New Mexico HVAC license requirements

This guide summarizes what New Mexico requires to work as an HVAC technician, with a link to the state's own source for every requirement. Rules change; check the linked source before you apply.

Apprentices

CID defines an apprentice as someone learning a trade from a validly licensed employer, and it recognizes apprentices whether or not they are registered in an apprenticeship program recognized by the New Mexico State Apprenticeship Council. (source)

Journeyman level: experience and exam

Journeyman refrigeration (JR) and journeyman sheet metal (JSM) certificates require two years of experience, and JR applicants must also show compliance with EPA refrigerant recovery requirements. (source)

Journeyman applicants must document their work experience before they can take the exam, and the passing score is 75%. Exams are administered by CID or its designee. (source)

Contractor license

HVAC contracting requires a CID license in the MM-3 classification (HVAC, hydronics, fuel gas piping systems and process piping, requiring four years' experience) or MM-98 (mechanical). (source)

Renewal, continuing education and fees

New Mexico journeyman mechanical certificates, including journeyman refrigeration (JR) and sheet metal (JSM), expire every three years, on the last day of the month in which they were issued; state law caps the term at three years. Renew through PSI before the expiration date, with proof of 16 hours of approved continuing education. An expired certificate can be renewed within six months with a late fee; after that it is canceled. (source)

Journeyman mechanical certificate holders, including journeyman refrigeration (JR) and sheet metal (JSM), must complete at least 16 hours of approved continuing education in every 3-year period for renewal, at least 8 of them on code changes. (source)

CID's journeyman certificate fee is $75 per classification, and the same $75 is due at each renewal. (source)

Licensed in another state

New Mexico does not reciprocate HVAC or mechanical journeyman certificates; the only journeyman classification it reciprocates is EE-98J (electrical). Military service members, their spouses and dependent children, and veterans who are licensed in good standing in another jurisdiction with substantially equivalent requirements can get expedited journeyman certification. (source)

Check a license

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

Pay for HVAC technicians in New Mexico

Statewide figures for Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers (SOC 49-9021), all employers, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS):

• Median hourly wage: $24.17 (BLS OEWS)
• Median annual wage: $50,270 (BLS OEWS)
• 10th percentile: $17.97 (BLS OEWS)
• 90th percentile: $36.43 (BLS OEWS)
• Estimated employment: 1,950 (BLS OEWS)

Release: May 2025 (source)

These are benchmarks, not job offers. A listing on Mountain West Trades shows the pay that employer posted.