Handyman License and Exemption Rules in New Mexico

What the exemption actually says

New Mexico does not have a "handyman licence" in the sense of a licence that lets you do small construction work. It has an exclusion from the definition of contractor, and a certificate that records you claiming it. NMSA 1978 60-13-3(D)(14) removes from the definition "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."

Read the two limits together, because they are separate. "One undertaking or project at a time" is a concurrency limit: two live jobs at once is outside the exemption regardless of value. "$7,200 compensation a year" is an annual ceiling on what you take, not a per-job cap. The words "in the aggregate or singly" make the annual reading explicit.

NMAC 14.6.2 exists solely to implement this. Its scope provision at 14.6.2.2 says the rule "applies to individuals doing work as a handyman within the State of New Mexico," and 14.6.2.8 restates the statutory definition and its three conditions in materially identical words. Rule and statute agreeing on a figure is worth noting, because it is not always the case: here the $7,200, the concurrency limit, the trade exclusions and all three conditions match.

Note the word "individual." The exemption is written for a natural person. NMAC 14.6.3.8(A)(1) requires that "an entity must be issued a license" to act in the capacity of a contractor, so structuring handyman work through a company is not obviously within the exemption's terms. If that is your plan, get the answer from CID before you rely on it.

Official sources: Construction Industries Licensing Act, NMSA 1978 Chapter 60 Article 13 (published by NM Regulation and Licensing Department); NMAC 14.6.2: Handyman Certificate; NMAC 14.6.3: Contractor’s License Requirements

The three conditions, and why the third one surprises people

The first condition is about the shape of the job. NMSA 1978 60-13-3(D)(14)(a) and NMAC 14.6.2.8(A) both require that "the work is not part of a larger or major operation undertaken by the same individual or different contractor." A small piece of a big job is not casual, minor or inconsequential just because your piece is small, and the reference to a "different contractor" means being someone else's sub on a large project takes you outside it.

The second is about how you present yourself. NMSA 1978 60-13-3(D)(14)(b) and NMAC 14.6.2.8(B) require that "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." That is broader than paid advertising: a sign, a card or "other device" is enough. Treat vehicle lettering, printed cards and any public listing that presents you as a contractor as inside the prohibition, and note that the statute does not distinguish between paid and unpaid channels.

The third is a filing, and it is the one people miss. NMSA 1978 60-13-3(D)(14)(c) and NMAC 14.6.2.8(C) require that 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 exemption is drafted as conditional on that declaration being filed each year, which is why it is called a handyman certificate.

We state no fee for the declaration. None is published on any page we could read, and NMAC 14.6.2 does not set one.

Official sources: Construction Industries Licensing Act, NMSA 1978 Chapter 60 Article 13 (published by NM Regulation and Licensing Department); NMAC 14.6.2: Handyman Certificate

Work the exemption never reaches

Three trades are excluded by name. Both the statute and the rule provide that the 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." There is no small-job version of that: NMSA 1978 60-13-12(B) separately 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," with no incidental allowance.

Electrical work also has an individual-level requirement that sits on top of the licensing question. NMAC 14.6.6.10(A)(1) requires "a journeyman certificate of competence in the appropriate trade classification ... of all individuals performing electrical wiring," permitting an apprentice to work only "under the direct supervision of a validly certified journeyman." A handyman replacing a light fixture is in that territory, not outside it.

Nothing in the exemption lifts building codes or permits either. The owner-builder exemptions immediately above it in the statute are explicit on the point - NMSA 1978 60-13-3(D)(10) and (D)(11) both require the work 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 there is no reason to read (D)(14) as more generous. If the work needs a permit, it needs a permit.

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

Two other small-work exclusions people confuse with the handyman rule

NMSA 1978 60-13-3(D)(17) removes "any weatherization project not exceeding two thousand dollars ($2,000) that has been approved and is administered by a federal or state agency." Both halves matter: the ceiling is $2,000, and the project has to be one a federal or state agency has approved and is administering. Private weatherization work is not inside it.

NMSA 1978 60-13-3(D)(18) removes "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)." Three conditions there: commercial property, items outside the adopted building codes, and a $5,000 all-in ceiling per undertaking.

And NMSA 1978 60-13-3(D)(13) removes "an individual who works only for wages." Being an employee is the cleanest way to do construction work in New Mexico without a licence of your own, and it is worth naming because it is the answer for a great many people who think they need the handyman route.

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

What happens if you go over the line

The moment the exemption stops fitting, you are an unlicensed contractor for the purposes of the whole Act, and three consequences attach. NMSA 1978 60-13-52(A) makes it a misdemeanor, with the court directed to impose up to 90 days and a fine of $300 to $500 where the contracting work is $5,000 or less, and up to six months or "a fine of ten percent of the dollar value of the contracting work" above that.

NMSA 1978 60-13-23.1 gives the commission an administrative penalty that runs in parallel: $300 to $500 at $5,000 or less, up to ten percent of the contract with a $500 floor above it, doubled under subsection (B) for anyone previously suspended, revoked or penalised, and $100 per day under subsection (C) for failing to comply with the order.

The third consequence is the one that costs most. NMSA 1978 60-13-30(A) bars any contractor from bringing or maintaining a New Mexico court action for the collection of compensation for work requiring a licence "without alleging and proving that such contractor was a duly licensed contractor at the time the alleged cause of action arose," and subsection (B) provides that a contractor operating without a licence "shall have no right to file or claim any mechanic's lien as now provided by law." A handyman who drifts past $7,200, or takes two jobs at once, or puts a sign on the van, can end up having done the work with no way to enforce payment for it.

If the exemption does not fit, the route is a licence rather than a smaller invoice. NMAC 14.6.3.8(A)(1) requires an entity to hold it, NMAC 14.6.3.8(G)(2)(a) requires the qualifying party to document "four years within the 10 years immediately prior to application" before sitting the exam, and NMSA 1978 60-13-49(B) requires a $10,000 corporate surety bond at issue and at every renewal.

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

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