State licence

New Mexico Roofing License Requirements

New Mexico requires a state contractor licence from the Construction Industries Division. Roofing has a dedicated specialty classification, GS-21 (Roofing), requiring two years of foreman-level practical or related trade experience; the scope covers installing, altering or repairing roof systems, plus related flashing, gutters, downspouts and roof coatings. Licences go to business entities with a Qualifying Party who passes the trade exam and a Contractor's Business and Law exam, and a $10,000 licence bond is required. GB-2 and GB-98 general building licences also authorise roofing within their scopes.

Do roofers need a license in New Mexico?

Yes — New Mexico requires a state roofing license

A state agency issues a credential you must hold before contracting for roofing work, and it can take that credential away.

Look up a New Mexico license

The rule in detail

State-level requirement: State licence
Licensing authority: New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department - Construction Industries Division (CID)
Class covering roofing: GS-21 (Roofing) - the dedicated specialty roofing classification. Roofing may also be performed within the scope of the general building classifications GB-2 (Residential) and GB-98 (General Building).
Dollar threshold: $7,200 — Not a general small-job threshold. NMSA 60-13-3(14) exempts an individual working on one undertaking at a time totalling no more than $7,200 compensation a year where the work is 'casual, minor or inconsequential, such as handyman repairs' - and only if the work is not part of a larger operation, the individual does not advertise as a contractor, and an annual declaration is filed with the Division. A roofing business cannot rely on this exemption. A separate exemption covers short-term depreciable commercial repairs up to $5,000.
Statute or rule: Construction Industries Licensing Act, NMSA 1978 sections 60-13-1 to 60-13-59; exemptions at section 60-13-3; classifications and scopes at 14.6.6 NMAC
Bond: $10,000 licence bond ('proof of responsibility') underwritten by a corporate surety authorised to transact business in New Mexico.
Insurance: None published at state level.
Reciprocity: No published reciprocity arrangement for roofing.
Public license lookup: Search the New Mexico register

Local licensing and permits in New Mexico

The state licence is the controlling credential, issued only to business entities employing or owned by a Qualifying Party. Building permits and inspections are still required for all re-roofs and roof-coating applications, issued either by CID or by a municipality or county that has assumed its own permitting authority (such as Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Las Cruces).

Permitting is a separate system from licensing, and it is almost always local. In New Mexico, as nearly everywhere in the United States, a full roof replacement is treated by the adopted building code as work requiring a permit and a final inspection, while small repairs are often exempt below a threshold the local code sets. The building department for the city or county where the house sits is the only body that can tell you which side of that line your job falls on.

The two questions are not the same question

Licensing asks whether this contractor is permitted to sell roofing work in New Mexico. Permitting asks whether this specific job on this specific building may proceed. A contractor can be perfectly licensed and still be doing unpermitted work, and an unpermitted roof tends to surface at a sale, at a claim, or at a warranty dispute — years later, when it is expensive.

If you are hiring a roofer in New Mexico

●Check the credential at the source. Search the New Mexico public register for the exact legal entity that will sign your contract — not the salesperson, and not the name painted on the truck.
●Ask for certificates of insurance directly from the insurer or agent. General liability and workers’ compensation both matter, and roofing carries some of the highest comp premiums of any trade — which is exactly why some operators go without. An injury on an uninsured crew can find its way to your policy.
●Confirm who is pulling the permit. It should be the contractor, in their own name. An invitation to pull it yourself as the homeowner moves the code liability onto you, and is often a sign the contractor cannot pull it.
●Get the scope in writing before any deposit changes hands. Tear-off versus overlay, decking replacement priced per sheet, underlayment and ice-and-water coverage, ventilation, flashing, and who hauls the debris. Most roofing disputes are scope disputes wearing a different hat.
●Be careful after a storm. Door-knocking crews follow hail. Before signing anything that assigns your insurance benefits or commits you to a contractor contingent on a claim being approved, read it twice and check the cancellation terms.

If you are a roofing contractor working in New Mexico

New Mexico holds a state-level requirement, so the first question is whether your work sits inside the classification described above and, where a dollar figure applies, whether the contract value crosses it. Thresholds are normally written against the total value of the contract or the project rather than an individual invoice, so splitting a job into pieces to stay underneath is the specific evasion those statutes exist to catch.

Two consequences of getting this wrong are worth knowing regardless of the state. Contracting without a required credential is commonly a misdemeanour offence, and in most states an unlicensed contractor cannot enforce the contract or file a mechanic’s lien — so an unpaid job simply stays unpaid, with no legal route to collect. Confirm your position with the board before you bid, not after.

Sources

This entry was checked against the following on August 2026. The authority on New Mexico licensing is New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department - Construction Industries Division (CID), not this page — if anything below conflicts with what the board publishes today, the board is right.

Note on this entry

The GS-21 classification code, its exact title 'Roofing', its two-year experience requirement and its full scope of work were confirmed by extracting the text of the official 14.6.6 NMAC 'Classifications and Scopes' PDF hosted on rld.nm.gov - the same source confirmed GB-2 as 'Residential' and GB-98 as 'General building'. Note that GB-2 is the residential general building classification, not a roofing classification. The $7,200 and $5,000 exemptions and the $10,000 bond were confirmed from the Construction Industries Licensing Act PDF on rld.nm.gov.

Checked August 2026. Licensing rules change — dollar thresholds get raised, boards get reorganised, and statutes get amended mid-session. This page is a research summary, not legal advice, and it is not the authority on anything.

The authority is New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department - Construction Industries Division (CID). Before you sign a contract or bid a job, confirm the current rule with them directly.

Next steps

Roofing contractors in New Mexico

Browse roofing companies across New Mexico by city, compare Google reviews, and request quotes directly. Listings are compiled from public records — check the license yourself before signing.

Free roofing calculators

Roof pitch, roofing squares and shingle bundles, and attic ventilation — each one shows the formula it used, so you can sanity-check a quote before you accept it.

Looking for a Roofing Contractor?

Search roofing companies by city or state, compare Google reviews, and request quotes directly — free, with no middleman. Check any licence number yourself with the state board before work begins.

Roofers in New Mexico Free Roofing Calculators