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Mountain West Trades

New Mexico trade license requirements: electrician, plumber and HVAC

Last verified

License guides

  • New Mexico electrician license requirements

    New Mexico certifies journeyman electricians by classification: EE-98J (residential and commercial), ER-1J (residential wiring), EL-1J (distribution and transmission lines), plus specialty journeymen for signs, cathodic and lightning protection, low-voltage systems, telephone systems and water well pumps. Separately, an individual can hold a Qualifying Party certificate, which qualifies a business for a contractor license.

    Journeyman electricians are certified, and electrical contractors licensed, by the Construction Industries Division (CID) of the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department.

  • New Mexico plumber license requirements

    New Mexico certifies plumbing-trade journeymen as journeyman plumber (JP), journeyman gas fitter (JG), journeyman plumber and gas fitter (JPG) and journeyman pipe fitter (JPF). Holders of those certificates can add a journeyman medical gas (JMG) endorsement.

    Journeyman plumbers are certified, and plumbing contractors licensed, by the Construction Industries Division (CID) of the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department. CID's Mechanical Plumbing Bureau enforces plumbing codes and licensing.

  • New Mexico HVAC license requirements

    HVAC workers are certified under New Mexico's mechanical journeyman classes. The HVAC-specific certificates are journeyman refrigeration (JR) and journeyman sheet metal (JSM), which work under an MM-3 or MM-98 contractor. Journeyman pipe fitter (JPF) and gas fitter (JG) certificates can also work under an MM-3 license.

    HVAC work is licensed as mechanical work by the Construction Industries Division (CID) of the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department. CID's Mechanical Plumbing Bureau covers plumbing and HVAC installations.

Running a contracting business

New Mexico contractor license requirements

New Mexico construction contractors are licensed by the Construction Industries Division (CID) of the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department (NMRLD), which licenses contractors by classification.

Check a license

New Mexico's official public license lookup:

Pay in New Mexico

Median wages, Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025. Statewide figures for all employers, not job offers.
Occupation Median hourly Median annual
Diesel mechanic $26.88 $55,910
Electrician $28.07 $58,390
HVAC technician $24.17 $50,270
Lineman $36.76 $76,470
Plumber $29.54 $61,440
Welder $28.77 $59,840

Jobs in New Mexico

Sources

  1. 14.6.4 NMAC – Journeyman Certification — last verified
  2. Amendment to 14.6.6 NMAC – New Mexico Register, Volume XXXVII, Issue 12 (June 23, 2026) — last verified
  3. BLS OEWS via BLS Public Data API, series OEUS350000000000047211108 — last verified
  4. BLS OEWS via BLS Public Data API, series OEUS350000000000047215208 — last verified
  5. BLS OEWS via BLS Public Data API, series OEUS350000000000049303108 — last verified
  6. BLS OEWS via BLS Public Data API, series OEUS350000000000049902108 — last verified
  7. BLS OEWS via BLS Public Data API, series OEUS350000000000049905108 — last verified
  8. BLS OEWS via BLS Public Data API, series OEUS350000000000051412108 — last verified
  9. Mechanical and Plumbing | Construction Industries Bureau - RLD — last verified
  10. Verify Professional Licenses | NM Regulation & Licensing Dept. — last verified