How to get an HVAC license in New Mexico

Journeyman level 4,000 hours on the job + state exam What's a journeyman?

Licensing office New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department, Construction Industries Division (CID), Mechanical Bureau · (505) 476-4700 [15]

The license pathway in New Mexico

1. 1

   Apprentice (no state card)

   You learn the trade while working for a licensed contractor under the direct supervision of a certified journeyman. The state issues no apprentice card. [1][2]

2. 2

   Journeyman Refrigeration (JR)

   • 4,000 hours on the job
   • 2 years of experience
   • Yes: 50 questions, 120 minutes, open book, 75% to pass; $68.88 (PSI)
   • $75 application
   • Every three years, $75; 16 hours CE

   The journeyman refrigeration certificate. It can work under an MM-3 (HVAC) or MM-98 contractor. You need two years (4,000 hours) of experience and proof of EPA refrigerant recovery certification. [1][3][4][7][9]

3. 3

   Journeyman Sheet Metal (JSM)

   • 4,000 hours on the job
   • 2 years of experience
   • Yes: written (70 questions, 185 minutes, open book) and practical (100 points, 120 minutes); 75% to pass each; $137.76 combined (PSI)
   • $75 application
   • Every three years, $75; 16 hours CE

   The journeyman sheet metal certificate (its PSI exam covers duct fabrication and installation). It can work under an MM-3 or MM-98 contractor. You need two years (4,000 hours) of experience. [1][3][4][7][9]

4. 4

   HVAC contractor qualifying party (MM-3 or MM-98)

   • 4 years of experience
   • Yes: MM-3 trade exam ($68.88) plus the Business and Law exam ($68.88) or an approved course
   • $36 application (CID's page; the 2004 fee rule says $30) plus the license fee
   • Contractor licenses expire two years after issue, or as CID sets (never less than one year)

   A contractor's license goes to a business that employs or is owned by a qualifying party (QP). Since August 1, 2026, MM-3 covers HVAC, hydronics, fuel gas piping and process piping; it requires four years of experience. [1][6][8][16][17]

Who needs a certificate in New Mexico

New Mexico's rule says a journeyman certificate of competence "is required of all individuals performing mechanical and plumbing work." The exception is an apprentice working "under the direct supervision of a validly certified journeyman." Journeymen may work only for a business licensed for that type of work.

Homeowners can't run their own ductwork: CID says a licensed contractor must pull the permit, install it and call for inspections. Replacing a furnace also needs a permit from a licensed contractor. [1][5]

Which HVAC certificate you need

New Mexico certifies journeymen by type of work:

• Journeyman Refrigeration (JR): works under MM-3 or MM-98 contractors; two years plus EPA recovery certification.
• Journeyman Sheet Metal (JSM): works under MM-3 or MM-98 contractors; two years.
• Journeyman Pipe Fitter (JPF) and Journeyman Natural Gas Fitter (JG): both can also work under an MM-3 contractor; two years.
• Contractor qualifying party (MM-3 or MM-98): four years plus the trade and Business and Law exams.

A rule change effective August 1, 2026, widened MM-3 to cover hydronics, fuel gas piping and process piping and dropped the old MM-2 and MM-4 contractor classes. CID counts each year of accredited technical training as half a year of experience, up to half the requirement. Compare states on the HVAC hub. [1][3]

The journeyman exams

PSI runs the exams at centers in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Cruces, Roswell and Farmington, plus Durango, Colorado, and four Texas cities.

PSI's bulletin lists the JR exam at 50 questions in 120 minutes, open book, covering refrigerants, piping and hydronics, components and controls, tests and inspections, and safety. The JSM written exam has 70 questions in 185 minutes (duct fabrication and installation, ventilation, combustion air and controls, heating and cooling appliances), and the practical is scored out of 100 points in 120 minutes. You need 75% on each; each part is $68.88.

The bulletin (updated April 2023) lists the 2015 New Mexico Mechanical Code and the 2021 Uniform Mechanical Code; New Mexico adopted a 2024 mechanical code effective August 1, 2026, so check PSI's current bulletin before you buy books. [1][4][6]

Fees, renewal and continuing education

The journeyman application fee is $75 per classification, paid to PSI. Certificates last three years; renewal is $75, plus $25 if late, according to PSI's renewal form (the statute says late renewal within six months costs twice the renewal fee). Under state law an expired certificate is canceled if not renewed within six months.

JR, JSM and other mechanical journeymen need 16 hours of approved continuing education each three-year cycle, at least eight on code changes. CID posts the approved course list. [3][7][8][9]

Union and open-shop apprenticeships

The state's HVACR apprenticeship page lists Albuquerque Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling, ABC New Mexico and the Southwest Piping Institute (UA Local 412). It lists age 18, a diploma or GED, an Accuplacer math test and a valid driver's license, and says apprentices work under a journeyman HVACR technician with five or more years of field experience.

For sheet metal and duct work, the state's sheet metal page lists ABC New Mexico, the SMART Local 49 JATC and an employer program. More on choosing: union vs. non-union and how to get an apprenticeship. [10][11]

If you're licensed in another state

CID publishes reciprocal agreements only for journeyman electricians, so out-of-state HVAC workers normally apply like new applicants, with experience affidavits and the PSI exams. Your EPA 608 certification is federal and carries over.

Military service members, spouses, dependent children and veterans who hold a substantially equivalent license elsewhere can get an expedited certificate within 30 days, with no certificate fee for the first three years.

New Mexico's Uniform Licensing Act (61-1-31.1 NMSA) also lists CID among the boards that must process an out-of-state licensee's complete application within 30 days and issue a one-year provisional "expedited license" if your license is current and in good standing and you have practiced for the period New Mexico law requires; CID may make you pass its exam before renewal if your state didn't require one. CID's own notice says EE-98J is the only journeyman classification it reciprocates, so confirm with CID or PSI how it applies this law before you rely on it. See our reciprocity guide. [1][3][8][9][12][13][14]

Steps to get licensed in New Mexico

1. Get hired as an apprentice

   Join a registered program or a licensed HVAC contractor. No state card is needed; you work under a certified journeyman's direct supervision. [1][2][10]

2. Earn EPA 608 certification

   Federal rules require it to work on equipment that can release refrigerant, and New Mexico requires proof of it for the JR certificate. [3][12]

3. Build two years of experience

   JR and JSM each need two years (4,000 hours), within the 10 years before you apply, gained with a licensed contractor (or legally in another state). [1][3]

4. Apply through PSI and pass the exam

   Send the notarized Journeyman Certificate Application, experience affidavits and $75 per classification to PSI, then schedule your exam with PSI. You have six months from approval to submit passing scores. [3][4]

5. Renew every three years

   Renew for $75 with proof of 16 hours of approved continuing education, eight of them on code changes. [7][9]

Where to get the hours

Programs that train HVAC technicians in or for New Mexico, from their own official pages. Listed by type, not ranked.

• Union

  Southwest Piping Institute (UA Local 412 JATC)

  The plumbers and pipefitters union program in Albuquerque, listed by the state as an HVACR technician sponsor. Five years, working for union contractors by day with classes two nights a week. [10][18]

• Union

  SMART Local 49 JATC (sheet metal)

  The sheet metal workers' union program, with training centers in Albuquerque and Lubbock, Texas. Requires age 18 and a diploma or GED; applications are online. [11][19]

• Open shop

  ABC New Mexico

  Associated Builders and Contractors runs registered HVAC and sheet metal apprenticeships from Albuquerque. [10][11][20]

• State program

  NM Department of Workforce Solutions State Apprenticeship Office

  The state apprenticeship agency registers programs, lists sponsors for HVACR, sheet metal and refrigeration trades, and works with local workforce boards to help pay training costs. [10][21]

Licensed in another state?

Questions people ask