New Mexico Construction Industries Division - building permit authority for Alamogordo, New Mexico

City of Alamogordo, New Mexico

city

5500 San Antonio Drive NE, Albuquerque, NM 87109

Required

Required

A roofing job in Alamogordo runs through two desks, and the split is worth getting right before starting. THE BUILDING PERMIT comes from the New Mexico Construction Industries Division. Applications are taken through the Division's online permitting system and at its offices: Albuquerque, 5500 San Antonio NE, Albuquerque, NM 87109, (505) 222-9800; Las Cruces, 505 S Main, Ste 118, PO Box 939, Las Cruces, NM 88004, (575) 524-6320; and Santa Fe, 2550 Cerrillos Rd, PO Box 25101, Santa Fe, NM 87504, (505) 476-4700. Only a currently licensed contractor may be issued a permit (14.5.2.8.B NMAC), with a homeowner's permit available to an owner working on their own primary residence - but not for a subcontracted single-scope job such as roofing (14.5.2.18.L NMAC). Fees are valuation-based: the Division's guide states that "Valuation of your project is based CID Rules New Mexico Administrative code 14.5.5.10," that "The fee, which covers plan review, the permit notice and required inspections, is based on the valuation amount," and that "Our office will calculate the valuation and fee for you." For an alteration or repair with no structural change, "two sets of lists outlining work to be performed and materials to be used will be accepted in lieu of" full plan sets. Roofing inspections are the decking inspection after tear-off and a final on completion (14.5.2.8.E(3) NMAC); inspections are requested at [email protected], 505-222-9813 or 877-243-0979. THE CITY'S PART is zoning, floodplain, drainage and curb cuts. The Division's guide sets the sequence: "Your project may be located in an area requiring zoning approval from a city or county zoning authority. You must obtain zoning approval and signature on the APPLICATION for STATE BUILDING PERMIT before applying to this office for the building permit." Alamogordo's Planning & Zoning Department publishes the matching steps - review "the N.M.C.I.D. Guide for Residential Construction (PDF)" and complete "the Multi Purpose State Building Application (PDF)"; complete the Flood Map Information Request Form and a separate FEMA site plan; complete the zoning analysis form; review the standard details and complete the Curb Cut Permit Application; complete "the City's Ordinance plan review checklist (PDF)"; complete "the Homeowner's Responsibility Form (PDF) as required by N.M.C.I.D."; and "Bring 2 complete sets of plans AND items Number 2 to 5 above to the Planning and Zoning Department at City Hall for submission. Incomplete or partial submissions will not be accepted." The City warns that "any missing documentation or packet not completed entirely will be returned to the applicant," charges "$85" for the FEMA determination and "$75" for zoning review, notes "These fees do not include State C.I.D. fees," and closes the loop with "When plans are approved, they will be emailed… You may then submit the plans to any of the offices listed at the top of the State permit application." Separately, City Code Sec. 8-01-010(b) requires written approval of a drainage plan from the designated city official before a building or structure is erected, altered, repaired or improved on the residential and commercial property categories it lists, and Sec. 8-01-110 makes City permit fees payable to the city treasurer "in the amount specified in the most recent edition of the applicable city permit fee schedule." CID issues the certificate of occupancy after the final general construction inspection.

The operative residential code in Alamogordo is the state rule, enforced by the state. STATE RULE: the 2021 New Mexico Residential Building Code, 14.7.3 NMAC. 14.7.3.8 provides "This rule adopts by reference the 2021 International Residential Code, as amended by this rule," and 14.7.3.6 states its purpose is "to establish minimum standards for the general construction of residential buildings in New Mexico" - a floor a municipality may add to but never fall below. Its scope at 14.7.3.2 is the reason it governs here directly: "This rule applies to all construction, alteration, relocation, enlargement, replacement, repair, equipment, use and occupancy, location, removal and demolition of all detached one- and two-family dwellings and multiple single-family dwellings (townhouses) not more than three stories high with separate means of egress, and their accessory structures that is performed in New Mexico on or after December 14, 2023, and that is subject to the jurisdiction of CID, unless performed pursuant to a permit for which an application was received by CID before that date." Alamogordo work is subject to the jurisdiction of CID. Under 14.7.3.5 the rule took effect July 14, 2023 and after December 14, 2023 permits may be issued only under it; statutory authority is NMSA 1978 §§ 60-13-9 and 60-13-44. WHAT CID ENFORCES: the Division's own current Building Permit Guide for Residential Construction states "The Construction Industries Division currently enforces the following codes:" and lists "2021 New Mexico Commercial & Residential Building Code," "2021 International Building Code," "2021 International Residential Code," "2012 Solar Energy Code (lAPMO)," "2021 NM Energy Conservation Code," "2017 ICC/ANSI A117.1," "2021 New Mexico Plumbing and Mechanical Code," "2021 Uniform Mechanical Code (lAPMO)," "2021 Uniform Plumbing Code (IAPMO)," "2012 Uniform Swimming Pool, Spa and Hot Tub Code," "2020 New Mexico Electrical Code," "2020 National Electrical Code," "2012 NMESC" and "2012 National Electrical Safety Code." CITY LAYER: Alamogordo does not adopt a competing construction code and no longer adopts the state ones by local ordinance either. Code of Ordinances Article 8-03 (Codes) is now almost entirely reserved; the editor's note records that "Ord. No. 1340, § 1, adopted August 11, 2008, amended the Code by repealing former §§ 8-03-010—8-03-050 and 8-03-070 in their entirety. Former §§ 8-03-010—8-03-050 and 8-03-070 pertained to adoption of the New Mexico Commercial Building Code, the New Mexico Electrical Code, the New Mexico Residential Building Code, the New Mexico Plumbing Code, the New Mexico Mechanical Code and the New Mexico Existing Building Code, respectively." What remains is Sec. 8-03-080, which adopts by reference "the International Property Maintenance Code, 2006 Edition, published by the International Code Council, including any amendments thereto which are adopted by the state," and Sec. 8-03-140 (Compliance required), which routes everything else back to the state: "All construction of any sort or type within the city limits and any building or structure moved into or within the city limits shall fully conform in every respect to the codes and amendments adopted by the state construction industries division of the regulation and licensing department. Any failure to conform shall constitute a violation of these codes and ordinances and shall subject the violator to the penalties as set forth in section 1-01-100." Alamogordo Code of Ordinances Chapter 8 was read in full, Articles 8-01 through 8-08, and contains no residential construction standard of its own - it is permits and drainage, the code official, property maintenance and dangerous buildings, streets, driveways, sidewalks, public works specifications and cross-connection control.

Required — A decking inspection after tear-off is mandatory, not discretionary, and it is written into the same state rule that requires the permit. 14.5.2.8.E(3) NMAC provides, verbatim: "Inspections must include, at a minimum, decking inspection upon removal of existing roof and the roof system or application of roof coating systems as a final inspection upon completion of roofing project." So a compliant Alamogordo re-roof has at least two inspection points - the exposed deck once the old covering is off and before the new system goes on, and a final on completion - and the wording "at a minimum" leaves the inspector free to require more. The rule reaches Alamogordo squarely: 14.5.2.2 NMAC scopes it to "all work performed in New Mexico that is subject to the jurisdiction of CID for which permits are required," and Alamogordo building permits are CID permits under the City's own Sec. 8-01-010(a). 14.5.2.6 NMAC describes the rule's purpose as "to set forth standards and requirements governing permitting of construction work in New Mexico as the statewide minimum standard." Inspections are requested from the Division, which publishes [email protected], 505-222-9813 and 877-243-0979 for that purpose. The decking inspection dovetails with the state's tear-off rule at 14.7.3.17 NMAC § D - the conditions that force a full tear-off (deteriorated or water-soaked deck, two existing layers, pumice or granular fill) are exactly what an inspector is looking at when the deck is exposed.

Not required — Checked at both layers an Alamogordo residential re-roof actually runs through, and neither imposes an impact-resistance requirement. CITY LAYER: Alamogordo Code of Ordinances Chapter 8 (Buildings and Building Regulations), Articles 8-01 through 8-08 - In General, Code Official, Codes, Streets/Sidewalks/Public Places in General, Driveway/Curb and Gutter Construction, Public Works Specifications, Sidewalks, and Cross Connection Prevention and Control, which together are the complete local building-code adoption and administration chapter - was read in full, and no provision anywhere in it addresses impact resistance, UL 2218 or Class 4 roofing. The chapter cannot impose one indirectly either: the City repealed its adoptions of the state building codes in 2008 (Ord. No. 1340), and what remains in Article 8-03 is the 2006 International Property Maintenance Code plus Sec. 8-03-140, which requires all construction in the city to conform to the codes adopted by the Construction Industries Division. The City's published new-residential-construction packet, which is the City's most specific statement of what it requires of a residential applicant, consists of the state building application, the N.M.C.I.D. guide, FEMA flood-map and zoning forms, a curb-cut application, site plans and the homeowner's responsibility form - nothing touching roof material rating. STATE LAYER: the 2021 New Mexico Residential Building Code, 14.7.3 NMAC, which is the operative code here, contains no impact-resistance requirement - no UL 2218 or Class 4 provision appears anywhere in the rule, and its Chapter 9 amendments at 14.7.3.17 NMAC concern roof replacement and tear-off, flashing and reglets, canales and scuppers, taper board at deck transitions and the exclusion of pumice and granular fill, not impact rating. The Construction Industries Division's own current residential Building Permit Guide likewise says nothing about impact-rated roofing. New Mexico's rule is a floor (14.7.3.6: "minimum standards"), so state silence alone would not settle the question for a city - it is settled here because Alamogordo's own chapter and its own permit packet were read and are silent too.

No dollar threshold and no de minimis exemption - a re-roof in Alamogordo requires a state building permit at any job value, and roof coating counts too. The statewide permitting rule states the requirement without qualification at 14.5.2.8.E NMAC: "(1) All new roof installations and re-roofs require building permits and inspections. (2) All applications of roof coating systems require building permits and inspections." Nothing in that subsection turns on job value, roof area, or whether the work is a repair rather than a replacement. The exceptions were checked directly rather than assumed. 14.5.2.9 NMAC (Exceptions to requirement for permits) opens "Permits shall not be required for the following:" and was read in full - its commercial list runs to eleven items (small accessory structures under 120 square feet, oil derricks, low retaining walls, small grade-supported water tanks, low sidewalks and driveways, stage sets, above-ground prefabricated pools, shade cloth structures, playground equipment, window awnings, and partitions under five feet nine inches) and its residential subsection works through IRC Section R105.2 item by item, deleting R105.2(2), (5) and (6) and retaining the rest. Roofing appears nowhere in either list. The Construction Industries Division's own current Building Permit Guide for Residential Construction says the same thing from the other direction: its "WHEN BUILDING PERMITS ARE NOT REQUIRED" section lists ten exempt categories - small accessory buildings, fences not over 6 feet, low retaining walls, small water tanks, low sidewalks and driveways, "Painting, papering, tiling, carpeting, cabinets, counter tops and similar finish work," shallow prefabricated pools, playground equipment, small window awnings and small detached decks - and roofing is not among them. Where the work is an alteration or repair rather than new construction, the Guide relaxes the drawing requirement but not the permit: "When performing alterations and repairs to an existing residence without performing structural changes, two sets of lists outlining work to be performed and materials to be used will be accepted in lieu of the above requirements."

Two layers maximum, plus four mandatory tear-off triggers - statewide, and directly applicable in Alamogordo because the state code is the operative construction code inside the city limits. New Mexico's residential code deletes IRC Section R908.3 (Roof replacement) outright and substitutes its own text. 14.7.3.17 NMAC (Chapter 9 Roof Assemblies), § D, provides verbatim: "New roof coverings shall not be installed without first removing existing roof coverings where any of the following conditions occur: (1) The existing roof or roof covering is water soaked or has deteriorated to the point that the existing roof or roof covering is not adequate as a base for additional roofing. (2) The existing roof covering is wood shake, slate, clay, cement, or asbestos-cement tile. (3) The existing roof has two or more applications of any type of roof covering. (4) Where pumice or other granular fill are present, the material must be removed prior to installing a new roof." Condition (3) is the layer cap: a roof already carrying two applications of any covering must be stripped before a new covering goes on, so no more than two total layers may ever exist. Conditions (1), (2) and (4) force a tear-off regardless of layer count, and the same state section bars the fill material from going back on with new Section R904.5: "Pumice and other granular fill type materials are not permitted in roof assemblies." Compliance is checked in the field - 14.5.2.8.E(3) NMAC requires a "decking inspection upon removal of existing roof" on every re-roof permit. Alamogordo adds nothing on top of the state text and could not fall below it: the City repealed its own building-code adoptions in 2008 and Sec. 8-03-140 requires all construction in the city to "fully conform in every respect to the codes and amendments adopted by the state construction industries division of the regulation and licensing department." Chapter 8 of the City Code was read in full and contains no roof-covering or re-roofing provision.

New Mexico levies no sales tax. What attaches to a roofing job in Alamogordo is the gross receipts tax (GRT), imposed on the seller's receipts rather than on the buyer's purchase - the Taxation and Revenue Department states that "Gross receipts tax (GRT) is imposed on businesses, but it is common for a business to pass the GRT on to the purchaser." The total GRT rate for Alamogordo is 8.1875%, under GRT Location Code 15-116 (Otero County), in the July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027 edition of the Department's designated location-code and tax-rate publication. Rates are keyed to location codes rather than to city names, and they are reissued semiannually. As the Department puts it, "GRT rate varies throughout the state because the total rate combines the rates imposed by the state, counties, and municipality for each location." For a roofing contractor the governing code is the one covering the job site rather than the office: "businesses will use the location code and tax rate corresponding to the location where their goods or the product of their service are delivered." The Department publishes the current rates as an interactive map - "Identify the appropriate GRT Location Code and tax rate by clicking on the map at the location of interest" - and cautions that users should "Please consult local authorities where appropriate to confirm GRT Location Codes and tax rates."