New Mexico Plumbing Licensing Law

New Mexico Code · 3 sections

The following is the full text of New Mexico’s plumbing licensing law statutes as published in the New Mexico Code. For the official version, see the New Mexico Legislature.

N.M. Stat. Ann. § 61-24D-2

As used in the Home Inspector Licensing Act:

A.  "approved examination" means a national home inspector licensing examination that has been third-party accredited as complying with the prevailing standards of the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing and assesses an applicant's knowledge of:

(1)       roofing;

(2)       exterior;

(3)       interior;

(4)       structure;

(5)       electrical;

(6)       plumbing;

(7)       heating and cooling;

(8)       insulation;

(9)       fireplace and chimney; and

(10)     ethical business practices, professional standards and reports;

B.  "board" means the New Mexico home inspectors board;

C.  "client" means a person or an agent of the person who, through a written pre-inspection agreement, engages the services of a home inspector for the purpose of obtaining a report on the condition of residential real property;

D.  "compensation" means the payment for home inspection services pursuant to the written pre-inspection agreement;

E.  "foreign home inspector" means a home inspector who does not hold a license but who holds a current and valid home inspector license issued by another jurisdiction in the United States;

F.   "home inspection" means a noninvasive, nondestructive examination by a person of the interior and exterior components of a residential real property, including the property's structural components, foundation and roof, for the purposes of providing a professional written opinion regarding the site aspects and condition of the property and its carports, garages and reasonably accessible installed components.  "Home inspection" includes the examination of the property's heating, cooling, plumbing and electrical systems, including the operational condition of the systems' controls that are normally operated by a property owner;

G.  "home inspector" means a person who performs home inspections for compensation;

H.  "license" means a home inspector license issued by the board in accordance with the Home Inspector Licensing Act;

I.    "licensee" means the holder of a license;

J.   "pre-inspection agreement" means the written agreement signed by the client and a home inspector by which a client engages the services of the home inspector and that sets forth at a minimum the following:

(1)       the amount of compensation due and payable to the home inspector for the home inspection and delivery of a report;

(2)       a list of all components and systems that will be inspected; and

(3)       the date by which the client will receive the report;

K.  "report" means a written opinion prepared by a home inspector pursuant to the terms of a pre-inspection agreement regarding the functional and physical condition of the residential real property as determined by a home inspection conducted by a home inspector; and

L.   "residential real property" means any real property or manufactured or modular home that is used for or intended to be used for residential purposes and that is a single-family dwelling, duplex, triplex, quadplex or unit, as "unit" is defined by the Condominium Act [47-7A-1 to 47-7D-20 NMSA 1978].

History: Laws 2019, ch. 239, § 2; 2023, ch. 54, § 1.

ANNOTATIONS

The 2023 amendment, effective July 1, 2023, defined "approved examination" as used in the Home Inspector Licensing Act; and added a new Subsection A and redesignated former Subsections A through K as Subsections B through L, respectively.

N.M. Stat. Ann. § 61-24D-5

A.  A person who is not a licensee shall not:

(1)       conduct home inspections, develop a report or otherwise engage in the business of home inspection;

(2)       in the course of conducting business, use the title "home inspector", "certified home inspector", "registered home inspector", "licensed home inspector", "professional home inspector" or any other title, abbreviation, letters, figures or signs that indicate the person is a licensed home inspector; or

(3)       use the terms "state licensed" or "licensed" to refer to an inspection conducted or a report prepared by a person who is not a licensee.

B.  A business entity shall not provide home inspection services unless all of the home inspectors employed by the business are licensees.

C.  A business entity shall not use, in connection with the name or signature of the business, the title "home inspectors" to describe the business entity's services unless each person employed by the business as a home inspector is a licensee.

D.  The Home Inspector Licensing Act does not apply to a person:

(1)       licensed by the state as an engineer, an architect, a real estate qualifying or associate broker, a real estate appraiser, a certified general appraiser, a residential real estate appraiser or a pest control operator, when acting within the scope of the person's license;

(2)       licensed by the state or a political subdivision of the state as an electrician, a general contractor, a plumber or a heating and air conditioning technician, when acting within the scope of the person's license;

(3)       regulated by the state as an insurance adjuster, when acting within the scope of the person's license;

(4)       employed by the state or a political subdivision of the state as a code enforcement official, when acting within the scope of the person's employment;

(5)       who performs an energy audit of a residential property;

(6)       who performs a warranty evaluation of components, systems or appliances within a resale residential property for the purpose of issuing a home warranty; provided that all warranty evaluation reports include a statement that the warranty evaluation performed is not a home inspection and does not meet the standards of a home inspection pursuant to the provisions of the Home Inspector Licensing Act.  A home warranty company shall not refer to a warranty evaluation as a home inspection;

(7)       who in the scope of the person's employment performs safety inspections of utility equipment in or attached to residential real property pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 62 NMSA 1978 or rules adopted by the public regulation commission; and

(8)       hired by the owner or lessor of residential real property to perform an inspection of the components of the residential real property for the purpose of preparing a bid or estimate for performing construction, remodeling or repair work in the residential real property.

History: Laws 2019, ch. 239, § 5.

ANNOTATIONS

Effective dates. — Laws 2019, ch. 239, § 17 made Laws 2019, ch. 239 effective January 1, 2020.

N.M. Stat. Ann. § 61-33-2

As used in the Utility Operators Certification Act [Chapter 61, Article 33 NMSA 1978]:

A.  "certified operator" means a person who is certified by the department as being qualified to operate one of the classifications of public water supply systems or public wastewater facilities;

B.  "commission" means the water quality control commission;

C.  "department" means the department of environment;

D.  "domestic liquid waste" means human excreta and water-carried waste from typical residential plumbing fixtures and activities, including waste from toilets, sinks, bath fixtures, clothes or dishwashing machines and floor drains;

E.  "domestic liquid waste treatment unit" means any system that is designed to discharge less than two thousand gallons per day and that is subject to rules promulgated by the environmental improvement board pursuant to Paragraph (3) of Subsection A of Section 74-1-8 NMSA 1978 or a watertight unit designed, constructed and installed to stabilize only domestic liquid waste and to retain solids contained in such domestic liquid waste, including septic tanks;

F.   "operate" means performing any activity, function, process control decision or system integrity decision regarding water quality or water quantity that has the potential to affect the proper functioning of a public water supply system or public wastewater facility or to affect human health, public welfare or the environment;

G.  "person" means any agency, department or instrumentality of the United States and any of its officers, agents or employees, the state or any agency, institution or political subdivision thereof, any public or private corporation, individual, partnership, association or other entity, and includes any officer or governing or managing body of any political subdivision or public or private corporation;

H.  "public wastewater facility" means a system of structures, equipment and processes designed to collect and treat domestic and industrial waste and dispose of the effluent, but does not include:

(1)       any domestic liquid waste treatment unit; or

(2)       any industrial facility subject to an industrial pretreatment program regulated by the United States environmental protection agency under the requirements of the federal Clean Water Act of 1977; and

I.    "public water supply system" means:

(1)       a system for the provision through pipes or other constructed conveyances to the public of water for human consumption or domestic purposes if the system:

(a) has at least fifteen service connections; or

(b) regularly serves an average of at least twenty-five individuals at least sixty days of the year; and

(2)       includes any water supply source and any treatment, storage and distribution facilities under control of the operator of the system.

History: 1978 Comp., § 61-33-2, enacted by Laws 1992, ch. 44, § 2; 2001, ch. 181, § 1; 2005, ch. 285, § 1.

ANNOTATIONS

Cross references. — For the federal Clean Water Act of 1977, see 33 U.S.C.S. § 1251 et seq.

Repeals and reenactments. — Laws 1992, ch. 44, § 2 repealed former 61-33-2 NMSA 1978, as amended by Laws 1977, ch. 253, § 67, and enacted a new section, effective March 6, 1992.

The 2005 amendment, effective July 1, 2005, changes "commission" to "department", "water supply systems" to "public water supply systems" and "wastewater facilities" to "public wastewater facilities" in Subsection A; deletes the former definition of "certified supervisor" as a person certified by the commission to operate water supply systems or wastewater facilities and who performs on-site coordinations, direction and inspection of the operations of public wastewater or public water supply facilities; deletes former provision of Subsection B which included the department in the definition of the "commission" when the department acted under the Utility Operators Certification Act; defines "domestic liquid waste treatment unit" in Subsection E to include any system that is designed to discharge less than two thousand gallons per day and that is subject to rules promulgated by the environmental improvement board pursuant to Paragraph (3) of Subsection A of Section 74-1-8 NMSA 1978; deletes aerobic treatment units as being included in a "domestic liquid waste treatment unit" in Subsection E; and adds Subsection F to define "operate".

The 2001 amendment, effective June 15, 2001, in Paragraph I(1) inserted "through pipes or other constructed conveyances" and deleted "piped" preceding "water".

The law belongs to the people. Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 590 U.S. (2020)