New Mexico licenses heating, ventilation and air conditioning contracting through the Construction Industries Division under the Construction Industries Licensing Act. The MM-3 classification is examined by PSI in an open-book trade examination of 100 questions in 245 minutes, keyed to the Uniform Mechanical Code 2021 — the same edition the current New Mexico Mechanical Code adopts for field work. The PassProfessor New Mexico MM-3 Heating, Ventilation & A/C program prepares qualifying parties for that examination.
This program is part of the expanding PassProfessor catalog — join the notify list and we’ll email you when enrollment opens.
What the MM-3 classification authorises
The credential carries two names, each recorded as its source prints it: in the rule at 14.6.6.11B NMAC it is MM-3 Heating, ventilation & air conditioning (HVAC); in the PSI bulletin the examination is titled “MM-3 Heat, Vent and Air Conditioning.” Both name the same classification, issued by the Construction Industries Division (CID) under the Construction Industries Licensing Act (CILA), NMSA 1978, Chapter 60, Article 13, with rules at NMAC Title 14, Chapter 6.
The scope line at 14.6.6.11B is the working definition of the trade in New Mexico: an MM-3 licensee may install, alter, repair, service and maintain HVAC air handling and refrigeration equipment and piping, including fans, coils, condensing units, self-contained packaged AC or heating units, evaporative cooling units, and ductwork and accessories including solar air heating. The licensee may connect water to existing valved outlets. Controls and control wiring are limited to work not exceeding 24 volts. The licensee may bid and contract for structural alterations, electrical wiring and other incidental work, provided that work is performed by a validly licensed contractor.
Two limits inside that paragraph are hard lines: the water connection stops at existing valved outlets, and the controls work stops at 24 volts. Work outside one’s classification violates the CILA, and a prime contractor may bid only work whose major portion, by dollars, falls inside its own classifications.
The examination at a glance
| Item | Verified position |
|---|---|
| Program | New Mexico MM-3 Heating, Ventilation & A/C — the MM-3 trade examination layer |
| Regulator | Construction Industries Division (CID), under the CILA and NMAC Title 14, Chapter 6 |
| Vendor | PSI — Contractor Examinations Bulletin, updated April 3, 2026 |
| Trade examination | 100 questions · 245 minutes · OPEN BOOK |
| Passing standard, trade | 75% (75 points) |
| Tested code | Uniform Mechanical Code, 2021 — field code and examination key agree at UMC 2021 |
| Experience gate | Four years (8,000 hours) within the last 10 years |
| Companion step | A Business and Law examination is also required; described here for structure only |
| Administrator note | PassProfessor is independent and is not affiliated with the Construction Industries Division |
A license held through a qualifying party
New Mexico contractor licensure runs through a person, not just a business name. The license is held by the business through a qualifying party (QP) — the individual who takes and passes the required examinations and whose certificate attaches the classification to the license. A QP certificate is issued only to an individual 18 or older, is not transferable, and authorises work only while attached to a valid license.
That structure shapes the route. A candidate must be preapproved before scheduling any PSI examination and must test within 6 months of eligibility or reapply to the Division. Three one-year clocks then run: the examination fee is valid for 1 year from PSI’s receipt, passing scores are valid for 1 year, and the Business and Law and trade examinations must be passed within 1 year of each other. In place of the Business and Law examination, a candidate may complete an approved Business and Law course; PSI lists approved schools, and neither PSI nor the State sponsors them.
The QP link carries duties after the pass. If a license loses its qualifying party, both parties must notify CID in writing within 30 days; the license is automatically cancelled and work in progress may continue for not more than 120 days.
The classification boundary: MM-3 only
New Mexico issues licenses in classifications carrying letter-number symbols; the field letter M covers the mechanical and plumbing classifications. This program builds MM-3 only. Three neighbouring classifications are named here solely so the boundary is unmistakable: MM-1 Plumbing, MM-2 Natural gas fitting, and MM-4 Heating, cooling and process piping belong to a different preparation lane, and nothing about their examinations is part of this program.
One wider symbol needs the same care. MM-98 Mechanical is a classification-system boundary, not a single examination: there is no single MM-98 examination. A qualifying party qualifies through the component trade examinations for each classification the license covers, together with business and law, so a candidate heading toward that wider license meets this program at its MM-3 component only.
Beneath the contractor tier sits a separate journeyman certificate tier, including the JR journeyman refrigeration and JSM journeyman sheet metal certificates — not this program, and this page states nothing about how their examinations are composed. One rule from that tier touches MM-3 practice: a JR certificate is issued only after the holder demonstrates compliance with the federal EPA recovery requirements.
The trade examination itself
The MM-3 trade examination is an open-book PSI examination of 100 questions in 245 minutes. Its published outline divides the sitting into six areas: Motors, Controls, and Low Voltage Wiring — 20; Duct Work, Ventilation, and Exhaust — 20; Heating and Cooling General Knowledge — 20; Heating and Cooling Equipment and Components — 15; Refrigerants and Refrigeration — 15; and Piping — 10. The passing standard is stated in the bulletin in per-portion form: 75% (75 points), corroborated in the rule at 14.6.3.8G(2)(c).
Three-fifths of the paper sits in the first three areas, and a ductulator or other slide or wheel duct calculator is allowed in the room — a detail that rewards candidates who practise with the tool before the sitting.
The room rules are strict. References must be bound and may be highlighted, underlined and indexed beforehand but may never be written in — writing found means confiscation and a report to the Department. Only permanent tabs are permitted, no additional papers are allowed, and a silent, non-printing, non-programmable calculator is permitted. For code questions, the examinations are based only on the listed code edition. Scores are reported immediately. Arrive at least 30 minutes early; cancelling without forfeiting the fee requires notice 2 days before the appointment, and voicemail and email are not acceptable cancellation. A candidate may sit the same examination not more than twice within a 30-day period; after two failures inside 30 days, the wait runs 30 days from the first attempt. No pretest or unscored count for these examinations is published in the sources behind this page, and none is stated here.
The Business and Law step, for structure only
Every contractor candidate also faces a Business and Law examination, and the two passes must fall within 1 year of each other. This program prepares candidates for the MM-3 trade examination; the Business and Law step is described here only so its place in the route is clear — its timing relationship, the approved-course alternative, and its examination fee, recorded below in its own layer.
Tested and field agree: the Uniform Mechanical Code 2021
New Mexico is a Uniform Mechanical Code state for these examinations, and the two code layers line up exactly. The tested edition is the Uniform Mechanical Code, 2021 (IAPMO). The adopted field code is also UMC 2021: the current rule at 14.9.2 NMAC is the 2021 New Mexico Mechanical Code, adopting the 2021 UMC as amended by CID, effective March 10, 2022. There is no examination-versus-field edition split here.
That agreement carries a warning in the opposite direction: material keyed to the International Mechanical Code is not New Mexico material, and provisions that exist only there do not transfer into MM-3 preparation.
The allowed references printed for MM-3 in the PSI bulletin are: the Uniform Mechanical Code, 2021; Modern Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, 19th or 20th edition; IPT’s Pipe Trades Handbook (2016); the Uniform Plumbing Code, 2021; the New Mexico Plumbing Code (NMAC 14.8.2), 2015; the New Mexico Mechanical Code (NMAC 14.9.2) — printed in the bulletin with the prior edition’s label, while the current rule itself is the 2021 code described above; SMACNA HVAC Duct Construction Standards, 2005, 3rd edition; Pressure and Enthalpy Charts (preprinted title required); and Sheet Metal (ATP, 2006).
Who may sit: experience and eligibility
The experience gate for MM-3 is four years (8,000 hours), all of it within the last 10 years and related to the classification. Accredited technical training counts in place of work experience at one-half year of experience per year of training, capped at one-half of the total requirement.
All licensing requirements must be met within six months of CID’s receipt of the application, or the application expires and all fees paid are forfeited. A CID determination of cheating voids the examination, forfeits all fees, voids any license or certificate issued on it, and bars the applicant from any CID examination for one year. The rules list disqualifying felonies at 14.6.3.8F(4) — fraud, forgery, embezzlement, arson, identity theft and bribery of a public officer are among them — while sealed, dismissed, expunged or pardoned convictions may not be used. Two relief routes exist, both narrow: the bureau chief may waive the state-specific written trade examination for a qualifying party who passed the NASCLA accredited examination at the passing score — the trade examination only — and military members and veterans follow an expedited route, with a certificate issued no later than 30 days after a completed application.
Fees, in their separate layers
New Mexico publishes its dollars in distinct instruments, never merged into a single cost figure.
PSI examination fees (vendor layer). The Business and Law examination is $68.88, required of all first-time candidates. Each trade examination is $68.88, MM-3 included, the same for a first attempt and a retake. Amounts charged through PSI in connection with holding a license are PSI-charged figures in the vendor’s layer, not fees set by the CID rule.
CID application and license fees (rule layer, 14.5.5 NMAC). The license application fee is $30.00, non-refundable, for an initial license and for each additional classification. The basic license fee, per classification, for MM-3 is $50.00 per year, or $100.00 for two years. The certificate of qualification fee is $6.00, including gross receipts tax, and replacement certificates, licenses and wallet cards are $6.00 each — separate instruments, charged separately, never a single combined fee. CID also charges examination-review fees ($25.00 per review in the categories the rule names; $40.00 per special review after two failures).
Bond (a licensure instrument, not a fee). Initial licensure and renewal both require a $10,000 corporate-surety bond, underwritten by a surety authorised in New Mexico, covering the entire period of licensure. Bond money pays only to cure CID-certified code violations the licensee caused and did not correct, claimed within two years after final inspection or issuance of a certificate of occupancy, whichever is earlier.
Renewal and the continuing-education position
CID or its designee mails a renewal form at least 30 days before expiration, but timely renewal is the licensee’s sole duty whether or not the form arrives; the filing date is the postmark, or the hand-delivery receipt date. The form must bear the signatures of all current qualifying parties, and the bond must be maintained. An untimely renewal leaves the license suspended and subject to cancellation. The rule states no fixed license-term length for contractor licenses — this page states none. On continuing education the position is exact: contractor licenses and QP certificates carry no continuing-education requirement in the renewal provisions at 14.6.3 NMAC.
Scope limits, exemptions and what this program will cover
The small-contractor edge of the system is the handyman exemption at NMSA 60-13-3D(14): an individual working on one undertaking or project at a time, with compensation not exceeding $7,200 per year, on casual, minor or inconsequential repairs, who does not advertise as a contractor and who files an annual declaration, stands outside the contractor definition — with a hard carve-out: the exemption never applies to installation, connection or repair of electrical wiring, plumbing or gas fitting. MM-3 work is licensed work.
What the PassProfessor program will cover. Our catalog now includes preparation built specifically for the MM-3 trade sitting: the six published outline areas weighted as the bulletin weights them, the Uniform Mechanical Code 2021 as the keyed code, the allowed-reference set under open-book room rules, and the qualifying-party route and its clocks. Every item is written from scratch against the primary sources recorded for this page. The companion guide — New Mexico MM-3 Heating, Ventilation & A/C Exam Guide — works through the credential and the route in full depth.
Independence, stated plainly. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider, not affiliated with the Construction Industries Division or PSI. Completing this program confers no license; CID alone licenses.
Tell me when enrollment opens. The New Mexico MM-3 Heating, Ventilation & A/C 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
Who issues the MM-3 license in New Mexico?
The Construction Industries Division (CID), under the Construction Industries Licensing Act (NMSA 1978, Chapter 60, Article 13) and NMAC Title 14, Chapter 6.
What work does MM-3 cover?
Installing, altering, repairing, servicing and maintaining HVAC air handling and refrigeration equipment and piping — fans, coils, condensing units, packaged units, evaporative cooling units, and ductwork including solar air heating — with water connection only to existing valved outlets and controls work not exceeding 24 volts.
How is the MM-3 trade examination structured?
An open-book PSI examination of 100 questions in 245 minutes: Motors, Controls, and Low Voltage Wiring 20; Duct Work, Ventilation, and Exhaust 20; Heating and Cooling General Knowledge 20; Equipment and Components 15; Refrigerants and Refrigeration 15; Piping 10.
What score passes the MM-3 trade examination?
75% (75 points).
Which code edition is examined?
The Uniform Mechanical Code, 2021 — the same edition the current New Mexico Mechanical Code at 14.9.2 NMAC adopts for field work.
Is a Business and Law examination also required?
Yes. The two examinations must be passed within 1 year of each other, or an approved Business and Law course completed instead. This program describes that step for structure only.
How much experience does MM-3 require?
Four years (8,000 hours) within the last 10 years. Accredited training counts at one-half year per year of training, capped at one-half of the requirement.
What does the examination cost?
PSI charges $68.88 for the Business and Law examination and $68.88 for each trade examination. CID’s fees are separate instruments: a $30.00 application fee and, for MM-3, a license fee of $50.00 per year or $100.00 for two years.
Does MM-3 renewal require continuing education?
No. Contractor licenses and qualifying-party certificates carry no continuing-education requirement under 14.6.3 NMAC.
Is PassProfessor affiliated with CID?
No. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider; CID alone licenses contractors.
When does enrollment open?
The program is in the works and enrollment is not yet open. Leave an email address on this page to be notified when it is ready.