Plumber licensing in New Mexico

New Mexico has no plumbing reciprocity — the journeyman reciprocity program on the state's own form is electrical only. What travels instead is your time: experience counts if it was legal work in the state where you did it, so an out-of-state plumber documents the same 4,000 hours (journeyman) or 8,000 (master classifications) he would anywhere, within the ten years before applying, and trade school substitutes for up to half.

Then both exams — written and practical. The genuine fast lane is military-connected: members, spouses, dependents, and veterans with an equivalent out-of-state license get expedited certification, issued within 30 days, no fee for three years.

No temporary journeyman certificate exists — but New Mexico's apprentice rule is the broadest in the packet: the state recognizes unregistered apprentices outright, no card, no fee, no program enrollment. A traveler with a pending application can be on a plumbing crew immediately as an apprentice, under the direct supervision of a certified journeyman working in immediate proximity — with hard ratios: one journeyman to two apprentices on commercial and industrial work, one to three on residential.

The supervising journeyman must be employed by a licensed contractor. It is apprentice classification and apprentice authority until the certificate issues — say so up front.

Two years' experience for the journeyman classifications, four for the master-level ones — rendered as 4,000 and 8,000 hours on the application — earned within the prior ten years, anywhere it was legal work. The packet is notarized paper to PSI, originals only; the written exam scores immediately, the practical comes back by mail in about a week. Budget weeks, not days.

No registration exists to complete: the definitions rule recognizes apprentices 'whether registered... or unregistered while learning the trade,' working for a validly licensed employer as their principal occupation. The supervision is the structure — a certified journeyman in immediate proximity, overseeing the work as it occurs.

The journeyman certificate is a statewide CID credential, and no municipal worker card was found — though no city ordinances were swept, so confirm with the local building department if a placement lands somewhere specific. Cities and counties act as code jurisdictions for permits and inspections.

CID licenses businesses, not just people: a contractor license issues to an entity qualified by a Qualifying Party — four years' experience, a trade exam, and a business-and-law exam. The MM-1 plumbing classification carries the installation scope. The worker's journeyman certificate is separate and personal; the QP machinery is the employer's concern.