New Mexico Plumbing License: What Applies and What Does Not
What New Mexico requires of a plumbing business in 2026, what the LLC has to file first, and where the license and the entity are two separate steps.
By Edmond Hui · Last updated: September 2026
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New Mexico plumbing licensing at a glance
| State credential required for this work? | Yes, statewide |
| What they are called | MM-1 Plumbing Contractor, MM-98 Mechanical Contractor, JP Journeyman Plumber, JPG Journeyman Plumber and Natural Gas Fitter |
| Who issues it | New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department, Construction Industries Division |
| Must the business itself be licensed? | Yes |
Does a plumbing business need a license in New Mexico?
New Mexico issues 4 license classes for plumbers.
New Mexico licenses plumbing statewide through the Construction Industries Division's mechanical bureau, which issues the MM-1 plumbing contractor classification and the JP journeyman plumber certificate. The act's casual work exemption for individuals earning up to $7,200 a year expressly does not reach plumbing, so no dollar floor applies to plumbing work.
The plumbing business itself must be licensed or registered, not only the people doing the work.
The Construction Industries Licensing Act defines "person" to include a firm, partnership, corporation, association or other organization, and no person may act as a contractor without a license. The licensee employs a certified qualifying party who is responsible for the licensee's compliance with the act.
This records what New Mexico publishes, not a determination about your business. Scope, thresholds and local requirements are set by the issuing body, so confirm with them before you bid or file.
Source: Construction Industries Licensing Act, NMSA 1978 Chapter 60 Article 13, New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department. Verified 2026-09-03.
What the LLC has to do first
Several states license the plumbing company separately from the individual plumber, so the LLC and the license are two filings, not one.
The entity filing is separate from anything the license requires. In New Mexico it is made with the New Mexico Secretary of State. File directly with the state here. The order matters wherever the license is issued to the company rather than to a person: the entity has to exist before an application can name it.
Forming an LLC as a plumbing business in New Mexico covers the filing itself, step by step.
Insurance New Mexico plumbers are asked to show
Plumbing license and registration schemes commonly require proof of general liability cover, and water damage from a failed connection is the claim these policies are bought for.
We do not publish New Mexico premium figures for this trade, so nothing here is a quote. Our business insurance guide for plumbers covers what each policy does and does not pay for.
This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It reports what each state licensing board publishes for this trade, with the sources this page cites. It cannot tell you whether your own work needs a licence: that turns on the scope of the job, the value of the contract, and the city or county you work in, which commonly adds its own registration on top of the state's. Confirm your own position with the board named on this page and with your local building or business licensing office before you bid or start work.
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Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC
Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.