New Mexico certifies refrigeration journeymen individually under the Construction Industries Licensing Act: the JR certificate, issued by the Construction Industries Division under 14.6.6.11D NMAC, places its holder on a defined rung — working under an MM-3, MM-4 or MM-98 license, or under a JSM-licensed entity — behind a two-year experience gate, an express EPA recovery prerequisite, and an examination passed at 75% or higher. The PassProfessor New Mexico JR Journeyman Refrigeration program prepares candidates for that certificate and the ladder it sits on.
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A certificate, not a contractor license
The first fact about the JR is what kind of instrument it is. New Mexico licenses contracting through businesses: a contractor license is held by the business through a qualifying party who has passed the contractor examinations for the classification. The JR — journeyman refrigeration — is something else: a certificate for an individual journeyman, issued by the Construction Industries Division (CID) of the Regulation and Licensing Department under the Construction Industries Licensing Act (CILA), NMSA 1978, Chapter 60, Article 13, with the journeyman certificate provisions at 14.6.6.11D NMAC and the certification rules at 14.6.4.8 NMAC.
That distinction runs through everything on this page. The JR holder does not contract with the public in the holder’s own name; contracting runs through the contractor license above the certificate. What the JR certifies is the person — verified experience, a passed examination, a demonstrated federal prerequisite — and it certifies that person to do refrigeration work under specified contractor licenses. Preparation that treats the JR as a small contractor license misreads the credential from the first step, so this page is organised around the ladder itself: who works under whom, and where the JR rung’s own requirements are stated in the rules.
The companion New Mexico JR Journeyman Refrigeration Exam Guide works through the gate arithmetic, the examination rules that are published, the fee layer and the renewal discipline in full depth.
The examination at a glance
| Item | Verified position |
|---|---|
| Program | New Mexico JR Journeyman Refrigeration — the JR journeyman certificate examination layer |
| Regulator | Construction Industries Division (CID), Regulation and Licensing Department, under the CILA and NMAC Title 14, Chapter 6 |
| Certificate | JR — journeyman refrigeration, an individual journeyman certificate under 14.6.6.11D NMAC |
| Passing standard | “75% or higher” — 14.6.4.8C(2) NMAC |
| Experience gate | Two years (4,000 hours) of experience, all within the last 10 years; approved training credited at half rate, capped at half the requirement |
| Prerequisite | Compliance with EPA recovery requirements must be demonstrated before the certificate is issued — 14.6.6.11D NMAC |
| Supervision | Works under an MM-3, MM-4 or MM-98 license, or under a JSM-licensed entity — 14.6.4.8F(5) NMAC |
| Examination fee | $25 — the CID rule fee for a mechanical journeyman examination, 14.5.5.9B NMAC |
| Term and renewal | Three-year term; renewal $25 per year per classification held; 16 hours of continuing education, at least 8 on the current CID code |
| Retakes | The same examination not more than twice within a 30-day period |
| Administrator note | PassProfessor is independent and is not affiliated with the Construction Industries Division |
The ladder, rung by rung
New Mexico’s mechanical trades are built as a supervision ladder, and the JR’s place on it is stated in the rules rather than implied. At the base, an apprentice may perform mechanical work only under the direct supervision of a validly certified journeyman who is employed by a validly licensed person or the holder of a valid annual permit — the apprentice rung leans directly on the journeyman rung. The JR journeyman is that journeyman for refrigeration work: certified individually, and in turn working under an MM-3, MM-4 or MM-98 license, or under a JSM-licensed entity. Above the certificate tier, the contractor classifications — the MM series — are held by businesses through qualifying parties, and it is through those licenses that refrigeration work is contracted with the public.
Two neighbouring journeyman certificates mark the ladder’s width without belonging to this program: the JG journeyman natural gas fitter and the JSM journeyman sheet metal are separate certificates with their own supervision boundaries, named here only so the JR’s are not confused with theirs. Within the classification system, certificates and licenses carry letter-number symbols — the field letter M covers the mechanical and plumbing classifications — and work outside the scope of one’s classification violates the CILA. The rules state no tonnage ceiling and no system-type ceiling for JR work; the certificate’s discipline is the supervision line and the classification line.
The gate: two years, 4,000 hours, inside ten years
Journeyman certification requires two years of experience — 4,000 hours — and all of it within the last 10 years. The recency window is part of the gate, not an administrative detail: experience older than ten years does not count toward the requirement, however substantial it was. Approved training can stand in for part of the requirement under a precise credit rule: accredited technical training counts in lieu of work experience at one-half year of experience per year of training, and credited training may never exceed one-half of the total experience requirement. The arithmetic consequence is that training can shorten the work-experience road but can never replace more than half of it — at least half the gate is always worked experience, earned inside the window.
The application itself runs on a clock: all certification requirements must be met within six months of CID’s — or its designee’s — receipt of the application, or the application expires and all fees paid are forfeited. Candidates should therefore assemble the experience record, the training documentation and the prerequisite below before the application starts the clock, not after.
The prerequisite New Mexico states expressly: EPA recovery compliance
The JR rule carries a prerequisite that many states leave to federal law alone. Before a JR certificate is issued, the applicant must demonstrate compliance with EPA recovery requirements — the requirement is written into the certificate provision itself at 14.6.6.11D NMAC. This page states it exactly at that level: the sourced rule names EPA recovery compliance as the prerequisite, and candidates should satisfy it and be able to evidence it before the certificate issues. Refrigerant recovery is, of course, also the daily substance of lawful refrigeration work; New Mexico’s rule simply makes the connection explicit at the certification gate, and preparation for this program treats recovery practice as core refrigeration craft rather than as paperwork attached to it.
The examination: what the rules publish, and what they do not
The examination layer for the JR is published in part, and this page draws the line exactly where the rules draw it. Examinations are administered by CID or its designee. The pass standard is stated in the certification rule in so many words: a passing score is 75% or higher — 14.6.4.8C(2) NMAC. New Mexico’s journeyman standard is 75%, and candidates arriving with a 70% figure remembered from another state’s journeyman examination should set it aside. An applicant who fails may retake the same examination, but not more than twice within a 30-day period. The integrity rule is severe and stated in the same provision: a CID determination of cheating voids the examination, forfeits all fees, automatically voids any certificate issued on that examination, and bars the applicant from any CID examination for one year.
What the rules and the sourced examination material do not publish for the JR examination is stated just as plainly: no question count, no time limit in minutes, no reference list, no book policy, no content outline and no pretest count for the JR examination appears in the primary sources behind this page, and none is printed here. The contractor examinations above this tier are different examinations for a different credential, with their own published mechanics; those mechanics belong to the contractor tier and are not this certificate’s, and no figure from them is used anywhere in this package. Candidates should distrust any source that fills the JR gap with borrowed contractor numbers.
Fees at the rule layer
The JR’s dollars are CID rule dollars, and they are small and specific. The mechanical journeyman examination fee is $25, and the journeyman renewal fee is $25 per year per classification held — both at 14.5.5.9B NMAC. Two disciplines follow. First, the renewal fee is stated by the rule per year per classification; the sources state no single lump-sum renewal figure for the three-year term, and none is printed here. Second, these are the certificate’s own fees: the contractor tier above carries its own, different fee instruments for its licenses and its qualifying-party examinations, and none of those contractor figures applies to the JR or appears in this package. The rule also records that CID may raise examination fees by a commission-approved multiplier of up to three; the $25 figures above are the rule amounts as published.
The field code layer — and the tested layer’s honest boundary
New Mexico’s field mechanical code is stated in rule: the current 14.9.2 NMAC is the 2021 New Mexico Mechanical Code, adopting the 2021 Uniform Mechanical Code as amended by CID, effective March 10, 2022. That is the code layer a JR holder works under in the field, and this program’s preparation is grounded in it as field law. The examination layer is kept separate with equal care: because no JR reference list is published in the sources, this page claims no tested edition for the JR examination itself — the field code is stated as field code, and nothing here presents it as the examination’s keyed book. A draft rule proposing a later mechanical code exists at the Department but is not adopted, and it is not treated as field or examination code anywhere in this package.
Holding the certificate: term, continuing education, renewal
The JR certificate runs a three-year term, expiring the last day of the issue month. Renewal is earned, not merely paid: no journeyman certificate may be renewed without proof of continuing-education compliance, and the requirement is a minimum of 16 hours of approved coursework before renewal or reinstatement, of which a minimum of 8 hours must cover the current CID code enforced for the classification being renewed. The code-weighted shape of that requirement matters — at least half the hours track the code actually enforced for the JR’s classification, so the renewal cycle keeps the certificate holder current in the field layer described above. The renewal fee is the rule’s $25 per year per classification held. Note the boundary in the other direction as well: the contractor licenses above this tier carry no continuing-education requirement in their rules — the 16 hours belong to the journeyman certificate tier, and this page does not lend them upward.
What the PassProfessor program will cover
The ladder as the organising structure. Because the JR is a supervision-defined certificate, the program is built around the ladder: the apprentice supervision rule the JR holder anchors, the MM-3, MM-4 and MM-98 licenses and the JSM-licensed entity under which JR work is performed, and the classification discipline that makes work outside one’s classification a violation of the Act. The refrigeration craft at journeyman depth: the refrigeration cycle and its components, recovery practice at the level the certificate’s prerequisite demands, piping, controls, service and troubleshooting — grounded in the 2021 Uniform Mechanical Code as New Mexico’s field code. The New Mexico rule layer as content: the two-year, 4,000-hour gate and its training-credit arithmetic, the six-month application clock, the 75% standard, the retake cap, the cheating rule, the $25 rule fees, and the 16-hour, code-weighted continuing-education requirement. Every item is written from scratch against the rules; no item is drawn from another provider’s material, and nothing in the program borrows the contractor examinations’ mechanics for this certificate.
Independence, stated plainly. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider, not affiliated with the Construction Industries Division or the Regulation and Licensing Department. Completing this program confers no certificate and no exemption; CID alone certifies, and candidates apply through CID and its designee. The full route is set out in the New Mexico JR Journeyman Refrigeration Exam Guide.
Tell me when enrollment opens. The New Mexico JR Journeyman Refrigeration program is in the works and enrollment is not yet open. Leave an email address and PassProfessor will write to you when the program is ready — and only about this program.
Frequently asked questions
What is the JR certificate?
JR is New Mexico’s journeyman refrigeration certificate — an individual journeyman certificate under 14.6.6.11D NMAC, issued by the Construction Industries Division. It is not a contractor license: contracting with the public runs through the MM contractor licenses held by businesses through qualifying parties.
Under whom does a JR holder work?
Under an MM-3, MM-4 or MM-98 license, or under a JSM-licensed entity — 14.6.4.8F(5) NMAC. In the other direction, apprentices perform mechanical work only under the direct supervision of a validly certified journeyman employed by a validly licensed person or annual permit holder.
What score passes the JR examination?
75% or higher, as the certification rule states it at 14.6.4.8C(2) NMAC. New Mexico’s journeyman standard is 75%, not the 70% figure used in some other states.
How much experience does the JR require?
Two years — 4,000 hours — all within the last 10 years. Approved accredited training counts at one-half year of experience per year of training and can never supply more than half of the total requirement.
Is there a prerequisite besides experience and the examination?
Yes, and New Mexico states it expressly: the applicant must demonstrate compliance with EPA recovery requirements before the certificate is issued, under 14.6.6.11D NMAC.
How many questions are on the JR examination, and how long does it run?
The primary sources behind this page publish no question count, time limit, reference list, book policy or content outline for the JR examination, and this page prints none. Figures published for the contractor examinations belong to that different tier and do not describe this certificate’s examination.
What does the JR examination cost?
$25 — the CID rule fee for a mechanical journeyman examination at 14.5.5.9B NMAC. Renewal is $25 per year per classification held, also at the rule layer; the sources state no lump-sum renewal figure for the term.
How long does the certificate last, and what does renewal require?
A three-year term expiring the last day of the issue month. Renewal requires proof of continuing-education compliance: at least 16 hours of approved coursework, at least 8 of them covering the current CID code enforced for the classification being renewed. No certificate may be renewed without that proof.
What happens if I fail, or if an application stalls?
A failed applicant may retake the same examination not more than twice within a 30-day period. Separately, all certification requirements must be met within six months of the application’s receipt or the application expires and fees paid are forfeited.
Is PassProfessor affiliated with CID?
No. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider. The Construction Industries Division alone certifies journeymen and administers the certification process.
When does enrollment open?
The program is in the works and enrollment is not yet open. Leave an email address on this page and PassProfessor will write to you when the program is ready — and only about this program.