What Is NM-GB98 Certification?

What Is NM-GB98 Certification?

NM-GB98 is the exam designation for New Mexico's General Building Contractor Part 2 license classification, tested alongside the GB-2 Residential Building Contractor Part 1 exam as a combination technical requirement. Together, these two exams form the "GB-98 combination technical exam" that the New Mexico Construction Industries Division (CID) requires before a qualifying party can be licensed to bid and build general building projects across the state.

This is not a single 100-question quiz. It is a two-part testing event covering a wide range of construction disciplines - sitework, concrete, masonry, carpentry, roofing, metals, associated trades, code and plan reading, estimating, and OSHA safety - spread across 17 distinct content areas. If you're trying to understand exactly what you're signing up for, the NM-GB98 Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 17 Content Areas breaks down every one of those areas in depth.

Who Regulates the GB-98 License

The exam is approved and overseen by the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department, Construction Industries Division. Actual test delivery is handled by PSI through computer-based testing centers. PSI publishes and periodically updates the contractor candidate bulletin that governs testing rules, reference materials, and procedures - the current version was updated April 3, 2026, so candidates should always confirm they're studying from the latest bulletin rather than an outdated copy.

Because CID sets the licensing rules and PSI runs the testing logistics, candidates deal with two separate processes: the state application/eligibility process and the PSI scheduling process. Understanding this split matters when you're troubleshooting a scheduling issue versus an eligibility question - they go to different places.

Exam Structure: Two Parts, One License

The GB-98 combination technical exam is made up of two separate timed sections:

• GB-2 Residential Building Contractor Part 1: 80 questions, 225 minutes.
• GB-98 General Building Contractor Part 2: 100 questions, 310 minutes.

Both parts are open book and each requires a 75% score to pass. That means passing one part with a high score does not offset a low score on the other - each part stands on its own. If you fail one part, you don't have to retake the part you passed; New Mexico allows a one-part retake for $134.53, which keeps re-testing costs contained to whichever section actually needs another attempt.

For a granular sense of exactly what "passing" means on each part, and how the 75% threshold interacts with the open-book format, see NM-GB98 Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass.

What the 17 Content Areas Actually Cover

The GB-98 combination exam is organized into 17 domains split across the two parts. Part 1 domains lean toward residential-scale fundamentals, while Part 2 domains go deeper into commercial-scale general building topics, with a much heavier emphasis on code, plan reading, and estimating.

Other Part 1 domains include Sitework/Footings/Foundations (9), Concrete and Concrete Reinforcement (9), Masonry (6), Carpentry (12), Roofing (10), Associated Trades (12), and OSHA Safety (8). Part 2 rounds out with Sitework/Footings/Foundations (10), Masonry (10), Carpentry (6), Metals (10), Roofing (6), Associated Trades (10), and OSHA Safety (6).

Notice how the weighting shifts between parts - Carpentry drops from 12 questions in Part 1 to 6 in Part 2, while Metals appears only in Part 2 with 10 questions. That asymmetry is worth planning around, and the full domain-by-domain study allocation is covered in the NM-GB98 Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt.

The Business and Law Requirement

Passing the GB-98 combination technical exam is not the entire licensing hurdle. New contractor candidates must also satisfy a separate Business and Law requirement, either by passing the PSI Business and Law examination or by completing an approved course.

• The PSI Business and Law exam costs $68.88.
• It has 50 questions and a 130-minute time limit.
• It is open book and requires a 75% passing score, matching the technical exam threshold.

Because this exam covers contract law, licensing statutes, and business practice rather than construction technique, it's worth treating as its own study block rather than an afterthought squeezed in alongside technical prep.

Eligibility: Experience, Hours, and Application

Before you can even sit for the GB-98 combination exam, you need to establish eligibility. New Mexico requires four years and 8,000 hours of qualifying experience within the preceding 10 years. Approved education or training can offset part of that requirement - candidates may receive half-time credit toward up to one-half of the total experience requirement, which can meaningfully shorten the path for candidates with formal construction education.

The qualifying-party application and work-affidavit fee is $36, separate from exam fees. Once you're deemed eligible to test, that eligibility window lasts six months - so scheduling promptly after approval matters. A full walkthrough of how the experience, education-credit, and application pieces fit together is available in NM-GB98 Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.

Open-Book References and What You Can Bring

Both technical exam parts and the Business and Law exam are open book, but "open book" comes with specific rules. Approved references include the listed 2021 New Mexico building codes, the applicable 2021 IRC or IBC, and standard trade texts.

• References must be bound - loose papers are not allowed.
• You may highlight, underline, index, and permanently tab your references before testing.
• You may not add handwritten notes or insert loose inserts into your materials.
• A silent, nonprinting, nonprogrammable calculator is permitted.

Because the exam is open book, success depends less on memorization and more on knowing exactly where information lives inside your references and how fast you can locate it under time pressure. Given that Part 2 alone runs 310 minutes across 100 questions, tab organization can be the difference between finishing comfortably and running out of time. For a realistic sense of how demanding this actually is in practice, read How Hard Is the NM-GB98 Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026.

Fees, Retakes, and Score Validity

These figures represent the exam and application costs specifically - they don't include prep materials, courses, or the education/experience documentation you may need to gather. For a full cost breakdown that accounts for the total investment of getting licensed, see NM-GB98 Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.

One detail worth emphasizing: since renewal has no continuing education requirement, the effort you put into passing GB-98 the first time is effectively a one-time investment in your license status going forward, rather than a recurring study obligation.

Who Hires GB-98 Licensed Contractors

The GB-98 license classification signals that a qualifying party has demonstrated competency across a broad swath of general building trades - from foundations and concrete through roofing, metals, and associated trades - plus the code and estimating knowledge to run commercial-scale projects. This makes the license relevant to:

• General contracting firms bidding on commercial and mixed-use building projects
• Construction companies expanding beyond residential-only work into general building scope
• Independent contractors establishing themselves as the qualifying party for a new or growing construction business
• Project managers and estimators who need the license to legally hold contracts in their own name

If you're weighing whether pursuing this license lines up with your career goals, the honest cost-versus-benefit conversation is covered in Is the NM-GB98 Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026, and general market context is discussed in NM-GB98 Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis.

Building a Realistic Prep Plan

Given the two-part structure and 17-domain spread, a scattershot review approach tends to underperform. A more effective approach maps study time directly to question weight - spend more hours on General Code/Plan Reading/Estimating (14 questions in Part 1, 27 in Part 2) and Concrete/Concrete Reinforcement (9 in Part 1, 15 in Part 2) than on lighter domains like Masonry in Part 1 (6 questions) or Roofing in Part 2 (6 questions).

Because this exam is open book, part of your prep time should go toward practicing with your actual tabbed references under timed conditions, not just reading content. Simulating the real question format on a practice test platform before test day helps you calibrate pacing against the 225-minute and 310-minute limits, and repeated timed practice on a practice test also exposes weak domains before they cost you points in the real exam room. A structured week-by-week breakdown tied to each domain's exact question count is available in the NM-GB98 Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt.

If you're trying to gauge how your prep timeline compares with typical outcomes, NM-GB98 Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows and NM-GB98 Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling are useful companion reads for scheduling your attempt strategically.

Frequently Asked Questions