City of Hobbs, New Mexico - Building Safety & Permitting Services (Building Inspections, Planning/Engineering Department)

City of Hobbs, New Mexico

city

200 E. Broadway Street, Hobbs, NM 88240

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Building Inspections is a unit of the Planning/Engineering Department at 200 E. Broadway St, Hobbs, NM 88240; phone (575) 391-8158, fax (575) 391-3061, email [email protected]. Staff named by the City: Scott Shed, Building Official; James Colvert, Building Inspector; Bo Williams, Electrical Inspector; Alex Aguirre, Plumbing/Mechanical Inspector; Mellisa Serrano, Building Inspections Administrative Assistant. Residential re-roofs do not require a counter visit by a licensed contractor: Hobbs runs an "OVER THE COUNTER-CALL-IN PERMIT PROGRAM" for residential work, "Contractors Only," whose building-permit column lists "REROOF PERMITS - See: ReRoof Guidelines" alongside window replacement. The published call procedure is that the "Permit application must be filled out and sent to [email protected] or: fax to 575-391-3061. If a permit application is not available, please call our office to receive the application needed. Our office will call for payment. Please print a copy of the approved permit and keep on the job site, along with any drawings, code instructions & manufactured specifications used for inspections." The City describes the general permit sequence as visit or call the Code Official, submit the application, wait during review ("The majority of residential permit applications are processed without delay and commercial permits are processed 1-10 working days"), receive results, receive the permit and arrange inspection visits, with the permit posted at the site. Inspection scope is set by state code, not a local schedule: Sec. 15.04.030(B) provides that "All work from which a permit is required shall be subject to inspections by the Building Inspections Department. The minimum inspections required shall be as stated in the current New Mexico Building Code." Permit fees are valuation-based under Sec. 15.28.010 and cover materials and labor; a re-inspection fee applies under Sec. 15.28.070 and an investigation fee for work started without a permit under Sec. 15.28.060. Jobs outside the city limits but inside the extra-territorial zone need a Lea County address and new-construction application approved by Lea County before Hobbs will issue a permit. Hobbs does not publish an online permit-application portal; applications are submitted by email or fax and payment is taken by phone.

Two instruments stack, and both must be read together. STATE LAYER: the 2021 New Mexico Residential Building Code, 14.7.3 NMAC, adopted at 14.7.3.8: "This rule adopts by reference the 2021 International Residential Code, as amended by this rule." Its stated objective at 14.7.3.6 is "to establish minimum standards for the general construction of residential buildings in New Mexico" - a floor, not a ceiling, so a New Mexico municipality may add to it but may not fall below it. 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. CITY LAYER: Hobbs adopts that state rule directly rather than a separate model code. Hobbs Municipal Code Sec. 15.04.010 (Building Codes) provides: "Articles 14.7.2 and 14.7.3 of the New Mexico Administrative Code, as amended from time to time, commonly cited as the Commercial Building Code and the Residential Building Code which encompasses the International Building Code, are hereby adopted as the City's Building Codes. A copy of the articles shall be available for inspection at the office of the City Clerk during the normal and regular business hours of the City Clerk." The same section separately adopts NMAC 14.10.4 (electrical) and NMAC 14.8.2, 14.9.2, 14.9.6 and 14.8.3 (plumbing, mechanical, solar energy, and swimming pool/spa/hot tub) as the City's plumbing and mechanical codes, and Sec. 15.04.020 makes the adopted building code enforceable by "the Building Official or authorized agent," in conjunction with the Fire Marshal under the International Fire Code, 2021 Edition as adopted in Chapter 8.32. Because Sec. 15.04.010 adopts the NMAC articles "as amended from time to time," the current 2021 New Mexico Residential Building Code applies in Hobbs automatically without a further local ordinance. The City's own Building Safety page independently corroborates the residential edition in force, listing among its current building codes "2021 New Mexico Residential Building Code - Effective Date Jan. 1, 2024" and linking directly to 14.7.3 NMAC. Hobbs Municipal Code Title 15 was read in full (Chapters 15.04 through 15.40) and contains no IRC section-level amendment to the roofing chapters; the local title is administrative (code adoption, definitions, permits and fees, house numbering, building moving, construction-site regulation, signs, floodplain management and landscaping).

Not required — Checked at both layers a Hobbs residential re-roof actually runs through, and neither imposes an impact-resistance requirement. CITY LAYER: Hobbs Municipal Code Title 15 (Buildings and Construction), Chapters 15.04 through 15.40 - the complete local building-code adoption, permit, fee, construction-site, sign, floodplain and landscaping title, which is the entirety of the City's building-code adoption and administration text - was read in full, and no provision anywhere in it addresses impact resistance, UL 2218 or Class 4 roofing. The City's own "Residential Re-Roof Guidelines" checklist, which is the City's most specific published statement of what a Hobbs re-roof must satisfy, was also read in full across all three pages and likewise contains nothing on impact resistance, UL 2218 or Class 4; its material sections address minimum roof slope by covering type, underlayment doubling below 4:12, roof drainage, sheathing condition and nailing, attic ventilation and final-inspection flashing. STATE LAYER: the 2021 New Mexico Residential Building Code, 14.7.3 NMAC, which Hobbs adopts by reference at Sec. 15.04.010, 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/tear-off, flashing and reglets, canales and scuppers, taper board at deck transitions and the exclusion of pumice and granular fill, not impact rating. 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 the Hobbs instruments themselves were read and are silent too.

No dollar threshold and no de minimis exemption - in Hobbs a permit is required for roofing work at any job value. Hobbs Municipal Code Sec. 15.04.030(A) states: "It is unlawful for any person to erect, construct, enlarge, alter, repair, roof, move or remove, convert, demolish, change of occupancy use, build or construct, or cause to be built or constructed in whole or in part, any building, structure or sign, any mechanical, plumbing and electrical construction within the City limits and the extra-territorial zone, without first obtaining a permit and pay the required fee." The verb "roof" is named directly in that list, and the subsection attaches no minimum value, minimum square footage or repair-versus-replacement distinction. The City's fee schedule confirms the absence of a floor: Sec. 15.28.010 (Building permit fees in general) begins its valuation table at the bracket "1.00 to 2,000" at a fee of "$20.00" and rises in brackets to "400,001 and up" at "800.00 + $1.00 per $1,000.00 thereafter," with the note that "Permit fees are based on the total valuation including, materials, labor, electrical, mechanical and plumbing. Refunds are eighty (80) percent of total permit fees paid." Title 15 was read in full, Chapters 15.04 through 15.40, and the only permit-fee waiver anywhere in it is Sec. 15.04.030(F), which lets the City Manager waive fees for renovation of a commercial property deemed "ruined, damaged and dilapidated" by the Hobbs Environmental Department - a commercial-only fee waiver that does not waive the permit itself and does not reach residential roofing. Work done without the required permit draws a red tag and the penalties and fees of Sec. 15.28.060 (investigation fee).

Two layers maximum, plus four mandatory tear-off triggers - a statewide New Mexico rule that applies in Hobbs through the City's adoption of 14.7.3 NMAC. 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. Hobbs adds nothing on top of this and subtracts nothing from it - Hobbs Municipal Code Title 15 was read in full and contains no roof-covering or re-roofing provision of the City's own. Hobbs does republish the state text as its own guidance: the City's "Residential Re-Roof Guidelines," issued "In coordination with the 2021 New Mexico Residential Building Code (NMRBC)," reprints the substituted R908.3 in full under the heading "GENERAL RE-ROOF REQUIREMENTS" and cites it as "[14.7.3.17 NMAC - Rp, 14.7.3.17 NMAC, 7/14/2023]." The same state section also bars loose fill from roof assemblies at new Section R904.5: "Pumice and other granular fill type materials are not permitted in roof assemblies."

City-published, and specific. The City of Hobbs issues its own "Residential Re-Roof Guidelines" checklist "In coordination with the 2021 New Mexico Residential Building Code (NMRBC)," and it devotes a section to "Plywood or Oriented Strand Board Sheathing" listing, verbatim: "Check for rot or delamination of existing sheathing or framing."; "Correct span rating based on spacing of rafters or trusses. 2021 IRC Section R803.2.2 and Table R503.2.1.1(1) or APA E30."; "Wood Structural Panel roof sheathing exposed to the underside shall be permitted to be of interior type bonded with exterior glue, identified as Exposure 1. (2021 IRC Section R803.2.1.1)"; "Minimum prescriptive nailing is 8d common nails at 6" on center at supported edges and 12" on center in the field. Edge nail pattern also applies over gable ends and diaphragm boundaries. (2021 IRC Table R602.3(1) for nails and Table 602.3(2) for staples)"; "Sheathing cut into widths less than 24" require solid blocking at all panel edges. (Per APA - The Engineered Wood Association)"; "Fastener's heads or crowns must not penetrate the outer veneer of plywood. (Per APA - The Engineered Wood Association)"; and "Sheathing gapped 1/8" at edges. (Per APA - The Engineered Wood Association)". The same document requires attic/rafter-bay ventilation to be brought into compliance as part of a re-roof - "When conducting reroofing projects, it shall be required that ventilation of the attic or rafter bays meet the requirements as described in Chapter 8 of the 2021 IRC" - and reprints R806.1, R806.2 and R806.3 on cross ventilation, the 1/150 (or 1/300 with conditions) net free ventilating area, and the minimum one-inch clearance between insulation and roof sheathing at eave or cornice vents. On top of the sheathing itself, the state code amendment carried into the guidelines requires taper board at deck transitions: new Section R905.9.4 "Roof Deck Transitions. Where roof sheathing is overlapped to create drainage "crickets" or valleys to canales, taper board, or equivalent shall be used to transition between the two deck levels to create a uniform substrate." The document notes it "is intended for use to prepare for an inspection. This is only a general list and is not intended to address all possible conditions."

New Mexico levies no sales tax. What attaches to a roofing job in Hobbs 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 Hobbs is 6.5625%, under GRT Location Code 06-111 (Lea 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."