WCSH: Maine contractors say they are still owed millions for work on Portland cold storage facility
Unpaid for more than 500 days, Maine companies that built a refrigerated shipping warehouse on Portland’s waterfront are asking state lawmakers to close a loophole that may leave them without legal power to demand payment for private projects located on state property.
Subcontractors who poured the facility’s foundations and put up the steel issued a stark warning Wednesday: unless the state changes a law that currently treats public-private developments as a legal “dead zone,” local firms will stop building them.
The dispute has laid bare a paradox in Maine law. On a typical private project, an unpaid builder can file a claim that places a legal hold on the building, potentially forcing a sale to pay a debt. On a public project, the state requires an insurance-style payment bond to protect workers.