A. State inspectors shall be employed by the director.

B. Qualifications for inspectors shall be prescribed by the commission, and applicants shall submit to an appropriate background check as prescribed by the commission. Inspectors shall meet the minimum continuing education requirements as prescribed by the nationally recognized code organization for each trade bureau jurisdiction and provide proof of such credits to the division upon application for or renewal of certification.

C. The division shall certify and issue a statewide inspector's certificate to any person who meets the requirements established by the nationally recognized code organization for certification. The certificate shall list all trade bureaus for which the inspector is certified to inspect and shall be valid for a term of three years.

D. An inspector shall be employed by a county, municipality or other political subdivision in order to inspect work under permits issued in the trade bureau for which the inspector is certified; provided that the county, municipality or other political subdivision has a certified building official in its employ and has adopted the current minimum code standards as established by the commission.

E. Except as provided in Subsection F of this section, the state or its agent shall conduct all inspections if a county, municipality or other political subdivision does not have a certified building official in its employ.

F. A county, municipality or other political subdivision may enter into a memorandum of understanding to share a certified building official and inspectors operating under that certified building official with another county, municipality or other political subdivision; provided that the certified building official is employed in the same county, in an adjacent county, within one hundred miles of the county, municipality or other political subdivision or as approved by the division.

G. A person currently acting in the capacity of a certified building official may continue to act in that capacity and shall have five years from the effective date of this 2013 act to become a certified building official as prescribed by the Construction Industries Licensing Act. When a certified building official leaves the employ of a county, municipality or other political subdivision, the plan review, permitting and inspections overseen by that certified building official shall transfer to the state unless the county, municipality or other political subdivision, within sixty days or a longer period as approved by the division, replaces that certified building official or enters into a memorandum of understanding pursuant to Subsection F of this section.

H. The division may appoint inspection agencies to inspect the construction, installation, alteration or repair of manufactured commercial units, modular homes and premanufactured homes, including those manufacturers whose business premises are without the state, to ensure that the New Mexico standards of construction and installation are adhered to and that the quality of construction meets all New Mexico codes and standards. If the inspection agency has no place of business within the state, it shall file a written statement with the secretary of state setting forth its name and business address and designating the secretary of state as its agent for the service of process.

I. The division shall, with the approval of the commission, establish qualifications for inspectors certified to inspect in more than one bureau's jurisdiction.

J. The director shall assign an investigator to investigate the merits of every complaint brought against an inspector and report to the commission within ten days.

History: 1953 Comp., § 67-35-49, enacted by Laws 1967, ch. 199, § 49; 1972, ch. 11, § 2; 1973, ch. 229, § 4; 1973, ch. 259, § 14; 1975, ch. 331, § 19; 1977, ch. 245, § 203; 1983, ch. 105, § 18; 1989, ch. 6, § 35; 2001, ch. 156, § 1; 2011, ch. 129, § 1; 2013, ch. 142, § 4; 2013, ch. 153, § 4.

The 2013 amendment, effective June 14, 2013, provided qualifications of inspectors; provided for statewide inspector's certificates; provided for local inspection agencies; in Subsection B, in the first sentence, after "Qualifications", deleted "and job descriptions", after "Qualifications for inspectors", deleted "for the state, municipalities and all other political subdivisions", and after "shall be prescribed by the commission", added the remainder of the sentence and added the second sentence; added Subsections C through G; deleted former Subsection D, which provided for reciprocal agreements with other jurisdictions; and added Subsection J.

Laws 2013, ch. 142, § 4, and Laws 2013, ch. 153, § 4, both effective June 14, 2013, enacted identical amendments to this section. The section was set out as amended by Laws 2013, ch. 153, § 4. See 12-1-8 NMSA 1978.

The 2011 amendment, effective June 17, 2011, made no change.

The 2001 amendment, effective June 15, 2001, deleted "The commission shall also promulgate rules and regulations establishing a recertification incentive plan which provides for salary increases for state inspectors based on education and training and additional qualifications." from the end of Subsection B.

Authority to create categories of certification of inspectors. — The construction industries division of the regulation and licensing department has the authority to create different categories of certification with different certification standards based on an inspector's status as a state or local inspector. 2011 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 11-06.

Law reviews. — For note, "County Regulation of Land Use and Development," see 9 Nat. Resources J. 266 (1969).