Handyman Limitations in New Mexico


A handyman with a certificate from the state of New Mexico is extremely limited to what they are allowed to do and the certificate they are issued shows what they are allowed to do. The handyman performing any work must show the certificate to anyone that he is going to do any work for as well. They are not licensed by the state of New Mexico and the certificate is not a license. A handyman is not allowed to contract or sub contract in any manner and cannot do any commercial work of any kind. As such you should always to ask to see a license of any contractor doing any work on your property. Every contractor is issued a wallet size card license by the state.

An example of what a non licensed handyman can do would be as follows. Let's assume a homeowner wants to have the inside of his house painted. The handyman would be allowed to paint one wall and that is all. He would not be able to return on another day and on subsequent days to paint another wall to get the rest of the house painted. If it were the outside of the house, he would only be able to paint one exterior wall.

Another example would be if the customer needed to have a new pre-hung door installed. The unlicensed handyman would not be allowed to install that door and he cannot sub out or contract with another contractor to get the work done.

An unlicensed handyman is also limited to how much money they are allowed to make in any year. Currently that cap is $7200 per year.

A handyman is NOT a licensed contractor and cannot get a bond or insurance for any work they do. A home owner that hires a handyman or any other unlicensed person to do any work on their home takes a big risk if anything should go wrong and the home owner does not have any recourse except to try to sue the individual that did the work. Good luck with that!

The certificate a handyman is issued is extremely limited in the scope of what that handyman is allowed to do for any kind of work. There are only about 7 or 8 things they are allowed to do and they are all of very minor and insignificant work. If you have any questions about what a handyman is allowed to do, you can call the Construction Industies Division to see what a handyman is allowed to do and if they are in fact certified as a handyman in the state of New Mexico.

For more information contact:
Construction Industries Division
Regulation and Licensing Department
2550 Cerrillos Road
Santa Fe, NM 87505
(505) 476-4700