New Mexico trade license reciprocity

New Mexico issues statewide journeyman certificates of competence through the Construction Industries Division (CID) of the Regulation and Licensing Department; PSI processes applications and administers the exams under contract. The residential and commercial journeyman electrician classification is EE-98J, which requires four years (8,000 hours) of experience gained within the ten years before application; a residential-only ER-1J and several two-year specialty journeyman classifications also exist. A new EE-98J applicant passes a two-part written exam (Part 1 Code, open book on the 2020 NEC; Part 2 Theory, closed book) and a practical exam, each with a 75% passing score. CID reciprocates only the EE-98J classification, with ten states. Certificates are active for three years, and EE-98J holders complete 16 hours of continuing education per three-year code cycle.

New Mexico has no license called 'master electrician'. Its highest electrical credential is the EE-98 electrical contractor classification (all electrical systems and wiring methods at 5,000 volts nominal or less), which is issued by CID in two parts: the contractor's license goes to the contracting entity, and a personal, non-transferable certificate of qualification goes to the qualifying party, the individual who passed the EE-98 three-part trade exam and the Contractor's Business and Law exam and is responsible for the licensee's code compliance. Because the certificate of qualification is held by a person and earned by examination, this site maps it to the master level. A qualifying party needs four years of experience in the classification within the ten years before application. CID publishes reciprocity only for EE-98J journeymen; no reciprocal agreement covers qualifying parties or EE-98 contractors, although NMSA 60-13-14(C) allows the division to enter into such agreements. The only published exam relief is a NASCLA waiver: CID may waive the EE-98 trade exam (not the Business and Law exam) for an applicant who passed the NASCLA-accredited electrical exam and has held a license in another state based on it for at least one year.

New Mexico has no license called 'HVAC technician'. Heating, cooling and refrigeration work must be performed by, or under the supervision of, a person holding a Construction Industries Division (CID) journeyman certificate of competence in the applicable mechanical classification, and this site maps the JR Journeyman Refrigeration certificate to the journeyman level; the JSM Journeyman Sheet Metal certificate covers ductwork and air distribution, and a technician who does both usually holds both. Each requires two years (4,000 hours) of trade experience, a $75 application per classification filed with PSI, and a PSI exam passed at 75% (JR is one open-book exam; JSM is a written plus a practical exam). A JR applicant must attach proof of EPA Section 608 refrigerant certification before the certificate is issued. CID reciprocates only the EE-98J electrical journeyman classification, so an out-of-state HVAC or refrigeration license gives no exam waiver, although out-of-state hours count toward the experience requirement. Certificates are active for three years and JR and JSM holders complete 16 hours of continuing education per renewal.

New Mexico has no 'master HVAC' license. Its highest heating and cooling credential is the MM-3 Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning contractor classification (install, alter, repair, service and maintain HVAC air-handling and refrigeration equipment, piping and ductwork, with controls at 24 volts or less); the broader MM-98 Mechanical classification covers MM-3 plus plumbing, gas fitting and process piping. CID issues the contractor's license to the contracting entity and a personal, non-transferable certificate of qualification to the qualifying party, the individual who passed the MM-3 trade exam and the Contractor's Business and Law exam, so this site maps the MM-3 qualifying party to the master level. A qualifying party needs four years of experience in the classification within the ten years before application. Even with an MM-3 license the hands-on work must still be done by or under a certified JR or JSM journeyman. CID publishes reciprocity only for EE-98J electrical journeymen; no reciprocity or exam waiver is published for mechanical qualifying parties or contractors, although NMSA 60-13-14(C) allows the division to enter into reciprocal agreements with states having equivalent requirements.

New Mexico requires every individual doing plumbing work to hold a Construction Industries Division (CID) journeyman certificate of competence; the JP Journeyman Plumber certificate is the plumbing journeyman credential, and the JPG Journeyman Plumber and Natural Gas Fitter certificate adds natural gas piping (JG and JPF cover gas fitting and pipe fitting alone). A JP applicant needs two years (4,000 hours) of plumbing experience within the last ten years, files a notarized application and work-experience affidavits with PSI for $75 per classification, and must pass the open-book JP written exam and a hands-on practical exam, each at 75%. Certificates run for three years and JP, JPG, JG and JPF holders complete 16 hours of continuing education (eight on the enforced code) before each renewal. CID reciprocates only the EE-98J electrical journeyman classification, so an out-of-state plumbing license earns no exam waiver, although out-of-state hours count toward the experience requirement. A journeyman may work only while employed by a contractor licensed in the classification (MM-1 or MM-98 for a JP).

New Mexico has no 'master plumber' title. The credential above journeyman is the MM-1 Plumbing contractor classification (install, alter, repair, service and maintain plumbing, fixtures and piping, hot-water heating up to 30 psi or 400,000 BTU/hour, fuel and solar piping, pools, septic and sewer lines, controls at 24 volts or less; natural gas piping requires MM-2), or the MM-98 Mechanical classification that bundles MM-1 through MM-4 and four mechanical specialties. CID issues the contractor's license to the business and a personal, non-transferable certificate of qualification to the qualifying party, the individual who documented four years of experience in the classification within the past ten years and passed the MM-1 trade exam and the Contractor's Business and Law exam, so this site maps the MM-1 qualifying party to the master level. Even with an MM-1 license, hands-on plumbing must be done by or under a certified JP journeyman. CID publishes reciprocity only for EE-98J electrical journeymen; no reciprocity, endorsement or exam waiver is published for plumbing qualifying parties or contractors, although NMSA 60-13-14(C) allows the division to enter into reciprocal agreements with states having equivalent requirements.

New Mexico licenses homebuilders statewide through the Construction Industries Division of the Regulation and Licensing Department, and the homes-only classification is GB-2 Residential: erect, alter, repair or demolish residences and apartment houses of not more than four family units in occupancy Groups R-1, R-2 and R-3, plus incidental Group U structures and any GS specialty work kept inside that residential scope. Anything commercial, and any residential building beyond four units, needs the GB-98 General Building classification instead. The license is held by a business, not by a person: CID issues it to a qualified entity that employs or is owned by a Qualifying Party, and the Qualifying Party is the individual who documents the experience, sits the exams and holds a personal, non-transferable certificate of qualification, so a builder moving to New Mexico applies first as a Qualifying Party and then for the company license. A GB-2 Qualifying Party needs two years (4,000 hours) of foreman-level practical or related trade experience gained within the ten years before applying, and must pass the GB-2 trade exam and the Contractor's Business and Law exam, or take an approved Business and Law course in place of that exam. Every licensed entity files a $10,000 code bond and carries workers' compensation coverage, and licenses run for three years. CID publishes reciprocity for one credential only, the EE-98J electrical journeyman certificate, so no other state's contractor license is recognized at this level.

New Mexico's unlimited building tier is the GB-98 General Building classification issued by the Construction Industries Division: erect, alter, repair or demolish residential and commercial buildings and certain structures, including everything the GB-2 residential classification and the GF-5, GF-7 and GS specialty classifications cover, plus seal coating and striping of driveways and parking lots. There is no dollar cap on a GB-98 license, but it is a building classification rather than a universal one, so it excludes structures covered by the electrical (EE), mechanical and plumbing (MM), asphalt and concrete (GA) and fixed works (GF) classifications; the separate GA classifications run from GA-1, streets, roads and highways, through GA-98, and a GB-98 contractor may not prime a project whose major portion by dollar value falls in a GA classification or in most GF classifications. The license belongs to a business that employs or is owned by a Qualifying Party, and that individual is the one who documents the experience, passes the exams and holds a personal certificate of qualification. A GB-98 Qualifying Party needs four years (8,000 hours) of foreman-level experience within the last ten years, of which at least two years must be commercial, and must pass the two-part GB-98 exam and the Contractor's Business and Law exam or an approved course in its place. The entity files a $10,000 code bond and carries workers' compensation, and the license runs three years.

New Mexico licenses home inspectors through a full board of its own. The Home Inspectors Board sits in the Regulation and Licensing Department's Boards and Commissions Division alongside the accountancy, real estate and appraiser boards, and it operates under the Home Inspector Licensing Act, sections 61-24D-1 through 61-24D-16 of the New Mexico Statutes Annotated, with rules at 16.66 NMAC that were last rewritten effective April 23, 2024. The board's own position is blunt: it is illegal in New Mexico to inspect real estate for compensation without a license from the board. There is one grade of license and no trainee or associate tier. Building it from scratch takes 80 hours of classroom training across eleven named subjects, 80 hours of field training spent on at least 30 parallel inspections alongside an experienced inspector, a board-approved examination, fingerprints for a state and national background check, and proof of two separate insurance policies. New Mexico is one of the few states that requires both errors and omissions coverage and professional liability coverage, each at a minimum of $250,000, and it requires them to be carried at all times rather than only at application. The license runs three years and costs $250 to apply for plus $1,000 for the license itself, with renewal at $1,000 and 60 hours of continuing education per three-year cycle, at least six of them in ethics. Two features of New Mexico practice catch inspectors out. The standards of practice forbid a licensee from deciding, or writing in the report, whether anything inspected conforms to state or local building code. And a written pre-inspection agreement is mandatory before any inspection starts, naming the inspector and license number, the fee and payment terms, the scope of work, and a statement that the inspection follows the board's rules and standards of practice.