that exam to stand in for. The Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation's directory of licensed professions contains no building contractor category at all; the only construction credentials it issues are trade licenses - electricians, plumbers, oil burner and solid fuel technicians, propane and natural gas technicians, boiler operators and inspectors, elevator contractors, elevator and lift mechanics, and manufactured housing dealers, installers and mechanics - alongside the licensed design professions of architect, landscape architect and professional land surveyor. A commercial builder moving to Maine works through the local code enforcement officer and building inspector for permits and inspections, and makes sure the electrical, plumbing, fuel and elevator scope is performed by people holding the matching Maine licenses. Where any part of the job is work on a dwelling of three or fewer units, the written-contract rules of the Home Construction Contracts Act, 10 M.R.S. ch. 219-A, apply to that contract above $3,000 even though the builder is unlicensed; buildings used for commercial or business purposes are outside that chapter.