NM General Contractor study guide
NM General Contractor · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The New Mexico General Contractor credential is a construction contractor license issued by the Construction Industries Division (CID) of the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department. CID describes its mission as protecting consumers by regulating the industry, licensing contractors, enforcing licensing laws, and requiring licensure for any person practicing or offering to practice construction contracting. The NM General Contractor study guide has 7 sections and about 2,682 words.
01Business and Financial Management
This domain tests whether you can run a contracting business, not just build: entity choice, job costing, financial statements, insurance, bonding capacity, payroll burden, and New Mexico gross receipts tax (GRT). Expect scenario arithmetic rather than definitions.
407 words, about 2 min02New Mexico Contractor Licensing Law and Regulation
This domain tests the rules administered by the Construction Industries Division (CID) of the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department, with rules adopted by the Construction Industries Commission: who must be licensed, what a license authorizes, how permits and inspections work, and what happens when you operate without one. Contractors and subcontractors performing construction work in New Mexico must hold a CID license when the project's combined labor and materials reach the statutory threshold (currently $10,000).
412 words, about 2 min03Project Administration and Contract Management
This domain tests administration of the contract after award: delivery methods and contract types, the order of precedence among documents, changes, notice requirements, time and delay, payment, and closeout. Most exam items turn on who was required to give what notice, in writing, and when.
400 words, about 2 min04Estimating and Bidding
This domain tests how a bid is built and defended: quantity takeoff, pricing labor and material, indirect costs, bid-day decisions, and the errors that turn a winning bid into a losing job. Expect unit-conversion arithmetic.
338 words, about 2 min05Construction Planning, Scheduling, and Controls
This domain tests planning and control tools: work breakdown, critical path method, float, resource management, schedule updates, and earned value progress measurement. Break the job into a work breakdown structure, then into activities with durations and logical ties (finish-to-start, start-to-start, finish-to-finish) including lags.
359 words, about 2 min06Site Safety and Environmental Compliance
This domain tests OSHA construction standards (29 CFR 1926) as enforced under New Mexico's state plan, plus environmental obligations that apply on site: stormwater, air quality, asbestos and lead, and waste. Fall protection is required at 6 ft in construction (10 ft for scaffolds).
406 words, about 2 min07Construction Means, Methods, and Materials
This domain tests whether you know how the work is actually built and what inspection or testing proves it was built correctly: soils and compaction, concrete, masonry, steel, wood framing, envelope, and finishes. Structural fill is placed in lifts (commonly 6–8 in) and compacted to a specified percentage of maximum dry density from a proctor test, verified by field density tests.
360 words, about 2 min