New Mexico contractor license requirements

This guide summarizes what New Mexico requires to run a contracting business, with a link to the state's own source for every requirement. Licenses for individual electricians, plumbers and HVAC technicians are separate; see the trade guides linked below. Rules change; check the linked source before you apply.

License classes

New Mexico contractor licenses are issued by classification. General construction includes GB-2 (residential: residences and apartment houses of up to four family units), GB-98 (general building, residential and commercial, including all GB-2 and GS work), GA (asphalt, bitumen and concrete), GF (fixed works) and GS (specialty trades); electrical includes EE-98, ER-1, EL-1 and ES specialties; mechanical and plumbing includes MM-1, MM-3, MM-98 and MS specialties. (source)

Experience and exams

Experience is required of the Qualifying Party and varies by classification. GB-2 (residential) requires two years of foreman-level practical or related trade experience, and GB-98 (general building) requires four years of foreman-level practical or related trade experience, two years of which must be commercial. EE-98, EL-1, GF-98, MM-1, MM-3, MM-98, MS-12 (fire sprinklers) and MS-14 (chemical suppression) require four years' experience; most GA, GF, GS, ER and ES classes, and MS-3 and MS-6, require two. (source)

Qualifying Party applicants must pass the exam(s) for the classification sought plus a Contractor's Business and Law exam; an approved Business and Law course can be taken instead of that exam. Applicants must be preapproved, after CID or PSI accepts their work experience, before scheduling, and PSI administers all Construction Industries exams. A passing score is valid for one year. (source)

Bond and insurance

Every applicant for a license or renewal must furnish CID a $10,000 bond from a corporate surety authorized to do business in New Mexico, and keep it in force for the entire license period. Payments from the bond go only to cure code violations that the division certifies and the licensee has not corrected. (source)

CID requires licensed contractors to carry workers' compensation insurance as required by New Mexico's Workers' Compensation Act. RLD says coverage is required for all licensed entities, but CID's license application notes that a sole proprietor with no employees may be exempt. Failing to maintain required coverage is grounds to suspend or revoke a license. (source)

Fees and renewal

PSI's fee sheet for CID lists a non-refundable $30 application fee plus a $6 certificate fee for a contractor license application, and a non-refundable $30 application fee per submittal plus a $6 certificate fee per classification for a Qualifying Party certificate. New and renewal license fees are $300 per classification for GB-2, GB-98, GA-98, GF-98, EE-98 and MM-98 and $150 for each other single classification, with a maximum of $300 for several classifications in one category (for example GB-98 plus any GS class). (source)

New Mexico contractor licenses are issued for three years and expire on the last day of the month in which they were issued (state law sets two years or a term CID chooses, but never less than one year). Renew through PSI, CID's licensing vendor, with the renewal fee and a bond covering the new three-year term. A license not renewed by its expiration date is suspended, and it is canceled if not renewed within 90 days. (source)

Check a contractor's license

New Mexico's public contractor license lookup: https://public.psiexams.com/search.jsp