General vs. Specialty Contractor Rules in New Mexico

Reading a New Mexico classification code

New Mexico's classification symbols are not arbitrary. NMAC 14.6.6.8(D) sets out the grammar: the first letter is the field, where "G indicates General Construction", "E indicates Electrical" and "M indicates Mechanical/Plumbing"; the second letter is the type of work, where "A indicates asphalt", "B indicates building", "F indicates fixed works" and "S indicates specialties"; and the number designates the specific trade. The rule gives its own worked example: "Classification GB-2 indicates the contractor is licensed in the General Construction field (G), Building Construction type of work (B), Residential Building (2)."

The number 98 has a consistent meaning too. NMAC 14.6.6.9(A)(6) describes GA-98 as indicating "licensure in classifications GA-1 through GA-5; and covers all work authorized in those classifications," and GB-98 is the general building equivalent. A 98 is the umbrella over a family of narrower codes.

What the code means is not cosmetic. NMAC 14.6.6.8(A) provides that any licence "authorizes contracting only in the scope of work authorized by the classification(s) of the issued license. Work performed outside that scope constitutes a violation of the CILA and its rules and constitutes grounds for disciplinary action." NMAC 14.6.3.8(A)(3)(b) says the same from the licensing side: the licence grants "only the authority to engage in contracting in the classification specified on the license issued to the entity, and on the certificate issued to its qualifying party."

Official sources: NMAC 14.6.6: Classifications and Scopes; NMAC 14.6.3: Contractor’s License Requirements

The general building split: GB-2 and GB-98

Almost every new residential contractor in New Mexico is choosing between two codes. NMAC 14.6.6.9(B)(1) defines GB-2, Residential, as authorising the licensee to "erect, alter, repair or demolish residences and apartment houses accommodating not more than four family units, Groups R-1, R-2 and R-3, as those groups are defined in 14.7.2 NMAC," plus Group U items "when incidental to these structures." Crucially it "includes all work described by the GS specialty classifications, provided the work is limited to residential construction as defined under this provision." It requires "two years of foreman level practical or related trade experience."

NMAC 14.6.6.9(B)(2) defines GB-98, General building, as authorising the licensee to "erect, alter, repair or demolish residential and commercial buildings, and certain structures," and states that it "includes all work authorized by the GB-2, GF-5, GF-7 and GS classifications; seal coating and striping of driveways and parking lots," while excluding "those structures covered by the EE, MM, GA or GF classifications." Its experience requirement is double: "four years of foreman level practical or related trade experience of which at two years must be commercial experience."

So the practical difference is commercial reach and the price is commercial experience. GB-2 will not carry you onto a commercial building; GB-98 will, and its two-year commercial experience component cannot be satisfied by residential work however long you have been doing it. That is the single most common reason a New Mexico application for GB-98 is refused on experience.

Both building codes swallow the GS specialty classifications inside their own scope, which is why a GB-2 holder doing residential specialty work is not automatically out of scope. Read the limiting words in NMAC 14.6.6.9(B)(1) carefully: the GS inclusion holds only where "the work is limited to residential construction as defined under this provision."

Official sources: NMAC 14.6.6: Classifications and Scopes

Who may be the prime contractor, and the GB-98 exception

New Mexico governs prime contracting by a dollar-majority test. NMAC 14.6.6.8(B)(1) provides that a validly licensed person "may bid and contract as the prime contractor of a project only if the major portion of the work, based on dollar amount, is authorized by the classification of the prime contractor's license," and that any work outside that scope "must be subcontracted to a validly licensed contractor."

The general building classification gets a specific exception in both directions. NMAC 14.6.6.8(B)(2) says a GB-98 contractor "may bid and contract as the prime contractor of a mechanical, plumbing or electrical project ... that includes work authorized by the GB-98 license classification, regardless of the percentage of GB-98 work," with the out-of-scope work subcontracted. So the dollar-majority test does not hold GB-98 back on a trade-heavy building project.

It cuts the other way too. NMAC 14.6.6.8(B)(3) provides that a GB-98 contractor "shall not bid and contract as the prime contractor of an entire project if the major portion of the work to be performed, based on dollar amount, is covered by the scope of any GA classification or any of the following GF classifications: GF-1, GF-2, GF-3, GF-4, GF-6, GF-8, and GF-9." A general building licence does not reach across into asphalt work or most fixed works as prime.

The statute has its own version of the incidental-work rule. NMSA 1978 60-13-12(B) does not prohibit a licensed contractor "from bidding or contracting work involving the use of two or more trades, crafts or classifications if the performance of the work in the trades, crafts or classifications other than the one in which he is licensed is incidental or supplemental to the performance of the work in the trades, crafts or classifications for which he is licensed" - and then closes the door on the two trades that matter most: "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."

Official sources: NMAC 14.6.6: Classifications and Scopes; Construction Industries Licensing Act, NMSA 1978 Chapter 60 Article 13 (published by NM Regulation and Licensing Department)

The fixed works and asphalt families, and where buildings stop

The GA family covers "asphalt, bitumen and concrete construction ... applies to surfaces used by vehicular traffic, not airborne craft," with one built-in exemption: NMAC 14.6.6.9(A) states that "construction or maintenance of unpaved private rural roads or rural unpaved parking areas that are located on private property not intended for use by the general public and for which there is no public access is exempt from licensing requirements." GA-1 covers streets, roads and highways including tunnels, parking lots, alleys, seal coat and surfacing, and "includes the scopes of work authorized by GA-2 and GA-3." GA-2 is maintenance and repair, GA-3 curbs, gutters and driveway culverts, GA-4 striping, GA-5 highway signs and guard rails. Each of those requires two years of experience.

GA-5 carries a warning that illustrates how New Mexico separates trades: even inside a sign and guard rail licence, "electrical signs must be installed by a properly licensed electrical contractor."

The GF fixed works family covers construction, alteration and repair of "fixed or public works facilities," and NMAC 14.6.6.9(C) attaches two limits. First, work in any trade "that is authorized by any one, or a combination of, the mechanical, electrical, or general building or LP Gas classifications must be performed by an entity validly licensed in the appropriate classification." Second, "except as may be expressly provided in a specific classification description, fixed works licensees may not construct buildings that are primarily for the use and occupancy of the general public, but may bid and contract for such buildings when they are incidental to a fixed works project," with such work subcontracted under 14.6.6.8(B). Storage buildings "used exclusively for storage and not for occupancy are allowed within these classifications."

Official sources: NMAC 14.6.6: Classifications and Scopes

Electrical and mechanical sit behind their own bureaus

The statutory line is short and absolute. NMSA 1978 60-13-12(B) permits a licensed contractor to bid and contract work involving two or more trades where the out-of-classification work "is incidental or supplemental to the performance of the work in the trades, crafts or classifications for which he is licensed" - and then immediately provides "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." There is no incidental allowance for those two bureaus.

Electrical work adds a second credential layer that general construction does not have. NMAC 14.6.6.10(A)(1) requires "a journeyman certificate of competence in the appropriate trade classification ... of all individuals performing electrical wiring," allowing an apprentice to work "under the direct supervision of a validly certified journeyman." It also restricts where a journeyman may work: only when employed by an entity "that is validly licensed to perform the type of work for which the journeyman is certified" or holding a valid annual permit for it.

The supervision ratios are fixed. NMAC 14.6.6.10(A)(2) caps them at "one journeyman supervising and overseeing the work of two apprentices on commercial or industrial work," the same ratio for "commercial or industrial special systems low-voltage work," and "one journeyman supervising and overseeing the work of three apprentices" for the third listed category. Crew planning on an electrical job is therefore a licensing question, not just a scheduling one.

Electrical contractors get their own prime rule as well. NMAC 14.6.6.10(A) states that an electrical contractor "may bid and contract as the prime contractor of an entire project provided the electrical contractor's portion of the contract, based on dollar amount, is the major portion of the contract" - the same dollar-majority test that governs general construction, applied inside the electrical field.

Official sources: Construction Industries Licensing Act, NMSA 1978 Chapter 60 Article 13 (published by NM Regulation and Licensing Department); NMAC 14.6.6: Classifications and Scopes; NMAC 14.6.4: Journeyman Certification

Adding a classification rather than guessing at one

New Mexico expects you to hold every classification you work in, and provides a route to add them. NMSA 1978 60-13-11 provides that the commission shall "define and establish all license classifications," that "the licensee shall be limited in bidding and contracting as provided in Subsection B of Section 60-13-12 NMSA 1978," and that "a licensee, subsequent to the issuance of a license, may make application for additional classification and be licensed in more than one classification if the licensee meets the prescribed qualification for the additional classification."

The mechanics run through the same application process. NMAC 14.6.3.8(D)(1) treats "all requests for formal action to be taken on a license or certificate, such as renewal or addition of a classification" as applications requiring the applicable form and fee, which means the six-month completion window in NMAC 14.6.3.8(D)(3) applies to an added classification too.

The alternative - subcontracting - is not a loophole, it is the rule. NMAC 14.6.6.8(C) requires that "all work subcontracted by a prime contractor shall be performed by an entity that is validly licensed in the classification(s) of the work that is to be performed." Hiring an unlicensed sub does not solve a scope problem; it creates a second one.

Official sources: Construction Industries Licensing Act, NMSA 1978 Chapter 60 Article 13 (published by NM Regulation and Licensing Department); NMAC 14.6.3: Contractor’s License Requirements; NMAC 14.6.6: Classifications and Scopes

Check the official page yourself before you file or sign

New Mexico's contractor rules live in two places that do agree with each other, which is not the norm. The Construction Industries Licensing Act is NMSA 1978 Chapter 60 Article 13, and the operating rules are NMAC Title 14 Chapter 6, served part by part by the State Records Center and Archives. Where this guide quotes a figure, it is quoting one of those two.

Two gaps you should know about before you budget. First, the copy of the Act we read is the Regulation and Licensing Department's own compilation marked 7.1.21, and its text still refers to "Section 4 of this 2021 act", so it is current to mid 2021 and we cannot confirm from it whether a later amendment has landed. Second, and more practically: we state NO New Mexico entity filing fee, NO annual report rule and NO licence application or renewal fee anywhere in this guide. The Secretary of State publishes no fee on a readable page and routes all filings into an online portal, the formation sub-pages we tried return 404, and NMAC 14.6.3.8(D)(1) says only that applications must be "accompanied by the applicable fee as required by 14.5.5 NMAC." Get those numbers from CID and from the Secretary of State directly.

Third, no gross receipts tax rate, filing frequency or due date appears here. New Mexico taxes gross receipts rather than sales, and the Taxation and Revenue Department states that gross receipts tax "is imposed on businesses, but it is common for a business to pass the GRT on to the purchaser," and that taxable gross receipts include "performing services in New Mexico." Rates vary by location in New Mexico and we did not verify any of them in this batch.

Official sources: Construction Industries Licensing Act, NMSA 1978 Chapter 60 Article 13 (published by NM Regulation and Licensing Department); NMAC 14.6.3: Contractor’s License Requirements; New Mexico Secretary of State: Business Services; New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department: Gross Receipts Tax Overview