HVAC Contractor License in New Mexico: Requirements, Qualifier, Bond and Exams

Yes — statewide.

New Mexico licenses mechanical and plumbing contracting businesses through the Construction Industries Division (CID) of the Regulation and Licensing Department, and the class for heating, ventilation and air conditioning work is MM-3.

The license belongs to the business rather than to an individual, and it is a state credential rather than a city or county one.

Work itself is regulated at the worker level too: everyone doing mechanical or plumbing work needs a CID journeyman certificate of competence, except apprentices working under the direct supervision of a certified journeyman.

The New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department issues contractor licenses through its Construction Industries Division (CID).

HVAC contracting is the MM-3 classification.

Two neighbouring mechanical classes sit beside MM-3 in the rules: MM-4 (Heating, cooling and process piping) covers hydronic, steam, chilled water and process piping, boilers and chillers, while MM-2 (Natural gas fitting) covers natural gas piping, warm-air heating and gas appliances but may not install LP gas systems.

The broad option is MM-98 (Mechanical), which combines MM-1 through MM-4 plus MS-3, MS-6, MS-12 and MS-14 — those classifications combined on one license.

If your work spans two class definitions, ask CID which single class fits before you file.

New Mexico contractor licenses are issued only to business entities that employ or are owned by a CID-certified qualifying party for the classification.

The qualifying party documents four years of work experience within the 10 years before applying before being allowed to test, and accredited training counts at half credit — it can cover at most half the requirement.

One qualifier may qualify only one licensed entity, other than a joint venture, unless the entities share at least thirty percent common ownership.

A qualifying-party certificate is not a standing asset either: a new one expires if it does not qualify a valid license within 12 months of the exam score being reported to CID, and a certificate that goes for any consecutive two-year period without qualifying a license also expires.

Two hurdles.

Candidates pass the PSI trade exam for the classification — the MM-3 exam is 100 questions in 245 minutes with a 75% (75 points) pass mark — and either pass the PSI Business and Law exam or take an approved Business and Law course, both within one year.

The Business and Law exam is open book, 50 questions in 130 minutes, 75% to pass, built on the NASCLA Contractors Guide to Business, Law and Project Management (14th edition).

PSI charges $68.88 per exam — as of its bulletin updated April 3, 2026 — for the MM-3 trade exam and for Business and Law alike.

One thing the NASCLA name does not buy you: the CID bureau chief's exam waiver covers NASCLA-accredited general construction, electrical and electrical-journeyman exams, not mechanical or plumbing classes.

The bond is fixed by rule: New Mexico contractors post a $10,000 surety bond, underwritten by a corporate surety authorized to transact business in New Mexico, at licensure and again at each renewal.

On insurance, the rules we read set that bond but we did not find insurance minimums in them — that is an absence in our research, not a confirmation that none exists, so confirm current insurance expectations with CID.

CID's fee schedule starts with a $30 application fee.

The license itself is $50 per year, or $100 for two years, for classes such as MM-3; the MM-98 Mechanical license runs $100 per year, or $200 for two years.

PSI's exam fees sit on top at $68.88 per exam as of PSI's April 3, 2026 bulletin, and the $10,000 bond is underwritten by a corporate surety.

Because the fee schedule quotes both per-year and two-year figures, confirm the license term CID puts your business on when you first license.

Our research found no general reciprocity rule for New Mexico journeyman certificates in the CID rules we read; what those rules do provide is expedited certification for military service members, spouses, dependents and veterans who are licensed or certified and in good standing in another jurisdiction.

For contractor licenses we did not confirm a reciprocity agreement with any state, so treat out-of-state credit as a question for CID rather than an assumption.

The NASCLA route does not apply here either: the trade-exam waiver covers NASCLA-accredited general construction, electrical and electrical-journeyman exams, not mechanical or plumbing classes like MM-3.

The deadlines are in the rule, not in courtesy.

When a licensee loses its qualifying party, both the business and the qualifier must notify CID in writing within 30 days.

A license left without a qualifier is automatically cancelled: no new bids and no new work, and work in progress may continue for not more than 120 days before permits are cancelled.

That makes the replacement plan part of the hiring plan — and note that a new qualifier's exam score only holds a qualifying-party certificate for 12 months — counted from the date the score is reported to CID — before it must be attached to a license.

Our research did not verify a monetary job threshold or handyman exemption under NMSA 60-13-3 for New Mexico contracting — that threshold or exemption was not confirmed in the sources we read.

That is a gap in our research, not a finding that small jobs are exempt, so do not price unlicensed work below an assumed floor.

Ask CID whether any exemption applies to the work you are bidding.

Two items we flagged while reading the current sources.

CID issued an August 2024 memo to mechanical contractors on the transition to A2L refrigerants — worth reading if your service mix includes refrigerant circuits.

And CID held an April 2026 hearing on amendments to the mechanical classification rules (14.6.6 NMAC) and the journeyman-certificate rules (14.6.4 NMAC), so re-check the current rule text — including the parts this page quotes from other rules — with CID before you rely on a detail.

Your license covers the business; the workers need their own credentials.

A CID journeyman certificate of competence is required of every individual doing mechanical or plumbing work, and a certificate holder may only work when employed by an entity licensed — or holding an annual permit — for that type of work — so a certificate is only usable in the field while its holder works for a licensed entity.

Apprentices working under a certified journeyman's direct supervision are the exception, and unregistered apprentices are capped by ratio: one journeyman to two unregistered apprentices on commercial or industrial work, and one to three on residential.