NM-GB98 Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows

Why There's No Published NM-GB98 Pass Rate

If you're searching for a single percentage that tells you how many candidates pass the New Mexico GB-98 General Building Contractor Exam on their first attempt, you won't find one published by the Construction Industries Division or by PSI. Unlike some national certification programs that release annual pass-rate reports, New Mexico's contractor licensing exams are administered through PSI under a bulletin structure (the current version was updated April 3, 2026) that focuses on eligibility, content outline, and scoring policy rather than aggregate statistics.

That absence of a headline number doesn't mean the exam is unpredictable. It means the more useful question isn't "what percentage of people pass" but "what does the scoring structure actually require, and where do candidates typically lose points." That's the data we can actually work with, and it's what the rest of this article breaks down.

What "Passing" Actually Requires

The GB-98 credential is issued after clearing a combination technical exam made up of two separate parts, plus a standalone Business and Law exam for new qualifying parties. Each piece has its own pass threshold, and none of them blend together:

• GB-2 Residential Building Contractor Part 1: 80 questions, 225 minutes, requires 75%
• GB-98 General Building Contractor Part 2: 100 questions, 310 minutes, requires 75%
• Business and Law: 50 questions, 130 minutes, requires 75%

That means a strong Part 2 score cannot rescue a weak Part 1 score. Candidates need to walk into each part ready to hit 75%, which is a meaningfully different prep strategy than studying for one blended score. For a full walkthrough of how this scoring structure works section by section, see the NM-GB98 Passing Score guide.

Breaking Down the Two Technical Parts

Part 1 (GB-2, 80 questions) and Part 2 (GB-98, 100 questions) cover overlapping subject areas but at different depth and emphasis. Understanding how the 180 combined questions are distributed across all 17 domains is the single most useful thing you can do before scheduling your test date. The full domain list - including question counts for every content area - is broken down in the NM-GB98 Exam Domains 2026 guide.

Notice that General Code, Plan Reading, and Estimating alone accounts for 27 of Part 2's 100 questions - more than a quarter of the entire second exam. If your prep plan treats every domain equally, you're underinvesting in the single area most likely to determine your Part 2 score. This is the kind of imbalance the NM-GB98 Study Guide is built around addressing directly.

The Business and Law Requirement

New contractor candidates in New Mexico must satisfy Business and Law in addition to the technical exam - either by passing the PSI Business and Law exam or by completing an approved course. The exam itself is shorter than the technical parts (50 questions, 130 minutes) but carries the same 75% threshold and the same open-book, no-loose-papers rules.

Because it's a separate exam with a separate fee ($68.88), it's easy to underestimate. Candidates who assume it's a formality sometimes walk in without reviewing lien law, licensing statutes, or contract fundamentals - and that's exactly the kind of avoidable mistake covered in the NM-GB98 Requirements guide, which lays out eligibility, hours, and every prerequisite piece in order.

Which Domains Carry the Most Risk

Since there's no published pass-rate breakdown by domain, the most reliable signal candidates have is question volume. Domains with more questions have more room to sink or save your score; domains with fewer questions have less margin for error per question but also less overall impact.

If you're trying to gauge how difficult the overall exam feels compared to other trade licensing tests, the How Hard Is the NM-GB98 Exam guide goes deeper into the time pressure of 310 minutes on Part 2 versus 225 on Part 1, and why the estimating-heavy questions tend to consume more of that clock than code-lookup questions do.

The Open-Book Trap

Both technical parts and the Business and Law exam are open book, which sounds like it should make passing easier - and candidates who prepare well use that to their advantage. But open book comes with strict conditions: references must be bound, and while they may be highlighted, underlined, indexed, and permanently tabbed before the test, they cannot contain handwritten notes or loose inserted papers. A silent, nonprinting, nonprogrammable calculator is allowed, but that's the extent of external tools.

Approved references include the listed 2021 New Mexico building codes, the 2021 IRC or IBC as applicable, and trade texts. Building a tabbing system around the domain weights above - heavier tabs for General Code, Plan Reading, and Estimating, lighter tabs for lower-question domains like Roofing on Part 2 - is a practical, NM-GB98-specific strategy that a percentage-based "pass rate" number could never tell you.

Retake Costs and Eligibility Windows

One structural detail that quietly affects outcomes: a one-part retake costs $134.53, roughly half of the full $269.06 combination fee, because you're only re-testing the part you failed rather than repurchasing both. That matters for planning - failing Part 1 doesn't force you to re-sit Part 2 if you already passed it.

Timing matters just as much as cost. Examination eligibility lasts six months from approval, and a passing score on any given part remains valid for one year. If you pass Part 1 but need multiple attempts at Part 2, you're working against that one-year clock, not an open-ended window. Scheduling logistics, along with how PSI structures testing windows throughout the year, are covered in the NM-GB98 Exam Dates guide.

There's also the qualifying-party application and work-affidavit fee of $36, which is separate from exam fees and easy to overlook when budgeting your full path to licensure. A complete fee-by-fee breakdown lives in the NM-GB98 Certification Cost guide.

Who Actually Uses a GB-98 License

The GB-98 license is tied to New Mexico's Construction Industries Division framework for general building contractors - the credential that lets a qualifying party take on and supervise general building projects at a scale beyond residential-only work. Firms bidding commercial or mixed-scope building work, general contracting companies expanding beyond a GB-2 residential scope, and individuals establishing themselves as a licensed qualifying party for a construction business are the primary audience for this exam.

Eligibility for the exam itself requires four years and 8,000 hours of qualifying experience within the preceding ten years, though approved education or training can receive half-time credit for up to half of that requirement. That experience threshold is part of why this isn't an entry-level test - most candidates arrive already working in the field. If you're weighing whether the time and fee investment lines up with your career plans, the Is the NM-GB98 Certification Worth It guide and the NM-GB98 Salary Guide both address that question directly.

A Domain-Weighted Prep Timeline

Rather than splitting study time evenly across 17 domains, allocate time proportional to question count - spend the most hours where the exam spends the most questions. Here's a sample allocation built directly from the domain breakdown above.

For a condensed version of this same domain-weighted approach with quick-reference facts, keep the NM-GB98 Cheat Sheet nearby during your final review week.

Frequently Asked Questions