Be honest about what Maine's statute actually covers here: § 1603-102(a) gives the association general power to adopt and amend rules and to regulate the use, maintenance, and modification of common elements, and § 1602-105(a)(12) confirms that use, occupancy, and alienation restrictions come from the declaration itself. But there is no dedicated architectural-review section in the Maine Condominium Act, no statutory response deadline for a design request, no defined approval criteria, and no carve-out protecting solar collectors, flags, or EV charging equipment the way some other states legislate. Whatever standards, timelines, and appeal process your architectural review committee follows exist because your declaration and bylaws say so, not because Maine's statute requires it.
The one real statutory hook is transparency, not substance. Section 1603-118(a)(10) requires the association to retain "records of executive board or committee actions to approve or deny any requests for design or architectural approval from unit owners," and § 1603-118(b) lets you inspect those records with ten days' written notice. Maine doesn't tell the committee how to decide, but it does force the committee to keep a paper trail of every decision it makes, and that paper trail is where an owner without a substantive statutory right can still build a fairness argument.
Use the records right to find the pattern
Since the statute gives you a documentation right rather than an approval right, your leverage is comparative. Pull the design and architectural-approval records under § 1603-118(a)(10) and compare your denial against what the committee approved for similar requests elsewhere in the building. An inconsistency there feeds directly into a selective-enforcement argument, covered in that guide, even though Maine has no dedicated architectural-protection statute behind it.
The authority
The statutes behind this
Cited by name as authority, for your own reading. Informational only, not legal advice.
33 M.R.S. § 1603-102(a)
Grants the association general power to adopt and amend rules and to regulate modification of common elements, the source of ARC authority in the absence of a dedicated statute.
33 M.R.S. § 1603-118(a)(10)
Requires the association to retain records of every board or committee decision approving or denying a design or architectural request from a unit owner.
33 M.R.S. § 1602-105(a)(12)
Confirms that restrictions on use, occupancy, and alienation of units come from the declaration itself, the document that has to be the source of any real architectural standard.
Step by step
How to appeal an architectural review denial in Maine
Steps to challenge an ARC denial by testing whether the committee's standard and authority actually trace back to your recorded declaration, and by pulling its own decision records.
- 01
Find the actual clause
Ask the committee, in writing, exactly which provision of the declaration or bylaws authorizes control over the specific feature you were denied. There's no state standard to fall back on under § 1602-105(a)(12) or § 1603-102(a).
- 02
Request the committee's own decision records
Invoke § 1603-118(a)(10) and (b) for a written copy of the association's design and architectural-approval history, with ten days' notice.
- 03
Gather comparable approvals
Photograph and date similar projects the committee approved elsewhere in the building, noting unit numbers rather than owner names.
- 04
Put the appeal in writing
Cite the specific declaration clause and your comparables, and ask that the board's reasoning be entered in the minutes it must keep under § 1603-118(a)(2).
- 05
Raise inconsistency as selective enforcement
If your comparables show uneven treatment of identical requests, escalate using the selective-enforcement argument covered in that guide.
Straight answers
Common questions
Does Maine law protect my right to install solar panels or an EV charger?
No dedicated statute does. Unlike some states, the Maine Condominium Act doesn't carve out protections for solar devices, flags, or EV charging equipment. Whatever protection you have has to come from your own declaration or bylaws.
What is my Maine condo's architectural review committee actually required to do?
The statute only requires the association to keep a written record of every decision approving or denying a design or architectural request, under § 1603-118(a)(10). There's no state-mandated deadline or approval criteria beyond what your declaration sets.
Can I see how the committee decided on other owners' requests?
Yes. Section 1603-118(a)(10) requires those approval-and-denial records to be retained, and § 1603-118(b) lets you inspect them with ten days' written notice.
My neighbor got an identical project approved and I was denied. Now what?
That's a selective-enforcement fact pattern. Document the approved comparables with dates and unit numbers, pull the committee's own decision records under § 1603-118(a)(10), and raise the inconsistency on appeal; see the selective-enforcement guide.