New Mexico · Electrical licensing · official-source guide
New Mexico licenses both. The Construction Industries Division of the Regulation and Licensing Department issues an electrical contractor license to the business and a qualifying party certificate to the individual who stands behind it, plus journeyman certificates of competence. The headline classification is EE-98. It takes four years of experience, a $10,000 bond and a 75 percent exam score.
Issued by
Construction Industries Division, New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department (Electrical Bureau)State-level license
Yes
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Verify a licenseVerified against agency sources on 2026-09-12. Rules and fees change; confirm with the named authority before relying on this guide.
Electrical work in New Mexico is licensed at state level by the Construction Industries Division of the Regulation and Licensing Department. Inside CID the work sits with the Electrical Bureau, whose stated job is enforcement of state and national codes, industry standards and licensing requirements. CID runs offices in Santa Fe at 2550 Cerrillos Road, in Albuquerque at 5500 San Antonio Dr. Suite F, and in Las Cruces at 505 South Main Street. The structure catches people out. Section 60-13-12 NMSA 1978 says no person shall act as a contractor without a license classified to cover the type of work undertaken. But the license goes to the business entity, not to you personally. Rule 14.6.3.8 NMAC says contractor licenses are issued only to qualified business entities which employ or are owned by one or more qualifying parties validly certified by CID for that classification. The qualifying party certificate is the individual credential. It is issued only to people 18 or older, it is not transferable, and it authorizes work only in the classification printed on it. So a one-person electrical company in New Mexico holds two pieces of paper: the EE-98 license in the company name, and the EE-98 qualifying party certificate in the owner's name. Lose the qualifying party and the license is automatically cancelled. Rule 14.6.3.8 NMAC gives you 120 days to finish work already in progress, after which any permit issued for that classification is cancelled automatically and further work counts as unlicensed activity. Both the licensee and the departing qualifying party must notify CID in writing within 30 days of the separation.
Sourcesrld.nm.gov 1rld.nm.gov 2srca.nm.gov 3nmonesource.com 4
Rule 14.6.6.8 NMAC explains the symbol system. The first letter is the field, and E indicates Electrical. Rule 14.6.6.10 NMAC then lists the electrical classifications. EE-98 is residential, commercial and industrial electrical wiring at 5000 volts nominal or less, and it requires four years of experience. It swallows the scopes of ER-1 and of specialty classifications ES-1, ES-2, ES-3, ES-7, ES-10R and ES-10, plus trenching and ductwork associated with EL-1. It is the broadest license most electrical contractors carry. ER-1 is residential wiring at 5000 volts nominal or less and requires two years. It covers one and two family dwellings, and multi-family buildings only where all units sit on the ground floor with no occupancy above or below. It excludes commercial work such as motels and hotels, and an ER-1 holder may not contract for more than four dwelling units in any single building. EL-1 is distribution and transmission over 5000 volts nominal, four years, covering overhead and underground circuits, towers and foundations, substations and terminal facilities. The specialty licenses each need two years: ES-1 signs and outline lighting at commercial locations only, ES-2 cathodic and lightning protection, ES-3 low voltage special systems under 50 volts, ES-7 telephone and telecommunications, ES-10R residential water well pumps at 120/240 volts and 15 HP or less, and ES-10 commercial water well pumps at 600 volts or less. Working outside your scope is not a technicality. Rule 14.6.6.8 NMAC calls it a violation of the Act, and Section 60-13-23 NMSA 1978 lists knowingly contracting beyond the scope of the license as a cause for revocation or suspension.
Rule 14.6.6.10 NMAC carries a raceway rule worth reading before you bid. All raceway installations within or on buildings must be performed by a contractor holding an EE-98 license. Specialty electrical license holders in ES-1, ES-2, ES-3, ES-7, ES-10R and ES-10 are named and told not to install raceways within or on buildings. Two exceptions are written into the rule. ER-1 licensees and journeymen may install raceways incidental to residential wiring. ES-1 licensees and journeymen may install raceway required to connect to a sign or outline lighting circuit, not to exceed 10 feet. The same boundary shows up from the other direction in the general construction classifications. GF-9, the utility lines and systems classification, is told in 14.6.6.9 NMAC that it shall not install electrical raceways including directional boring or pipe jacking methods, splicing, termination, load pots, cross connect equipment, VoIP switching equipment or overhead cabling, because those sit under ES-7, EL-1, ES-3 or EE-98. GS-22 sign erectors are told that electrified signs shall only be installed by contractors holding an ES-1 or an EE-98 classification. GA-5 highway sign contractors are told electrical signs must be installed by a properly licensed electrical contractor. The prime contracting rule in 14.6.6.10 NMAC works the same way in your favor. An electrical contractor may bid and contract as the prime contractor on an entire project provided the electrical portion, based on dollar amount, is the major portion of the contract. Everything outside your classification has to be subcontracted to an entity validly licensed for it.
Rule 14.6.6.10 NMAC requires a journeyman certificate of competence in the appropriate trade classification of every individual performing electrical wiring. An apprentice may work under the direct supervision of a validly certified journeyman who is employed by a validly licensed entity. The journeyman certificates mirror the contractor classifications. EE-98J is journeyman residential and commercial electrical and requires four years of experience. It can work under an EE-98, an ER-1 and all electrical specialty licenses, though under an ER-1 or a specialty license the journeyman is limited to the scope of the contractor's license. ER-1J is journeyman residential wiring, two years, and can work under an EE-98 or an ER-1. EL-1J is journeyman distribution and transmission, four years, and works only under an EL-1. The specialty journeyman certificates ES-1J, ES-2, ES-3J, ES-7J, ES-10RJ and ES-10J each require two years. The crew ratios are fixed by rule and are not the same for every job. One journeyman may supervise and oversee the work of two apprentices on commercial or industrial work, two apprentices on commercial or industrial special systems low voltage work, and three apprentices on residential work. Journeyman certificates issued under the military expedited path are valid for a three year period under 14.6.4 NMAC, and renewal of any journeyman certificate is blocked without proof of the continuing education described below. Working as a journeyman without a valid certificate is separately punishable under Section 60-13-52(B) NMSA 1978.
Rule 14.6.3.8 NMAC sets the experience test for a qualifying party. The applicant must provide proof of work experience in the classification applied for, and no applicant is eligible to take a qualifying examination until they have documented four years of experience within the 10 years immediately prior to application. Rule 14.6.4 NMAC applies the same 10 year window to journeyman applicants. Schooling substitutes, but only up to a point. Training classified as technical training by an accredited college, university, manufacturer's accredited training program, technical vocational institute or an accredited apprenticeship program is considered in lieu of work experience. Each year of equivalent training is applied as one half year of experience, and accredited training may never exceed one half of the total work experience requirement. For an EE-98 qualifying party that means at most two of the four years can come from training. Experience is documented on a work experience affidavit. CID's application instructions say applicants should use as many affidavits as necessary to cover the period required for the classification sought, each person attesting to the experience must use a separate form, and the affiant's signature must be notarized. Complete submissions go to the PSI Albuquerque office by hand or mail, and faxed or emailed forms are not accepted. Applicants must be preapproved before they can schedule an exam. If the affidavit or work experience is not acceptable, the applicant is notified in writing. Everything in an application has to be finished within six months of the date it is received, or the application expires and any fees paid are forfeited.
CID or its designee administers the exams. A qualifying party applicant must pass the exam applicable to the classification sought and a Contractor's Business and Law exam. Under CID's published application instructions, a Business and Law course taken with an approved vendor may be scheduled in lieu of the Business and Law exam. The passing score is set in rule at seventy-five percent or higher, both for qualifying party exams under 14.6.3.8 NMAC and for journeyman exams under 14.6.4 NMAC. An applicant who fails to appear, or who fails to reach 75 percent, may sit another regularly scheduled exam after reapplying and paying the fee, but may not repeat the same exam more than twice in any 30 day period. Cheating voids the exam, forfeits all fees, automatically voids any license or certificate issued on the basis of it, and bars the applicant from any CID exam for one year. There is a waiver worth knowing about. Rule 14.6.3.8 NMAC lets the bureau chief waive the state specific written trade exam for a qualifying party who has passed the general construction, electrical, or electrical journeyman NASCLA accredited examination at the passing score, provided all other qualifying party and journeyman certification requirements are met. A passing score does not sit on the shelf forever. CID's instructions say a passing score is valid for one year, and 14.6.3.8 NMAC says a new qualifying party certificate that has not qualified a valid license within 12 months of the score being reported expires automatically.
Two primary sources give different application fees and this page reports both rather than picking one. Rule 14.5.5.8 NMAC sets a non-refundable license application fee of $30.00, and a further non-refundable $30.00 application fee for an initial license or any additional classification. CID's own application instructions page tells qualifying party applicants to submit the application and work experience affidavit with a $36 fee, and tells companies to submit the license application with a $36 application fee plus applicable license fees. The license fee itself is set by 14.5.5.8 NMAC. The basic fee for an initial or renewal license in the EE-98 classification, and in the GA-98, GB-2, GB-98, GF-98 and MM-98 classifications, is $100.00 per year or $200.00 for two years, for each such classification. Any other classification, which is where ER-1, EL-1 and the ES specialties sit, is $50.00 per year or $100.00 for two years. Exam review fees follow a failure. If you fail an examination for the EE-98 classification, or fail the business and law exam for any classification, a review costs $25.00. If you fail the same classification exam twice, a special review costs $40.00. Journeyman fees also differ between sources. Rule 14.5.5.9 NMAC sets the electrical journeyman examination at $25.00 with a renewal of $25.00 per year for each classification held, and 14.5.5.8 NMAC allows CID to raise exam fees by a multiplier of up to three with commission approval. CID's current fee page states that all journeyman certificate fees are $75.00.
Proof of responsibility in New Mexico is a bond, not a net worth test. Section 60-13-49 NMSA 1978 requires 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. Rule 14.6.3.8 NMAC repeats the figure and requires it on initial licensure and as a condition of every renewal, with the bond covering the entire period of licensure. The bond is narrower than most customers assume. Payments from it may only be used to cure code violations caused by the licensee, certified by the division, and not corrected by the licensee. Claims must be made within two years following final inspection or within two years of issuance of a certificate of occupancy, whichever is earlier. Total aggregate liability of the surety is capped at the face amount. That gap is why Section 60-13-19(C) NMSA 1978 exists. Before work is commenced, a contract is signed or funds are paid for any residential contracting, the contractor must disclose in writing to the owner, on a form approved by the division, that the license and the bond do not protect the consumer if the contractor defaults. Failing to make that disclosure draws a fee assessed by the division of not less than $500 and not more than $1,500. If a bond is cancelled or expires mid-license, the carrier owes CID and the licensee 30 days written notice, and the license is subject to revocation if no new bond arrives by the fortieth day. Workers compensation coverage is required of all licensed entities, and failing to maintain it is a cause for revocation under Section 60-13-23 NMSA 1978.
Section 60-13-18 NMSA 1978 says contractor's licenses expire two years after the issuance date or as determined by the division, but in no instance less than one year, and that the division may run a staggered system of expirations with prorated fees. The fee table in 14.5.5.8 NMAC is written for both, quoting $100.00 per year or $200.00 for two years in the EE-98 classification. Journeyman certificates run on a different clock. Under 14.6.4 NMAC a certificate issued through the military expedited route is valid for a three year period, and the continuing education requirement is written around a three year cycle for every journeyman classification. Missing a renewal is expensive rather than fatal, at first. Section 60-13-18(F) suspends the license by operation of law if the renewal application is not filed and the fee not paid by the last working day before expiration. Subsection G gives a three month window: unless renewed inside it, the license is cancelled. Inside that window the suspended license may be renewed only after payment of a fee equal to one dollar ($1.00) for each day, up to thirty days, elapsed since expiration, and after that for a fee equal to twice the renewal fee. CID mails a renewal form at least 30 days before expiry, but 14.6.3.8 NMAC puts the duty on the licensee whether or not the form arrives. The signatures of all current qualifying parties must appear on the renewal form, and a renewal that arrives without the proof of continuing education is treated as incomplete and is not processed.
Sourcesnmonesource.com 1srca.nm.gov 2srca.nm.gov 3rld.nm.gov 4
New Mexico ties continuing education to the code update cycle rather than to a calendar year. CID states that renewal of a journeyman electrician and journeyman lineman certificate of competence requires at least 16 hours of continuing education in every three year period between respective electrical code updates, of which 8 hours are code change instruction and 8 hours are other industry-related instruction. The rule says the same thing in 14.6.4 NMAC. Before renewal or reinstatement of a journeyman certificate of competence the applicant must complete a minimum of 16 hours of approved course work, and a minimum of eight hours of that approved course work must cover the current CID code enforced by the journeyman classification being renewed. The named electrical classifications are journeyman electrician, shown as JE98 and also referred to as EE98-J, and journeyman lineman, EL-1J. The deadline is procedural. Since July 1, 2005 proof of completion must be submitted with the application for renewal of a journeyman electrician certificate, and since July 1, 2012 the same applies to the journeyman lineman certificate. An application not accompanied by proof is incomplete and will not be processed. Section 60-13-18(D) NMSA 1978 backs this at statute level, describing eight hours of instruction in code change and eight hours in other industry-related and division-approved subjects, completed within the three years prior to the renewal application date. Courses and instructors have to be approved in advance. CID publishes an approved course list, an application for course approval and an application for instructor approval, and 14.6.4 NMAC sets out the standards a course must meet.
New Mexico's reciprocity is narrower than most contractors expect, and CID has put a notice at the top of its Construction Industries pages saying so. The only journeyman classification reciprocated in New Mexico is EE-98J, residential and commercial electrical with 8,000 hours of experience. EE-98J reciprocity is accepted from Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming. CID's continuing education page repeats the list and adds the conditions. Applicants must have obtained a journeyman electrician certificate of competency or license by passing a mandatory examination after completing either a four year apprenticeship program or four years of equivalent experience as determined by the licensing state. The out of state certificate must be current, active and in good standing. The filing is simple. Submit the completed State of New Mexico Application for Journeyman Certificate with a copy of your license from the reciprocal state and $75 to PSI. Forms are on PSI's site. Read the word journeyman literally. CID's notice says reciprocal agreements exist for a journeyman certificate or license only. There is no reciprocal route to an EE-98 contractor license or to a qualifying party certificate, so an out of state electrical contractor still has to qualify a New Mexico entity the ordinary way. The nearest thing to a shortcut on the contractor side is the NASCLA waiver of the state specific trade exam in 14.6.3.8 NMAC, and the expedited military and military spouse route in 14.6.3.8 NMAC, which issues within 30 days of a complete application and waives license and certificate fees for the first three years. New Mexico electricians wanting a reciprocal certificate elsewhere are told to contact that state directly.
CID's enforcement page states the position plainly. Contracting without a license in New Mexico is against the law, the division may stop the construction project and file a criminal charge of unlicensed contracting in Metropolitan or Magistrate Court, and violators will be eligible for licensure one year from the date of conviction. The criminal penalty is in Section 60-13-52 NMSA 1978. Where the dollar value of the contracting work is five thousand dollars ($5,000) or less, the court shall sentence the person to 90 days in the county jail or a fine of not less than three hundred dollars ($300) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500), or both. Where the value exceeds $5,000, it is six months in the county jail or a fine of ten percent of the dollar value of the contracting work, or both. A second conviction draws twice the applicable penalty. Acting as a journeyman without a valid certificate of competence is a separate misdemeanor carrying 90 days or a fine of $100 to $300, or both. Licensed contractors face a parallel civil track. Section 60-13-23.1 NMSA 1978 lets the commission assess an administrative penalty instead of or in addition to suspension or revocation: $300 to $500 where the contract or work is $5,000 or less, and not more than ten percent of the dollar amount but not less than $500 where it is more. A repeat offender pays double. Failure to pay by the date set adds one hundred dollars ($100) for every day of non-compliance, collected by the attorney general in district court. Aiding and abetting unlicensed contracting is itself a listed violation in 14.5.8.8 NMAC.
This is the half contractors trip over, and New Mexico writes it down in two places. Section 60-13-19 NMSA 1978 requires the licensee to exhibit satisfactory evidence of possession of a license on demand, and to clearly indicate the contractor's license number on all written bids and when applying for a building permit. Subsection B gives it teeth: a contractor who fails to indicate the license number clearly on all written bids and on permit applications shall be assessed a penalty fee of one hundred fifty dollars ($150) by the division, payable to the code jurisdiction or political subdivision that issued the permit or in which the work would be permitted. Rule 14.5.8.8 NMAC then lists advertising conduct that is disciplinable. Contracting without displaying your full name as it appears on the license issued by the division is a violation. So is advertising a classification or trade in which the contractor is not licensed by the division, and advertising a service in a false, fraudulent or misleading manner. Using a false, fraudulent or deceptive statement in any document connected with construction bids, licensing, inspections or permitting is a separate item on the same list. The name rules are stricter than the ad rules. Rule 14.6.3.8 NMAC says no license shall be issued to an entity using a name containing words identifying a trade, craft, discipline or expertise not covered by the classification it is qualified for, and that no licensee may contract using a name other than the name shown on the license. Section 60-13-23(K) makes acting under any other name a cause for revocation. A name change needs CID approval, an amended tax registration certificate and a rider from the bonding company before you trade under it.
New Mexico enforces the 2020 National Electrical Code. Rule 14.10.4 NMAC, the 2020 New Mexico Electrical Code, adopts the 2020 NEC by reference as amended by the rule, and took effect on March 28, 2023. The rule applies to contracting work performed on or after that date unless it is performed under a permit whose application CID received before it, and after September 28, 2023 permits could only be issued under the new rule. The state amendments are worth reading before you bid. In dwelling units, branch circuits for 125-volt 15 and 20 ampere general purpose lighting and receptacle outlets are limited to a maximum of ten lighting or receptacle outlets per circuit. Small appliance branch circuits may not carry more than four 20 ampere 125 volt receptacle outlets, except that circuits serving only dining area receptacles may serve six. Equipment on circuits over 300 volts between conductors needs a warning sign made to ANSI Z535, reading 480 VOLTS for over 300 and under 600 volts, and DANGER - HIGH VOLTAGE - KEEP OUT where there are exposed parts over 600 volts. Only licensed contractors pull permits. Rule 14.5.2 NMAC says a person who is not appropriately, validly and currently licensed by the division is not eligible to apply for or be issued a permit, subject to the homeowner's permit exception. Section 60-13-59 NMSA 1978 requires every building permit to contain the name, address and license number of the general contractor where applicable, and to be prominently displayed on the site where the work is performed. CID prints the permit fees. Residential runs $45 at 100 amp and below, $72 for over 100 through 200 amp, $99 for over 200 through 320 amp, $225 for over 320 through 400 amp and $360 above 400 amp. Commercial runs $45, $72, $225, $270, $360, $450, $630 and $900 across bands from 100 amp to over 2000 amp. A temporary power pole, a mobile home service and a service change with no outlets are $27 each, and the minimum inspection fee for an unlisted item is $27. A reinspection is $80, and 14.5.5.14 NMAC sets $120.00 for the second or any later one.
Sourcessrca.nm.gov 1srca.nm.gov 2nmonesource.com 3rld.nm.gov 4rld.nm.gov 5srca.nm.gov 6
The license is statewide, but the inspector may not be a state employee. In Albuquerque the city's Building Safety Division issues building and trade permits and conducts inspections for residential and commercial new construction, additions and remodel work, all under the Uniform Administrative Code of the City of Albuquerque. Its electrical inspections and trade permits desk sits at Plaza Del Sol and runs 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday. The division publishes its own permit timelines, currently showing one day for electrical permits and 100 percent of electrical inspections performed within one day. The city posts the same code as the state: the 2020 New Mexico Electrical Code went into effect there on September 28, 2023, alongside the 2021 New Mexico Commercial Building, Residential and Existing Building Codes adopted December 14, 2023 and the 2023 Uniform Administrative Code of the City of Albuquerque effective February 2, 2024. Outside a jurisdiction that runs its own code enforcement, CID issues the electrical permit and sends the inspector, from Santa Fe, Albuquerque or Las Cruces. CID takes electrical permit applications online and also runs an online inspection request. One thing a municipality cannot do to you: Section 60-13-51 NMSA 1978 forbids any municipality from requiring a licensed contractor to file or obtain any additional license bond as proof of responsibility as a condition of doing business within the municipality, where the contractor has met the commission's responsibility requirements. The $10,000 state bond is the bond.
New Mexico runs a public license lookup and it is the first thing a careful homeowner or a general contractor's compliance clerk will use. The Regulation and Licensing Department's Verify a License page directs anyone checking a Construction Industries license to https://public.psiexams.com/search.jsp. CID's own pages link to the same PSI licensee search from the Construction Industries menu and from the unlicensed violations page. What that search shows is the entity name as licensed and the classification. That matters commercially for two reasons. The name on the license is the only name you may contract under, so a search on your trading name has to return you. And the classification is the public statement of what you are allowed to sell, so an ER-1 holder who has been advertising commercial work is visible to anybody who looks. RLD also publishes disciplinary actions and citations through its Enforcement Actions page, which is separate from the license search. For the contractor, three habits make the lookup work in your favor rather than against you. Keep the entity name on your website, your vehicles and your estimates identical to the name on the license. Put the license number on every written bid, which Section 60-13-19 requires anyway. And renew before expiry, because a license suspended by operation of law under Section 60-13-18(F) is a license a customer can see is not current. Complaints run the other way through the same office. CID takes requests for investigation through an online portal and on a paper form.
Sourcesrld.nm.gov 1public.psiexams.com 2rld.nm.gov 3nmonesource.com 4
These are common details other guides publish about New Mexico, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
Yes. The Construction Industries Division of the Regulation and Licensing Department licenses electrical contracting statewide under the Construction Industries Licensing Act, and the Electrical Bureau inside CID handles the trade.
Both. The contractor license is issued to the business entity. The qualifying party certificate is issued to the individual who qualifies it. Rule 14.6.3.8 NMAC says licenses go only to entities that employ or are owned by a validly certified qualifying party.
Residential, commercial and industrial electrical wiring at 5000 volts nominal or less. Under 14.6.6.10 NMAC it also covers the scopes of ER-1 and of the ES-1, ES-2, ES-3, ES-7, ES-10R and ES-10 specialties, plus trenching and ductwork associated with EL-1.
Four years for an EE-98 qualifying party, and the four years must fall within the 10 years immediately before the application. Two years is enough for ER-1 and for the ES specialties.
Yes, up to half. Accredited technical training counts as one half year of experience for each year of training, and accredited training may never exceed one half of the total experience requirement.
Seventy-five percent or higher, for both qualifying party and journeyman exams. You may not repeat the same exam more than twice in any 30 day period.
A $10,000 bond from a corporate surety authorized to do business in New Mexico, required at initial licensure and at every renewal under Section 60-13-49 NMSA 1978 and 14.6.3.8 NMAC.
At least 16 hours in every three year period between electrical code updates, of which 8 hours must be code change instruction and 8 hours other industry-related instruction. Proof goes in with the renewal application.
For the EE-98J journeyman certificate only: Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming. There is no reciprocity for the contractor license.
The statute names written bids and building permit applications, not ads. Section 60-13-19 requires the license number clearly on all written bids and when applying for a permit, with a $150 penalty fee for failing to do so. Separately, 14.5.8.8 NMAC makes it a violation to contract without displaying your full name as it appears on the license, or to advertise a classification you are not licensed in.
Section 60-13-52 NMSA 1978 makes it a misdemeanor: 90 days in jail or a $300 to $500 fine where the work is $5,000 or less, and six months or a fine of ten percent of the work's value where it is more. CID says violators are eligible for licensure one year from the date of conviction.
The 2020 National Electrical Code, adopted by reference with New Mexico amendments in 14.10.4 NMAC effective March 28, 2023. Albuquerque posts the same 2020 New Mexico Electrical Code as effective September 28, 2023.
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