City of Rio Rancho, New Mexico - Building Division (Development Services Department)

City of Rio Rancho, New Mexico

city

3200 Civic Center Circle NE, Rio Rancho, NM 87144

Required

Required

The Building Division sits within Development Services at 3200 Civic Center Circle NE, Rio Rancho, NM 87144; Division Manager and Chief Building Official Bryan Twyeffort; phone 505-891-5005, inspection line 505-891-5006, fax 505-896-8994. Permit questions, solar permit questions and inspection questions all go to [email protected]; inspection requests may also go to [email protected]. The Division quotes the state permit rule directly on its own page: permits are required whenever a building or structure is "erected, constructed, enlarged, altered, repaired, moved, improved, removed, converted or demolished, and no electrical wiring, plumbing or mechanical work as defined and described in the applicable New Mexico construction codes for those trades, may be installed, repaired or maintained in or on such building or structure, unless the applicable permit has first been obtained from the division (City)" - NMAC Section 14.5.2.8, PERMITS REQUIRED, Subsection A - and then states the roofing-specific rule directly: "Additionally, all re-roofs require a building permit prior to starting the re-roofing ( a faxed application is not a permit ) and inspections." Permits may be submitted online through the City's Click2Gov building-permit portal or by email to [email protected]; large plan sets may be submitted by digital Dropbox. Fees are assessed in two stages - a plan-review fee on submittal and a permit fee on approval - and the applicant is responsible for notifying the Building Division that payment has been made. Inspection requests are made through Click2Gov, by email, or by voicemail at 505-891-5006; a complete set of approved drawings must be on site during inspection and the notice sheet must be posted at the job site for the duration of the project. The published residential inspection sequence for a structure is foundation, frame ("To be made after the roof, all framing, fire blocking and bracing are completed...") and final; no separate mid-roof or in-progress roofing inspection is published. Rio Rancho Municipal Code Section 151.99(C) provides that "Failure to obtain the necessary building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing or other secondary permits shall result in a double fee." Appeals of technical applications or interpretations are made to the New Mexico Construction Industries Division within 30 days of the final decision (Section 151.07(A)). The City also notes that fees for a building permit may not include separate utility application, deposit and connection fees.

Two instruments stack in Rio Rancho, and both matter. STATE FLOOR: New Mexico adopts a statewide residential code at 14.7.3 NMAC, the 2021 New Mexico Residential Building Code. 14.7.3.8 (Adoption) states, verbatim: "This rule adopts by reference the 2021 International Residential Code, as amended by this rule." 14.7.3.6 (Objective) frames it as a floor, not a ceiling: "The purpose of this rule is to establish minimum standards for the general construction of residential buildings in New Mexico." Under 14.7.3.5 the rule became effective July 14, 2023, and after December 14, 2023 permits may be issued only under it; the statutory authority is NMSA 1978 Sections 60-13-9 and 60-13-44. Because the state rule sets minimum standards, a New Mexico municipality may add to it but may not fall below it. CITY LAYER: the Rio Rancho Building Division publishes its own "Codes Utilized by the City" list, which opens with "2021 International Building Code, 2021 International Residential Code, Current NMAC Code Version of the ASCE used as reference: 2017 ICC A117.1." and continues with the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code, 2020 National Electric Code, 2021 Uniform Plumbing Code, 2021 Uniform Mechanical Code, 2021 International Fire Code and 2012 Swimming Pool, Spa, and Hot Tub Code. The City's own "Governing Regulations" handout repeats the same set with the annotation "*With State Amendment" against the 2021 IBC, 2021 IRC, 2021 UMC, 2021 UPC, 2020 NEC and 2021 IFC, adds the "2021 International Existing Building Code" and "2017 ICC/ANSI A117.1 Accessibility Code", and identifies the local ordinance layer as "City of Rio Rancho Code of Ordinances, Title XV, Land Use: Chapter 151 Building Code; Chapter 152 Flood and Erosion Control; Chapter 153 Storm Drainage Requirements," together with the "City of Rio Rancho Development Process Manual." So the operative residential roofing text in Rio Rancho is the 2021 IRC as amended by 14.7.3 NMAC, locally administered. Rio Rancho Municipal Code Chapter 151 (Building Regulations) is the codified local adopting chapter, but it is legacy Uniform Building Code-era text: Section 151.04(B) adopts documents by their generic titles and "current edition adopted by the State of New Mexico" - "(1) Uniform Building Code (current edition adopted by the State of New Mexico)... (3) New Mexico Building Code (current edition)..." - and Section 151.04(A) provides that "No part of this chapter shall relieve the applicant from compliance with all requirements of the New Mexico Uniform Building Code." Chapter 151 contains no section-level amendment to the IRC's roofing chapters. The Rio Rancho Municipal Code is hosted on the city's codification service and is "current through Ordinance 25-27, passed November 13, 2025."

Not required — Earned at both layers that reach Rio Rancho residential roofing. CITY LAYER: Rio Rancho Municipal Code Title XV (Land Usage), Chapter 151 (Building Regulations), Sections 151.01 through 151.99 was read in full - the complete local building-code adoption and administration chapter, comprising Adoption, Title, Purpose, Compliance with construction standards, Application; jurisdiction, Plans; approval and changes, Appeals, Fees, Administration and enforcement, and Penalty - and no provision addresses impact resistance, UL 2218 or Class 4 roofing; the chapter's substantive content is adoption-by-reference and administration, with no IRC section-level amendment of any kind. The chapter contains no roofing provision of any kind. The Building Division's own published "Codes Utilized by the City" list and the City's "Governing Regulations" handout likewise adopt code editions without imposing any impact-resistance or hail-rating requirement. STATE LAYER: 14.7.3 NMAC, the 2021 New Mexico Residential Building Code, contains no UL 2218, Class 4 or impact-resistance provision; its Chapter 9 amendments at 14.7.3.17 NMAC deal with tear-off conditions, reglets and flashing, canales and scuppers, and taper board, and impose no impact-resistance standard. Neither layer requires impact-resistant roofing in Rio Rancho.

Rio Rancho publishes its own structural design criteria, which is what New Mexico's code contemplates: 14.7.3.11(A)(1) NMAC amends footnote f of IRC Table R301.2 to read, verbatim, "The authority having jurisdiction shall fill in this part of the table with the seismic design category determined from Section R301.2.2.1 or information from the U.S.G.S. software Design Values for Buildings found online." The City of Rio Rancho Building Division fills it in on its own Building Division page, under "Codes Utilized by the City," verbatim as printed there: "Wind Speed: 115 Ultimate/93 Nominal"; "Seismic Design Category: C, per USGS website"; "Ground Snow Load: 20 lb or provide Case Study"; "Minimum Flat Roof Snow load: 20 lb or provide Case Study"; "Moderate Weathering"; "Frost depth 18”"; "Termite Protection required". The governing wind figure for roof design in Rio Rancho is therefore a 115 mph ultimate design wind speed (Vult), equivalent to a 93 mph nominal design wind speed (Vasd). The same list prints the seismic design category as C and a 20 lb ground snow load and 20 lb minimum flat-roof snow load, either of which may be replaced by a site-specific case study. The list prints no ice-barrier or ice-shield row and no rainfall/flood row, so nothing in it establishes an ice-barrier requirement for Rio Rancho beyond whatever the adopted IRC itself provides.

STATEWIDE, set by New Mexico rule rather than by Rio Rancho: a two-layer maximum, plus four conditions that force a complete tear-off regardless of layer count. 14.7.3.17 NMAC ("CHAPTER 9 ROOF ASSEMBLIES: See this chapter of the IRC except as provided below") deletes IRC Section R908.3 and substitutes, 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 limit: once two applications of any roof covering are already in place, a third may not be laid over them. Conditions (2) and (4) are New Mexico-specific tear-off triggers - wood shake, slate, clay, cement and asbestos-cement tile must always come off, and pumice or other granular fill must be removed before a new roof goes on. Rio Rancho adds nothing on top of this. New Mexico is a floor state, so the City could impose a stricter limit, but Rio Rancho Municipal Code Chapter 151 (Building Regulations, Sections 151.01 through 151.99) contains no roofing provision at all, and the Building Division's published codes list adopts the IRC as amended by the state rule without a local roofing amendment. The statewide limit is therefore the operative one in Rio Rancho.

Rio Rancho straddles two counties and carries two GRT Location Codes with two different rates, so the applicable rate depends on which county the property sits in. For the July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027 edition: the Sandoval County portion of the city is GRT Location Code 29-524 at 7.4375%; the Bernalillo County portion is GRT Location Code 02-647 at 7.875%. (A separate code, 29-525, covers the Village at Rio Rancho TIDD at 7.4375%; it is not the general city rate.) New Mexico does not levy a sales tax on the buyer; it levies a gross receipts tax on the seller's receipts, so a roofing contractor's own receipts are what is taxed. The New Mexico 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," and that "GRT rate varies throughout the state because the total rate combines the rates imposed by the state, counties, and municipality for each location." For roofing this matters in a specific way - the Department directs that "businesses will use the location code and tax rate corresponding to the location where their goods or the product of their service are delivered," so the applicable code and rate follow the location of the roof, not the location of the contractor's office, which is precisely why the two-county split has to be resolved job by job. Rates are keyed to a GRT Location Code rather than to a city name and are reissued semiannually, on January 1 and July 1 vintages; the figures above are the current July 1, 2026 - June 30, 2027 edition. The Department publishes the current designated rates as an interactive map rather than a static table, instructing users to "Identify the appropriate GRT Location Code and tax rate by clicking on the map at the location of interest" and to "Please consult local authorities where appropriate to confirm GRT Location Codes and tax rates."