HVAC Technician License in New Mexico — Requirements, Fees & Exam

How to get licensed as an HVAC technician in New Mexico: PSI exam — verified from New Mexico Construction Industries Division (CID).

Source-verified

Requirements below are drawn from New Mexico Construction Industries Division (CID), Regulation and Licensing Department - Mechanical Plumbing Bureau (Construction Industries Licensing Act) (official site) and last verified July 25, 2026. Boards change fees and rules often — confirm before acting.

Requirements at a glance

Who must be licensed - New Mexico credentials BOTH the contracting business and the individual worker: New Mexico is a dual-credential state. At the business level, 'No person shall act as a contractor without a license issued by the division classified to cover the type of work to be undertaken' (Section 60-13-12(A) NMSA 1978), and work 'coming under the jurisdiction of the mechanical bureau or the electrical bureau of the division must be performed by a contractor licensed to perform that work' (Section 60-13-12(B)). Air conditioning and heating work sits squarely inside the statutory definition of contracting, which reaches 'air conditioning, conduit, heating or other similar mechanical works' (Section 60-13-3(A)(14)). At the individual level, 'A person shall not engage in the occupation or trade of journeyman unless he holds a certificate of competence issued by the division for the occupation or trade in which he desires to engage' (Section 60-13-38(A)), and by rule 'A journeyman certificate of competence in the appropriate trade classification is required of all individuals performing mechanical and plumbing work' (14.6.6.11(A)(1) NMAC). credential_holder is 'individual' because the worker must personally hold a CID certificate of competence - being employed by a licensed contractor is not by itself enough - with the contractor license sitting above it as a separate, business-level credential. A journeyman may engage in the certified trade only when employed by an entity that is validly licensed to perform that type of work, or that holds a valid annual permit authorizing that work (14.6.4.8(A)(4) NMAC).
The qualifying party (QP) - how a business obtains an MM-3 or MM-98 license: CID issues contractor licenses only to business entities that employ or are owned by one or more qualifying parties validly certified by CID for the classification sought, and the license grants authority only in the classification specified on the license and on the qualifying party's certificate (14.6.3.8(A)(3) NMAC). The QP must have the required number of years of experience in the field applied for, within the 10 years immediately preceding application, and must pass the examinations applicable to the classification as well as a contractor's business and law examination - or complete an approved business and law course of study in lieu of that examination under Section 60-13-16(C) NMSA 1978. Applicants must be preapproved before scheduling examinations: the applicant submits a QP application and a work-experience affidavit to PSI with the applicant's signature notarized, each person attesting to the applicant's work experience completes a separate affidavit, and the affiant's signature must also be notarized. If a licensee loses its qualifying party through termination of employment or otherwise, both the licensee and the qualifying party must notify CID or its designee in writing within 30 days of the separation (14.6.3.8(A)(5) NMAC). A certificate of qualification is not transferable (Section 60-13-16(E) NMSA 1978).
Experience and examination for the individual HVAC credential (JR): An individual applying for a journeyman certificate must provide proof of work experience within the 10 years immediately prior to application in the classification for which application is made; training classified as technical training by an accredited college, university, manufacturer's accredited training program, technical vocational institute or accredited apprenticeship program is considered in lieu of work experience at one-half year per year of training, and accredited training may not exceed one-half of the total work-experience requirement (14.6.4.8(C)(1) NMAC). The mechanical-plumbing journeyman classifications require two years of experience unless otherwise specified (14.6.4.8(F) NMAC), and Section 60-13-38(G) NMSA 1978 sets the same two-year threshold with equivalents. No applicant is eligible to take an examination until satisfactory work-experience documentation is provided, the passing score is seventy-five percent or higher, and an applicant may not repeat the exam more than twice in any 30-day period (14.6.4.8(C)(2) NMAC). For the JR refrigeration certificate specifically, the applicant 'Must demonstrate compliance with environmental protection agency (EPA) recovery requirements before certificate may be issued' (14.6.4.8(F)(5) NMAC). All requirements for certification must be met within six months after the date CID receives the application; an application not completed within that six-month period expires and any fees paid in connection with it are automatically forfeited (14.6.4.8(B)(3) NMAC).
Bond and proof of responsibility ($10,000): No applicant for a contractor's license or for renewal of one is issued a license until the director determines that the applicant has furnished proof of responsibility, and 'Proof of responsibility shall be a bond of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) acceptable to the director and underwritten by a corporate surety authorized to transact business in New Mexico' (Section 60-13-49 NMSA 1978). The rule repeats the requirement and ties it to renewal: 'Upon initial licensure and as a condition of renewal each applicant shall furnish to the division a bond in the amount of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) underwritten by a corporate surety authorized to transact business in New Mexico,' with the bond's effective date covering the entire period of licensure (14.6.3.8(C)(1)-(2) NMAC). Payments from the bond may be used only to cure code violations caused by a licensee that are certified by the division and not corrected by the licensee; claims must be made within two years following final inspection by the governmental entity having jurisdiction over code enforcement, or within two years of issuance of a certificate of occupancy, whichever is earlier; the surety's total aggregate liability is limited to the face amount of the bond; and the bond carrier must give the division and the licensee thirty days' prior written notice of intent to cancel. If the bond is canceled, expires or otherwise becomes ineffective during the period of a license and the licensee has not provided proof of a new bond before the fortieth day, the license is subject to revocation for failure of proof of responsibility. CID separately states that workers' compensation coverage is required for all licensed entities.
Renewal terms - two different clocks: The business license and the individual certificate renew on different schedules. 'Contractor's licenses shall expire two years after the issuance date or as determined by the division, but in no instance less than one year, and shall be renewable upon application to the division and payment of the prescribed renewal fee,' and the division may establish a staggered system of license expiration with proration of fees (Section 60-13-18(B)-(C) NMSA 1978). Certificates of competence 'are not transferable and shall expire on the date established by the division, not more than three years from the month of issuance' (Section 60-13-39(A) NMSA 1978). The director must notify a licensee at least thirty days before expiration, and CID or its designee must mail a renewal application form to every certificate holder at least 30 days before a certificate expires - but in both cases it remains the holder's sole duty and responsibility to renew on time whether or not the form is received (Section 60-13-18(E); 14.6.4.8(G)(1) NMAC).
Late renewal, suspension and cancellation: For contractor's licenses, failure to apply for renewal and pay the prescribed fee by the last working day prior to expiration causes the license to be suspended by operation of law; unless the license is renewed within a three-month period it is canceled; and a suspended license may be renewed only after payment of a fee equal to one dollar ($1.00) for each day, up to thirty days, that has elapsed since the expiration date, and thereafter a fee equal to twice the amount of the renewal fee (Section 60-13-18(F)-(G) NMSA 1978). For certificates of competence, application for renewal must be filed before the expiration date and is accompanied by the fee prescribed for initial issuance; an expired certificate is renewable within a six-month period without examination and only upon paying a fee twice the amount of the renewal fee; and if the certificate has not been renewed within that six-month period it is canceled (Section 60-13-39(B)-(C) NMSA 1978). A renewal application that is not accompanied by proof of the required continuing education is incomplete and no journeyman certificate is renewed without it (14.6.4.8(G)(2) NMAC).
Continuing education for the journeyman credential: Prior to renewal of a journeyman certificate of competence in an applicable classification, the applicant for renewal or reinstatement must complete a minimum of 16 hours of approved course work, and a minimum of eight of those hours must cover the current CID code that is enforced by each journeyman classification being renewed or reinstated (14.6.4.8(H)(2)-(3) NMAC). CID states the requirement runs in every three-year period for renewal, with 8 hours specific to code change or update and 8 hours of other industry-related approved course work, and lists the classifications it applies to as journeyman plumber (JP), journeyman pipefitter (JPF), journeyman gas (JG), journeyman plumber-gas (JPG), journeyman sheetmetal (JSM), journeyman sprinkler (JS), journeyman refrigeration (JR), and journeyman fire protection (MS-12J or MS-14J) - so both HVAC-side certificates carry it. Courses and instructors must be approved by CID: an application for course approval must be received no later than 120 days before the date the course is proposed to begin, course content must be relevant to the plumbing, mechanical or electrical trades and consistent with all current applicable laws and rules, and approvals run for three years from the date of approval (14.6.4.8(I) NMAC).
Municipalities may not require an additional license bond: 'No municipality shall require any person or corporation licensed under the provisions of the Construction Industries Licensing Act to file or obtain as a condition of doing business as a licensed contractor within the municipality any additional license bond as proof of responsibility if the person or corporation has met the responsibility requirements of the commission' (Section 60-13-51 NMSA 1978). That provision addresses bonding specifically. Building permits, inspections and permit fees are administered separately - the division's trade bureaus, including the Mechanical Plumbing Bureau, issue permits and perform inspections, and CID publishes the mechanical and plumbing permit and inspection fee schedule.
Reciprocity - New Mexico's published journeyman reciprocal agreements are for the ELECTRICAL trade: CID publishes reciprocal licensing agreements 'for a journeyman certificate/license only' with Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming. The published criteria, however, are written for the electrical trade: an applicant 'must have obtained a journeyman electrician certificate of competency/license by passing a mandatory examination after completion of either a 4-year apprenticeship program or 4 years of equivalent experience as determined by the licensing state,' and 'must hold a journeyman electrician certificate/license or higher classification from a participating state that is current, active, and in good standing.' CID publishes no equivalent reciprocal pathway for the mechanical journeyman classifications such as JR and JSM, so an out-of-state HVAC worker should expect the standard experience-and-examination route; confirm with the Mechanical Plumbing Bureau. Separately, expedited certification is available to military service members, their spouses, dependent children and veterans who are licensed or certified and in good standing in another jurisdiction with substantially equivalent requirements; the certificate must issue no later than thirty days after a completed application, and no certificate fee is charged for the first three years (14.6.4.8(D) NMAC).

Legal basis

New Mexico Construction Industries Division (CID), Regulation and Licensing Department - Mechanical Plumbing Bureau (Construction Industries Licensing Act) administers HVAC technician licensing in New Mexico. Every figure below is verified against the board’s own official pages and dated. Who must personally hold a credential — the contractor, the business, or the individual worker — is set out under Requirements.

What it’s called

New Mexico credentials HVAC at two levels, and searches for a ‘New Mexico HVAC license’ land on one or the other. The business-level credential is a Construction Industries Division contractor license in the MM-3 classification - officially ‘Heating, ventilation & air conditioning (HVAC)’ - or the broader MM-98 ‘Mechanical’ license, which covers MM-1 through MM-4 plus the MS-3, MS-6, MS-12 and MS-14 specialty scopes. People also call these the ‘MM license,’ the ‘mechanical contractor license’ or the ‘AC license.’ The worker-level credential is a journeyman certificate of competence, and for HVAC that is normally ‘JR - journeyman refrigeration’; sheet-metal work carries its own ‘JSM - journeyman sheet metal’ certificate. New Mexico calls the individual credential a ‘certificate of competence’ rather than a license, and calls the certified individual who stands behind a company’s contractor license the ‘qualifying party’ (QP) - which is a different role from a journeyman. Unlike states that credential only the contracting business, an employed HVAC worker in New Mexico needs a personal CID certificate: an apprentice may work only under the direct supervision of a validly certified journeyman. Two credentials are commonly mistaken for the state ones. The ‘handyman certificate’ under 14.6.2 NMAC is a declaration tied to the $7,200-per-year casual-work exclusion, not an authorization to perform licensed trade work. And EPA Section 608 refrigerant certification is a federal credential held by the individual technician - New Mexico does require proof of compliance with EPA recovery requirements before it will issue the JR certificate, but Section 608 is neither issued by New Mexico nor a substitute for any New Mexico credential.

License types & fees

Type	Experience	Exam	Fee
MM-3 - Heating, ventilation & air conditioning (HVAC) contractor license (held by the business entity)	Four years' experience (14.6.6.11(B)(3) NMAC). The license is issued to a business entity, and the entity qualifies through an individual 'qualifying party' (QP) certified by CID for the classification: CID contractor licenses 'are issued only to qualified business entities which employ or are owned by one or more qualifying parties validly certified by CID to perform the classification of contracting in which the licensee intends to engage' (14.6.3.8(A)(3)(a) NMAC). CID states the QP's experience must fall within the 10 years immediately preceding application. Scope of MM-3: 'Install, alter, repair, service and maintain HVAC air handling and refrigeration equipment and piping, including fans, coils, condensing units, self-contained packaged air conditioning or heating units, evaporative cooling units, and ductwork and accessories including solar air heating and cooled mechanical air handling and ventilation applications; may connect water to existing valved outlets, and install controls, and control wiring not to exceed 24 volts; may bid and contract for structural alterations, electrical wiring and other work incidental to this scope of work, provided such work is performed by a validly licensed contractor' (14.6.6.11(B)(3) NMAC).	The qualifying party must pass an examination approved and adopted by the division. Under Section 60-13-16(B) NMSA 1978 the examination covers general business knowledge, the division's rules and the Construction Industries Licensing Act, and applicants for a GB, MM or EE classification must additionally take a test based on technical knowledge and familiarity with the prescribed codes and minimum standards of the particular classification. Under Section 60-13-16(C) an applicant may satisfy the business-and-law knowledge requirement instead by receiving a certificate of completion of a business and law course of study offered by an approved accredited education institute; the division provides examinations in both English and Spanish. CID's licensing paperwork and examinations are handled by PSI, and a passing examination score is valid for one year (CID, 'How to Apply for a Construction Industries License').	Two official figures, each attributed. The division's fee rule sets a non-refundable license application fee of $30.00, plus a basic fee for an initial license or renewal 'in any other classification' - the category MM-3 falls in, because the rule's higher-fee list names only GA-98, GB-2, GB-98, GF-98, EE-98 and MM-98 - of $50.00 per year or $100.00 for two years (14.5.5.8(A) and (C) NMAC). CID's own 'How to Apply' page instead states that a company submits its completed license application to PSI with a '$36 application fee and applicable license fees.' Confirm the amount payable with CID or PSI before applying. Other required items that carry cost: the $10,000 license bond, workers' compensation coverage, a tax registration certificate from the Taxation and Revenue Department, a certificate from the NM Public Regulation Commission (corporation or LLC) or from the Secretary of State (limited liability partnership or limited partnership), and the qualifying party's examination or approved-course costs.
MM-98 - Mechanical contractor license (the broad mechanical classification that includes HVAC)	Four years' experience. MM-98 'Indicates licensure in individual classifications MM-1 through MM-4 and covers all work described in these classifications, as well as work described in the MS-3, MS-6, MS-12 and MS-14' (14.6.6.11(B)(5) NMAC) - so it carries the MM-3 HVAC scope together with plumbing (MM-1), natural gas fitting (MM-2) and heating, cooling and process piping (MM-4). It uses the same qualifying-party structure as MM-3.	The same qualifying-party examination structure as MM-3 under Section 60-13-16 NMSA 1978: a technical examination for the MM classification plus the contractor's business and law examination, with an approved business and law course of study available in lieu of the business-and-law portion.	Under the division's fee rule MM-98 is one of the named higher-fee classifications: the basic fee for an initial license or renewal is $100.00 per year, or $200.00 for two years, in addition to the $30.00 non-refundable application fee (14.5.5.8(A) and (B) NMAC). CID's 'How to Apply' page states a $36 application fee accompanies the company's license application to PSI. Confirm the current amount with CID or PSI.
JR - Journeyman refrigeration certificate of competence (held by the individual worker)	Two years of experience. The division's mechanical-plumbing journeyman classifications 'Requires two years of experience unless otherwise specified,' and JR is not otherwise specified (14.6.4.8(F) NMAC). Section 60-13-38(G) NMSA 1978 likewise makes a person ineligible to sit for a certificate-of-competence examination unless the person 'has had two years' experience in the occupation or trade for which a certificate of competence is sought, or the equivalent thereof as determined by the commission, or has successfully completed a course in the trade approved by the vocational education division of the state department of public education.' Proof of work experience must fall within the 10 years immediately prior to application; training classified as technical training by an accredited college, university, manufacturer's accredited training program, technical vocational institute or accredited apprenticeship program counts in lieu of work experience at one-half year per year of training, and accredited training may not exceed one-half of the total work-experience requirement (14.6.4.8(C)(1) NMAC). JR carries a condition no other mechanical journeyman classification carries: the applicant 'Must demonstrate compliance with environmental protection agency (EPA) recovery requirements before certificate may be issued' (14.6.4.8(F)(5) NMAC). Which contractor licenses a JR may work under is stated differently in two places in the code: 14.6.4.8(F)(5) NMAC says 'Can work under an MM-3, MM-4 or MM-98 or JSM license,' while 14.6.6.11(D)(5) NMAC says 'Can work under an MM-3 or MM-98.' Both are current rule text; confirm with the Mechanical Plumbing Bureau for a specific job.	An applicant must provide satisfactory work-experience documentation to the division before becoming eligible to take the examination; examinations are administered by CID or its designee; a passing exam score is seventy-five percent or higher; and an applicant who fails to appear for a scheduled exam or fails to attain a passing score may take another regularly scheduled exam provided the applicant reapplies, pays the fee, and does not repeat the exam more than twice in any 30-day period (14.6.4.8(C)(2) NMAC). No individual under the age of 18 may be issued a certificate of competence, and a certificate is issued to an individual only and is not transferable or assignable (14.6.4.8(A)(2)-(3) NMAC).	Two official figures, each attributed. CID's published fee page states, under 'Journeyman Certificate Fees,' that 'All Journeyman Certificate Fees - $75.00.' The division's fee rule instead sets the mechanical journeyman examination at $25.00 'with a renewal fee of $25.00 per year for each classification held' (14.5.5.9(B) NMAC). The same rule authorizes the division 'to increase the fees applicable to examinations required by the state pursuant to the Construction Industries Licensing Act ... by a multiplier of up to three (3) for each classification upon the approval of such fee increases by the commission' (14.5.5.9(D) NMAC). Confirm the amount payable with CID or PSI before applying.
JSM - Journeyman sheet metal certificate of competence	Two years of experience, under the same rule heading that governs JR (14.6.4.8(F) NMAC). JSM 'Can work under an MM-3 or MM-98 license' (14.6.4.8(F)(7) and 14.6.6.11(D)(7) NMAC), so sheet-metal work performed inside an HVAC contractor's scope is certified separately from refrigeration work. 'Journeyman sheet metal worker' is one of the categories for certificates of competence named in Section 60-13-38(B) NMSA 1978.	The same certificate-of-competence process as JR: acceptable work-experience documentation first, then an examination administered by CID or its designee at a passing score of seventy-five percent or higher, with the same retake limit of no more than twice in any 30-day period (14.6.4.8(C)(2) NMAC).	CID's fee page states 'All Journeyman Certificate Fees - $75.00'; the division's fee rule states the mechanical journeyman examination is $25.00 with a $25.00 per-year renewal fee for each classification held (14.5.5.9(B) NMAC). Confirm the current amount with CID or PSI.
Apprentice (a supervised status, not a certificate)	No certificate is issued for this status. A journeyman certificate of competence in the appropriate trade classification is required of all individuals performing mechanical and plumbing work, 'provided however, that an apprentice, as is defined in Section 60-13-2 NMSA 1978, may work under the direct supervision of a validly certified journeyman as that term is defined in Section 60-13-2 NMSA 1978' (14.6.6.11(A)(1) NMAC). Section 60-13-38(H) NMSA 1978 states that 'Employment of an apprentice working under the direct supervision of a certified journeyman is not prohibited by the Construction Industries Licensing Act.' Supervision ratios are capped by rule: 'one journeyman supervising and overseeing the work of two unregistered apprentices on commercial or industrial work' and 'one journeyman supervising and overseeing the work of three unregistered apprentices on residential work' (14.6.6.11(A)(2) NMAC).	None for the apprentice status itself; the examination applies when the individual applies for a journeyman certificate of competence.	No CID certificate fee, because no certificate is issued for the apprentice status.

Who does NOT need this license — exemptions

New Mexico’s carve-outs sit in Subsection D of Section 60-13-3 NMSA 1978, which defines who is NOT a ‘contractor’ for purposes of the Construction Industries Licensing Act, and they must be read alongside a separate requirement they do not touch: the journeyman certificate of competence. Even where a person falls outside the definition of contractor, 14.6.6.11(A)(1) NMAC still requires ‘A journeyman certificate of competence in the appropriate trade classification … of all individuals performing mechanical and plumbing work’ (with apprentices permitted to work under the direct supervision of a validly certified journeyman), and Section 60-13-38(A) NMSA 1978 provides that ‘A person shall not engage in the occupation or trade of journeyman unless he holds a certificate of competence issued by the division for the occupation or trade in which he desires to engage.’ Permit and code requirements administered by the CID trade bureaus also continue to apply. Subsection D provides that ‘contractor’ does not include: (1) ‘any person who merely furnishes materials or supplies at the site without fabricating them into, or consuming them in the performance of, the work of a contractor’; (2) any person who drills, completes, tests, abandons or operates any petroleum, gas or water well, or services equipment and structures used in the production and handling of any product incident to the production of any such wells, or who performs geophysical or similar exploration for oil, gas or water - ’excluding any person performing duties normally performed by electrical, mechanical or general contractors’; (3) a public utility or rural electric cooperative that constructs, reconstructs, operates or maintains its plant or renders authorized service by the installation, alteration or repair of facilities, up to and including the meters, which facilities are an integral part of its operational system - ‘provided that the construction of a building by a public utility or rural electric cooperative or the installation or repair of any consumer gas or electrical appliance not an integral part of the operational system makes a public utility or rural electric cooperative a contractor for that purpose’; (4) a utility department of any municipality or local public body rendering authorized service by the installation, alteration or repair of facilities, up to and including the meters, which facilities are an integral part of the operational system of that utility department; (5) any railroad company; (6) a telephone or telegraph company or rural electric cooperative that installs, alters or repairs electrical equipment and devices for the operation of signals or the transmission of intelligence where that work is an integral part of the operation of a communication system owned and operated by it in rendering authorized service; (7) a pipeline company that installs, alters or repairs such signal or intelligence-transmission equipment where that service is an integral part of the operation of its own communication system ‘and is not for hire or for the use of the general public’, or any pipeline company that installs, alters or repairs plumbing fixtures or gas piping where the work is an integral part of installing and operating the system owned or operated by the pipeline company in rendering its authorized service; (8) any mining company, gas company or oil company that installs, alters or repairs its facilities, including plumbing fixtures or gas piping, where the work is an integral part of installing or operating a system it owns or operates - ‘provided the construction of a building by a mining company, a gas company or an oil company is required to be done in conformity with all other provisions of the Construction Industries Licensing Act and with orders, rules, regulations, standards and codes adopted pursuant to that act’; (9) a radio or television broadcaster who installs, alters or repairs electrical equipment used for radio or television broadcasting; (10) ‘an individual who, by himself or with the aid of others who are paid wages and who receive no other form of compensation, builds or makes installations, alterations or repairs in or to a single-family dwelling owned and occupied or to be occupied by him; provided that the installation, building, alteration or repair is required to be done in conformity with all other provisions of the Construction Industries Licensing Act and with the orders, rules, regulations, standards and codes adopted pursuant to that act’; (11) ‘a person who acts on his own account to build or improve a single-family residence for his personal use, including the building or improvement of a free standing storage building located on that residential property; provided that the construction or improvement is required to be done in conformity with all other provisions of the Construction Industries Licensing Act and with the orders, rules, regulations, standards and codes adopted pursuant to that act; and provided further that he does not engage in commercial construction’; (12) a person who, alone or with the aid of others who are paid wages and receive no other form of compensation, builds or makes installations, repairs or alterations in or to a building or other improvement on a farm or ranch owned, occupied or operated by him, or makes installations of electrical wiring that are not to be connected to electrical energy supplied from a power source outside the premises of that farm or ranch - ‘provided that the state codes and any local codes adopted pursuant to Subsection F of Section 60-13-44 NMSA 1978 shall not require any permits or inspections for such construction on a farm or ranch except for electrical wiring to be connected to a power source outside the premises’; (13) ‘an individual who works only for wages’; (14) ‘an individual who works on one undertaking or project at a time that, in the aggregate or singly, does not exceed seven thousand two hundred dollars ($7,200) compensation a year, the work being casual, minor or inconsequential, such as handyman repairs; provided that this exemption shall not apply to any undertaking or project pertaining to the installation, connection or repair of electrical wiring, plumbing or gas fitting as defined in Section 60-13-32 NMSA 1978 and provided: (a) the work is not part of a larger or major operation undertaken by the same individual or different contractor; (b) the individual does not advertise or maintain a sign, card or other device which would indicate to the public that he is qualified to engage in the business of contracting; and (c) the individual files annually with the division, on a form prescribed by the division, a declaration substantially to the effect that he is not a contractor within the meaning of the Construction Industries Licensing Act, that the work he performs is casual, minor or inconsequential and will not include more than one undertaking or project at one time and that the total amount of such contracts, in the aggregate or singly, will not exceed seven thousand two hundred dollars ($7,200) compensation a year’ - the carve-back names electrical wiring, plumbing and gas fitting as those terms are defined in Section 60-13-32 NMSA 1978, and ‘gas fitting’ is defined there as ’the installing, altering and repairing of consumers’ gas piping and the installation of appliances utilizing natural gas as fuel and their appurtenances in or upon premises of the consumers’, which reaches gas-fired heating work; 14.6.2.8 NMAC (Handyman Certificate) restates this exclusion and the annual declaration; (15) ‘any person, firm or corporation that installs fuel containers, appliances, furnaces and other appurtenant apparatus as an incident to its primary business of distributing liquefied petroleum fuel’ - the HVAC-adjacent exclusion most likely to matter in the field; (16) a cable television or community antenna television company that constructs, installs, alters or repairs facilities, equipment, cables or lines for the provision of television service or the carriage and transmission of television or radio broadcast signals; (17) ‘any weatherization project not exceeding two thousand dollars ($2,000) that has been approved and is administered by a federal or state agency’; and (18) ‘a person who performs work consisting of short-term depreciable improvements to commercial property to provide needed repairs and maintenance for items not covered by building codes adopted by the construction industry commission if the total amount paid the person for the work on a single undertaking, including materials, services and wages of those who work for him, does not exceed the sum of five thousand dollars ($5,000).’ Two related provisions complete the picture. Section 60-13-51 NMSA 1978 bars a municipality from requiring any additional license bond as a condition of doing business as a licensed contractor within the municipality where the licensee has met the commission’s responsibility requirements. And Section 60-13-12(B) NMSA 1978 permits a licensed contractor to bid or contract work involving two or more trades, crafts or classifications where the work outside the licensed classification is incidental or supplemental - but ‘further provided that work coming under the jurisdiction of the mechanical bureau or the electrical bureau of the division must be performed by a contractor licensed to perform that work,’ so the incidental-work allowance does not open HVAC work to an unlicensed trade.

Fees

New Mexico publishes HVAC-relevant amounts in two official places that do not fully agree, so both are given here with their sources; confirm the amount payable with CID or PSI before applying. THE DIVISION’S FEE RULE (14.5.5 NMAC): a non-refundable license application fee of $30.00; a basic fee for an initial license or for renewal of $100.00 per year, or $200.00 for two years, for the GA-98, GB-2, GB-98, GF-98, EE-98 or MM-98 classification; and $50.00 per year, or $100.00 for two years, for a license ‘in any other classification’ - the category the MM-3 HVAC classification falls in (14.5.5.8(A)-(C)). Each applicant for an initial license or for any additional classification pays a further non-refundable application fee of $30.00 (14.5.5.8(D)). An applicant who takes and fails an examination for the GB-2, GB-98, EE-98 or MM-98 classification, or who fails the business and law examination for any classification, may request a review of the examination for a non-refundable $25.00; after failing an examination twice in any classification, a special review may be requested for a non-refundable $40.00 (14.5.5.8(E)-(F)). The mechanical journeyman examination is $25.00 ‘with a renewal fee of $25.00 per year for each classification held’ (14.5.5.9(B)). The rule also authorizes the division to increase the fees applicable to state-required examinations ‘by a multiplier of up to three (3) for each classification upon the approval of such fee increases by the commission’ (14.5.5.8(G) and 14.5.5.9(D)). CID’S PUBLISHED PAGES: the division’s fee page states, under ‘Journeyman Certificate Fees,’ that ‘All Journeyman Certificate Fees - $75.00’; and CID’s ‘How to Apply for a Construction Industries License’ page states that a QP applicant submits the QP application and work-experience affidavit to PSI ‘with a $36 fee,’ and that a company submits its completed license application to PSI with a ‘$36 application fee and applicable license fees.’ Beyond the license and certificate fees, budget for the $10,000 license bond (Section 60-13-49 NMSA 1978), workers’ compensation coverage, tax registration with the Taxation and Revenue Department, the NM Public Regulation Commission or Secretary of State certificate appropriate to the entity type, PSI examination fees (published on the registration form at the end of PSI’s Candidate Information Bulletin, which this record does not restate), continuing-education course costs, and - for refrigerant work - EPA Section 608 certification, which is a separate federal credential. CID’s fee page otherwise covers permit and inspection fees rather than license fees; mechanical and plumbing line items there include a $37.50 administrative fee for any inspection, $4.00 for each combination unit (HVAC), $4.00 for each refrigeration system, $4.00 for each ventilation system, $10.00 for each duct work system, $10.00 for each chiller and $10.00 for each cooling tower, with re-inspection at $80.00 and a second re-inspection at $120.00.

Exam

New Mexico examines at two levels, and an HVAC business normally deals with both. For the CONTRACTOR license, the individual qualifying party must pass an examination approved and adopted by the division: under Section 60-13-16(B) NMSA 1978 it consists of a test based on general business knowledge, the rules and regulations of the division and the provisions of the Construction Industries Licensing Act, and applicants for a GB, MM or EE classification must additionally take a test based on technical knowledge and familiarity with the prescribed codes and minimum standards of the particular classification. An applicant may satisfy the business-and-law knowledge requirement instead by receiving a certificate of completion of a business and law course of study offered by an accredited education institute approved by the commission (Section 60-13-16(C)), and the division provides examinations in both English and Spanish. Applicants must be preapproved before scheduling: a QP application plus a notarized work-experience affidavit goes to PSI, which handles CID’s licensing paperwork and testing, and a passing examination score is valid for one year. For the INDIVIDUAL journeyman certificate - JR journeyman refrigeration for HVAC work, JSM journeyman sheet metal for sheet-metal work - no applicant is eligible to take an examination until providing satisfactory work-experience documentation to the division; examinations are administered by CID or its designee; a passing exam score is seventy-five percent or higher; and an applicant who fails to appear or fails to attain a passing score may take another regularly scheduled exam provided the applicant reapplies, pays the fee, and does not repeat the exam more than twice in any 30-day period (14.6.4.8(C)(2) NMAC). If CID or its designee determines that an applicant has cheated, the exam is deemed invalid, all fees are forfeited, any license or certificate issued on the basis of that exam is automatically and immediately voided, and the applicant is ineligible to take any exam administered by CID or its designee for one year. Under Section 60-13-38(C) NMSA 1978 a certificate-of-competence examination may be oral, written or demonstrative, or any combination, as required by commission rules.

Renewal & continuing education

Two different clocks run, one for the business license and one for the individual certificate. CONTRACTOR’S LICENSE: ‘Contractor’s licenses shall expire two years after the issuance date or as determined by the division, but in no instance less than one year, and shall be renewable upon application to the division and payment of the prescribed renewal fee,’ and nothing in that subsection prohibits the division from establishing a staggered system of license expiration and a procedure for proration of fees for licenses issued for less than the two-year period (Section 60-13-18(B)-(C) NMSA 1978). The director must notify the licensee of the approaching expiration at least thirty days beforehand, by mail to the last address on file. Failure to apply and pay by the last working day prior to expiration suspends the license by operation of law; unless renewed within a three-month period it is canceled; and a suspended license may be renewed only after paying one dollar ($1.00) for each day, up to thirty days, that has elapsed since expiration, and thereafter twice the amount of the renewal fee (Section 60-13-18(F)-(G)). The $10,000 bond must cover the entire period of licensure and is a condition of renewal (14.6.3.8(C) NMAC). JOURNEYMAN CERTIFICATE OF COMPETENCE: certificates ‘are not transferable and shall expire on the date established by the division, not more than three years from the month of issuance’; application must be made before the expiration date and is accompanied by the fee prescribed for the initial issuance of the certificate; an expired certificate is renewable within a six-month period without examination and only upon paying a fee twice the amount of the renewal fee; and if not renewed within that six-month period it is canceled (Section 60-13-39 NMSA 1978). No journeyman certificate is renewed in the absence of proof of compliance with the continuing-education requirement, and an incomplete or inaccurately completed renewal application is rejected (14.6.4.8(G) NMAC). For the individual HVAC credential, CID requires a minimum of 16 hours of approved continuing education in every three-year renewal period: at least 8 hours must cover the current CID code that is enforced by the journeyman classification being renewed or reinstated, and the remaining 8 hours may be other industry-related approved course work (14.6.4.8(H)(2)-(3) NMAC; CID Continuing Education page, Mechanical Plumbing section). CID lists the plumbing and mechanical classifications the requirement applies to as journeyman plumber (JP), journeyman pipefitter (JPF), journeyman gas (JG), journeyman plumber-gas (JPG), journeyman sheetmetal (JSM), journeyman sprinkler (JS), journeyman refrigeration (JR), and journeyman fire protection (MS-12J or MS-14J) - so both HVAC-side certificates, JR and JSM, are covered. Proof of completion in a form satisfactory to the division must be submitted with the renewal application, and CID states that a renewal application not accompanied by that proof is incomplete and will not be processed. Courses and instructors must be approved by CID: an application for course and instructor approval must be received no later than 120 days before the date on which the course is proposed to begin, incomplete or illegible applications are returned unprocessed, course content must be relevant to the plumbing, mechanical or electrical trades and consistent with all current applicable laws and rules, and an approval runs for three years from the date of approval before automatically expiring (14.6.4.8(I) NMAC). At the license level, Section 60-13-18(D) NMSA 1978 provides that licensees and journeyman certificate holders may be required to complete and submit proof of continuing education as a prerequisite for renewal, and that when required by division rule an applicant for license renewal must submit proof of eight hours of instruction in code change and eight hours of instruction in other industry-related and division-approved subjects, with the sixteen hours completed within the three years prior to the date of the renewal application. CID states that the General Building Bureau does not have continuing education requirements for contractors.

How to apply

Applications are handled by New Mexico Construction Industries Division (CID), Regulation and Licensing Department - Mechanical Plumbing Bureau (Construction Industries Licensing Act). Start at the official application page .

Frequently asked questions

Does New Mexico require an HVAC license?

Yes, and at two levels. The contracting business must hold a Construction Industries Division contractor license classified for the work - for HVAC that is the MM-3 Heating, ventilation & air conditioning classification, or the broader MM-98 Mechanical license - because ‘No person shall act as a contractor without a license issued by the division classified to cover the type of work to be undertaken’ (Section 60-13-12(A) NMSA 1978). Separately, the individual doing the work must personally hold a CID journeyman certificate of competence: ‘A journeyman certificate of competence in the appropriate trade classification is required of all individuals performing mechanical and plumbing work’ (14.6.6.11(A)(1) NMAC). For HVAC that is normally the JR journeyman refrigeration certificate, with JSM covering sheet metal work. An apprentice may work only under the direct supervision of a validly certified journeyman.

What is the difference between the MM-3 license and the JR certificate?

The MM-3 is the business’s license; the JR is the worker’s credential. CID issues contractor licenses only to business entities that employ or are owned by a validly certified ‘qualifying party’ (14.6.3.8(A)(3)(a) NMAC), so the MM-3 belongs to the company and is backed by one qualified individual who passed the classification examination and the business and law examination. The JR journeyman refrigeration certificate of competence is issued to an individual only and is not transferable or assignable (14.6.4.8(A)(2) NMAC), and a journeyman may engage in the certified trade only while employed by an entity validly licensed for that type of work or holding a valid annual permit. A company therefore needs both: the license, and certified journeymen actually performing the work.

How much experience does New Mexico require for HVAC?

The MM-3 HVAC contractor classification requires four years’ experience (14.6.6.11(B)(3) NMAC), documented for the qualifying party within the 10 years immediately preceding application. The individual JR journeyman refrigeration certificate requires two years - the mechanical-plumbing journeyman classifications ‘Requires two years of experience unless otherwise specified’ (14.6.4.8(F) NMAC), and Section 60-13-38(G) NMSA 1978 sets the same threshold, allowing a commission-determined equivalent or successful completion of an approved trade course. Accredited technical training counts toward journeyman experience at one-half year per year of training and may not exceed one-half of the total requirement. The JR certificate also requires the applicant to demonstrate compliance with EPA recovery requirements before it will be issued.

What exams are required, and what is the passing score?

For the contractor license, the qualifying party takes a division-approved examination covering general business knowledge, division rules and the Construction Industries Licensing Act, plus - for an MM classification - a technical test on the prescribed codes and minimum standards for that classification (Section 60-13-16(B) NMSA 1978). An approved business and law course of study may be completed instead of the business-and-law examination, and examinations are offered in both English and Spanish. For the journeyman certificate, work-experience documentation must be accepted first, the passing score is seventy-five percent or higher, and an applicant may not repeat the exam more than twice in any 30-day period (14.6.4.8(C)(2) NMAC). PSI handles CID’s licensing paperwork and testing, and a passing contractor examination score is valid for one year.

How often do the credentials renew, and is continuing education required?

A contractor’s license expires two years after issuance or as determined by the division, but never less than one year (Section 60-13-18(B) NMSA 1978). A journeyman certificate of competence expires on the date the division establishes, not more than three years from the month of issuance (Section 60-13-39(A)). Continuing education attaches to the journeyman credential: a minimum of 16 hours of approved course work per three-year renewal period, of which at least 8 hours must cover the current CID code enforced by the classification being renewed and 8 hours may be other industry-related approved course work (14.6.4.8(H) NMAC; CID Continuing Education page). Proof must accompany the renewal application, and CID lists both JR and JSM among the classifications the requirement applies to.

Is there a small-job or handyman exception for HVAC work in New Mexico?

There is a narrow statutory exclusion from the definition of ‘contractor,’ but it does not remove the separate journeyman-certificate requirement, and permit and code obligations continue to apply. Section 60-13-3(D)(14) NMSA 1978 excludes an individual who works on one undertaking or project at a time that does not exceed $7,200 compensation a year where the work is ‘casual, minor or inconsequential, such as handyman repairs’ - but expressly ‘provided that this exemption shall not apply to any undertaking or project pertaining to the installation, connection or repair of electrical wiring, plumbing or gas fitting as defined in Section 60-13-32 NMSA 1978,’ and only where the work is not part of a larger or major operation, the individual does not advertise as qualified to engage in the business of contracting, and the individual files an annual declaration with the division. Because ‘gas fitting’ is defined to cover consumers’ gas piping and appliances utilizing natural gas as fuel, gas-fired heating work falls outside the exclusion. Separately, EPA Section 608 certification for refrigerant handling is a federal requirement and is not a New Mexico credential.

See every license and certification LicensingAtlas covers in New Mexico.

Sources & verification

Last verified against these sources: July 25, 2026.

LicensingAtlas states licensing and certification requirements categorically from official sources. It is a reference, not legal or career advice, and requirements change frequently — confirm details with the issuing board before you act.