New Mexico: some chimney work needs a state license. Here's what that means.

New Mexico CONFIRMS the license⇄disclosure inverse correlation — and it's the cleanest confirm in the West. On licensing it sits at the top of the launch set: a universal state license with no per-job dollar threshold at all (the only out is a $7,200-per-YEAR handyman income cap with an annual filed declaration), classification codes granular enough to name adobe in the masonry scope and prefabricated chimneys in the sheet-metal scope, a $10,000 bond (NMSA 60-13-49 — reserved for curing code violations), real exams, misdemeanor penalties scaled to job value — and the nuclear deterrent of § 60-13-30: an unlicensed contractor cannot sue you and cannot lien your house. The inverse-correlation rule predicts a state this strong on the contractor axis goes soft at the sale table — and New Mexico does, completely: the only mandatory transfer disclosure in the state is an estimate of property taxes; defect disclosure survives on common-law fraud and a REALTOR-association form. That takes the West from 4-4 to 5-4 on the confirm side — still a coin flip trending, not a law. The twist that keeps the page honest: the voluntary RANM form is more chimney-literate than almost any statutory form in the country — it asks for the date of the last chimney/flue cleaning by name. On the West's orthogonal wildfire/cap-law axis, NM sits firmly ON it — Santa Fe County's WUI ordinance makes spark arresters (12-gauge screen, ¾-inch openings) a legal requirement, with Ruidoso the post-2024-fire watch point — and NM adds a third axis of its own: air-quality no-burn nights (Albuquerque/Bernalillo, 20.11.22 NMAC, Oct–Feb), a regime type the launch set hasn't seen since the Northwest. Message: in New Mexico the license check is everything — verify GS-16/GS-32/GB-98 on the RLD lookup before anyone touches the chimney, because the state gives you a code-violation bond (CID-certified defects only), a fee-shifted UPA claim, and a contractor who literally can't collect without a license — but at home sale, you're on your own: no law makes the seller hand you anything but a tax estimate, so get the Level 2 inspection.

New Mexico has one of the strictest contractor-licensing regimes in the country: essentially ALL contracting work requires a state license, with no meaningful dollar threshold. STATE LAW: the Construction Industries Division (CID) of the Regulation & Licensing Department licenses under the Construction Industries Licensing Act (CILA), NMSA 1978 §§ 60-13-1 through 60-13-59 (the RLD-hosted CILA PDF cited in July now redirects to the RLD homepage — dead as of Sep 25, 2026; individual sections cited below via the Justia 2025 NMSA mirror, official NMOneSource not reachable by our fetcher); a license is required before contracting (NMSA § 60-13-12, law.justia.com/codes/new-mexico/chapter-60/article-13/section-60-13-12/). Classifications live in 14.6.6 NMAC (eff. 3/10/2022) (srca.nm.gov/parts/title14/14.006.0006.html, full text read Jul 10, 2026): a masonry chimney falls under GS-16 (Masonry) — "brick and other baked clay products, rough cut and dressed stone, artificial stone and pre-cast blocks, structural glass brick or block adobe… to form masonry walls, anchored stone or masonry veneer" (2 yrs experience; note the scope names walls/veneer, not the word "chimney" — flag as our reading). A prefab/metal chimney is explicitly GS-32 (Miscellaneous sheet metal) — "fabricate on site and install sheet metal… and prefabricated chimneys" (may not do HVAC ducts/vents); GS-21 (Roofing) may also install "prefabricated chimneys, at or near roof lines, metal flues" incidental to roofing; gas-appliance "chimney connections, flues, refractories" are MM-2 (Natural gas fitting) under the current (3/10/2022) rule — CID's April 21, 2026 hearing notice proposes amending 14.6.6 NMAC to restructure the HVAC/fuel-gas classifications, and the draft strikes the MM-2 text; adoption not confirmed as of Sep 25, 2026 (SRCA still shows the 2022 rule) — don't publish MM-2 as a lasting scope without re-checking. GB-2 (Residential) and GB-98 (General building) include all GS-scope work (GB-98: 4 yrs foreman-level experience incl. 2 commercial). Oddities that don't fit get GS-29 case-by-case. The only exemption is the narrow handyman carve-out — NMSA 1978 § 60-13-3(D)(14) (2025 code text, law.justia.com/codes/new-mexico/chapter-60/article-13/section-60-13-3/, checked Sep 15, 2026) and 14.6.2.8 NMAC (Handyman Certificate) (srca.nm.gov/parts/title14/14.006.0002.html, checked Sep 15, 2026): "an individual who works on one undertaking or project at a time that, in the aggregate or singly, does not exceed seven thousand two hundred dollars ($7,200) compensation a year, the work being casual, minor or inconsequential, such as handyman repairs," provided (a) the work is not part of a larger or major operation, (b) the individual does not advertise or maintain a sign, card or other device indicating contracting qualification, and (c) the individual files an annual declaration with the division; the exemption never covers electrical wiring, plumbing or gas fitting — this is a yearly income cap, not a per-job threshold, so nearly every real chimney job is licensed work. Getting licensed is real: qualifying-party trade exam + business & law exam through PSI (75% pass) and a $10,000 contractor license bond — NMSA § 60-13-49 ("Proof of responsibility") and 14.6.3.8(C)(1) NMAC ("Upon initial licensure and as a condition of renewal each applicant shall furnish to the division a bond in the amount of ten thousand dollars ($10,000)…"; srca.nm.gov/parts/title14/14.006.0003.html, checked Sep 25, 2026). Important limit: the bond is not a homeowner refund fund — payments "shall only be used to cure code violations caused by a licensee, certified by the division and not corrected by the licensee," with claims due within two years of final inspection or certificate of occupancy (§ 60-13-49; 14.6.3.8(C)(3)–(4) NMAC). (Exam details — PSI trade + business & law exams — still rest on REF prep pages.) Penalties: unlicensed contracting is a misdemeanor — ≤$5,000 job: 90 days and/or $300–$500 fine; >$5,000 job: six months and/or a fine of 10% of the job value (NMSA § 60-13-52, law.justia.com/codes/new-mexico/chapter-60/article-13/section-60-13-52/). Public lookup: the license search CID itself links from rld.nm.gov/construction-industries/ — public.psiexams.com/search.jsp (PSI "License Management" search; company type "Contractor", by license number, business name, city or ZIP; loaded Sep 25, 2026). The RLD Salesforce portal (nmrldlpi.my.site.com/bcd/s/rld-public-search) still returns only a "CSS Error" shell to the fetcher — use it as a secondary link only after a manual browser check.

Even this strict license tests New Mexico contracting law (NMSA 60-13, 14.6 NMAC), business/finance, and general trade code knowledge — not flue diagnosis, not NFPA 211, not whether the licensee can read your chimney. A GS-16 licensee is attested as a mason (walls, veneer, adobe) — the classification scope never says "chimney"; a GS-32 licensee as a sheet-metal fabricator. Neither exam contains a chimney-inspection component. And pure chimney sweeping arguably isn't "contracting" at all — CILA's definition turns on constructing, altering, repairing or demolishing; a cleaning-only visit with no repair plausibly falls outside licensure entirely (interpretive point — our reading, flag for legal review, not statute text). Individual certs (NCSG CCP/CCR; CSIA CCS, C-DET) plus an independent inspection remain the competence signal on top of the license.

Absence is the finding: New Mexico has NO statute requiring a seller defect-disclosure form. STATE LAW: the only mandatory transfer disclosure is the Real Estate Disclosure Act, NMSA 1978 Ch. 47, Art. 13 — and it covers estimated property-tax levy only (§ 47-13-4, law.justia.com/codes/new-mexico/chapter-47/article-13/section-47-13-4/); § 47-13-2 is literally titled "Disclosure of information not required in real estate transactions" (it also shields sellers from disclosing crimes on the property). But NM is not pure caveat emptor: courts impose liability for fraud/misrepresentation and nondisclosure of known material defects (common-law duty; nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/selling-new-mexico-home-what-are-my-disclosure-obligations.html, checked Jul 10, 2026). In practice the market runs on the REALTORS® Association of New Mexico "Seller's Property Disclosure – Residential" (RANM Form 2301) — a private, voluntary-by-law form that is more chimney-specific than most statutory forms: Section E (Mechanical) has line items for Fireplace (wood-burning/gas logs/log lighter/electric), Stove (wood/pellet), Fireplace Insert — and line E-13 asks for "date of last fireplace/wood stove, chimney/flue cleaning" (2018 edition PDF read in full Jul 10, 2026; confirm current edition before publish — the form is RANM-copyrighted, describe rather than reproduce). No inspection is mandated at transfer; NFPA 211 Level 2 stays a NATIONAL STANDARD. Buyer due-diligence/inspection windows are set by the RANM purchase agreement, customarily on the order of 1–2 weeks NOT YET CONFIRMED customary, REF — confirm.

STATE LAW: the New Mexico Unfair Practices Act (UPA), NMSA 1978 § 57-12-1 et seq., enforced by the AG (New Mexico Department of Justice) Consumer Protection Division. Private remedies are unusually consumer-friendly (§ 57-12-10, law.justia.com/codes/new-mexico/chapter-57/article-12/section-57-12-10/): recover actual damages or $100, whichever is greater; where the violation is willful, the court may award up to TREBLE damages or $300, whichever is greater; and the court SHALL award attorney fees and costs to a prevailing complainant — a fee-shift that makes small chimney-job claims economically viable. Right to cancel: NMSA § 57-12-21 gives a 3-business-day rescission on door-to-door AND seller-initiated telephone sales of $25 or more (seller must attach a detachable duplicate "NOTICE OF CANCELLATION"; refund due within 10 business days; codes.findlaw.com/nm/chapter-57-trade-practices-and-regulations/nm-st-sect-57-12-21.html). AG complaints: nmdoj.gov/submit-a-complaint (portal) or 1-800-678-1508. Contractor-side leverage stack (CILA): an unlicensed contractor cannot sue in any NM court to collect payment and must plead and prove licensure — and has NO right to a mechanic's lien (NMSA § 60-13-30, law.justia.com/codes/new-mexico/chapter-60/article-13/section-60-13-30/; NM courts enforce this even against unjust-enrichment arguments). Hiring an unlicensed contractor does not void the homeowner's own UPA remedies; CID also takes complaints against licensees and unlicensed operators (rld.nm.gov).

No chimney-specific NM AG alert or enforcement action surfaced this session — NOT CONFIRMED; re-run before publish. The structural pieces are strong regardless: the door-knock "we noticed your chimney" pitch is a textbook § 57-12-21 (no cancellation notice) plus UPA violation with mandatory fee-shifting; unlicensed operators face the § 60-13-52 misdemeanor and CID stings; and NM DOJ runs a general scam-alert program with an online intake (nmdoj.gov/about-the-office/consumer-affairs/; secure.nmdoj.gov ECS portal). Post-wildfire repair fraud (Ruidoso 2024 aftermath) is the likely NM-specific pattern — search for AG releases on fire-rebuild contractor fraud before publish.

STATE LAW: New Mexico has a mandatory statewide residential code — the 2021 New Mexico Residential Building Code (NMRBC), 14.7.3 NMAC, adopting the 2021 IRC as amended; after December 14, 2023 permits issue only under this rule (srca.nm.gov/parts/title14/14.007.0003.html, checked Jul 10, 2026). CID itself is the building department wherever no certified local jurisdiction exists — a genuinely unusual arrangement that means rural NM chimney permits go through the state; Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Cruces, Rio Rancho and other cities run local departments enforcing the same state code. Chimney relines, rebuilds, and solid-fuel appliance installs are permit work under the NMRBC/mechanical rules; routine sweeps and like-for-like cap swaps generally are not — local-variance disclaimer applies. NFPA 211 is not adopted as NM statute — it remains a NATIONAL STANDARD (the state fire code adopts the IFC; current edition NOT CONFIRMED — verify before publish).

Two regimes, both real. LOCAL (air quality): the Albuquerque–Bernalillo County winter no-burn program is one of the strongest urban wood-smoke regimes in the West — 20.11.22 NMAC (Woodburning), adopted by the joint Air Quality Control Board and EPA-approved into the State Implementation Plan (srca.nm.gov/parts/title20/20.011.0022.html; epa.gov/sips-nm/new-mexico-sip-bernalillo-county-part-22-woodburning, checked Jul 10, 2026). The city calls nightly "Burn / No Burn" restrictions October through February in a defined "Wood smoke Impacted Area" of Bernalillo County; exemptions exist — the rule text allows a sole-source exemption where a solid-fuel device is the building's only heat (though 20.11.22 NMAC says new sole-source exemptions "shall not be issued after December 31, 1990 unless approved in writing by the Director for good cause"), and the city's page also lists medical-necessity, low-income and emergency (primary heat failure) exemption requests (status line: cabq.gov/airquality/burn-no-burn). LOCAL (wildfire/WUI): Santa Fe County adopted the International Wildland-Urban Interface Code (Ordinance 2018-8, with the 2015 IFC), and its Urban Wildland Interface packet requires spark arresters on chimneys serving solid- or liquid-fuel fireplaces, barbecues, incinerators and decorative appliances — woven/welded wire, 12-gauge, openings not exceeding ¾ inch (santafecountynm.gov/userfiles/file/resident/UrbanWildland.pdf, checked Jul 10, 2026) — a genuine cap/arrestor LAW, not guidance. Lincoln County (Ruidoso) publishes WUI guidance and the 2024 South Fork/Salt fires make it the highest-consequence market, but a Ruidoso-specific chimney/spark-arrestor ordinance is NOT CONFIRMED — pull before publish; statewide burn restrictions run through EMNRD Forestry/nmfireinfo (REF). Regional oddity worth owning: the kiva fireplace — the sculpted adobe corner fireplace of Santa Fe/Taos style. The state's own masonry classification (GS-16) explicitly includes adobe, and modern kiva kits vent through UL-103 listed metal flues (Adobelite installation manual, adobelite.com — REF), meaning a single traditional NM fireplace can straddle GS-16 (adobe body) and GS-32 (metal flue) scopes. No statewide stove-emission or burn-day regime beyond local rules.

New Mexico has no standalone carbon-monoxide-alarm statute that we could find — the CO requirement is code-only. STATE LAW (code): 14.7.3.8 NMAC adopts the 2021 International Residential Code "as amended by this rule," effective July 14, 2023, with permits issued only under it after December 14, 2023 — and the NM rule makes no amendment to R315 (CO alarms) or R314 (smoke alarms), so the unamended 2021 IRC R315 applies: CO alarms in dwellings with fuel-burning appliances or attached garages, at new construction and at permit-triggering alterations/additions (srca.nm.gov/parts/title14/14.007.0003.html, checked Sep 15, 2026). Rentals: the owner-obligations section of the Uniform Owner-Resident Relations Act, NMSA § 47-8-20, contains no smoke- or CO-detector duty (2025 code, law.justia.com, checked Sep 15, 2026). NCSL's CO-statute table (updated Sep 2025 — REF) lists no New Mexico statute. There is no pre-sale CO certificate requirement in New Mexico; the "certificate of compliance" claim on vendor/blog pages has no statutory basis we could locate and must not be published. LOCAL: Albuquerque's housing code imposes its own smoke-detector installation duties on rentals (ABQ Code § 9-13-4, codelibrary.amlegal.com; renter's guide at cabq.gov). The honest framing: a permitted chimney/stove job is the natural moment alarms get added; the RANM disclosure form's Section D asks whether smoke and CO alarms are present and working — market practice, not statute.