The purpose of the Construction Industries Licensing Act is to promote the general welfare of the people of New Mexico by providing for the protection of life and property by adopting and enforcing codes and standards for construction, alteration, installation, connection, demolition and repair work. To effect this purpose, it is the intent of the legislature that:
A. examination, licensing and certification of the occupations and trades within the jurisdiction of the Construction Industries Licensing Act be such as to ensure or encourage the highest quality of performance and to require compliance with approved codes and standards and be, to the maximum extent possible, uniform in application, procedure and enforcement;
B. there be eliminated the wasteful and inefficient administrative practices of dual licensing, duplication of inspection, nonuniform classification and examination of closely related trades or occupational activities and jurisdictional conflicts; and
C. contractors be required to furnish and maintain evidence of responsibility.
History: 1953 Comp., § 67-35-4, enacted by Laws 1967, ch. 199, § 4; 1978 Comp., § 60-13-4, recompiled as § 60-13-1.1 by Laws 1989, ch. 6, § 2.
ANNOTATIONSStatutory policy. — The policy of the CILA is best served by imposing proportional liability on general contractors who hire unlicensed independent contractors to do dangerous work requiring a license for foreseeable injuries those independent contractors suffer due to their lack of qualifications. A general contractor who negligently hires an unqualified independent contractor to perform dangerous work may be liable for injuries to that same unqualified independent contractor. Tafoya v. Rael, 2008-NMSC-057, 145 N.M. 4, 193 P.3d 551.
Purpose of this act is to protect the public from incompetent and irresponsible builders, and in view of the severity of the sanctions and the forfeitures which could be involved, courts are reluctant to construe the act more broadly than necessary for achievement of its purpose; its provisions should not be transformed into an "unwarranted shield for the avoidance of a just obligation." Olivas v. Sibco, Inc., 1975-NMSC-027, 87 N.M. 488, 535 P.2d 1339.
Administrative probable cause and administrative warrant requirements. — Administrative probable cause exists based on either specific evidence of an existing violation or a showing that reasonable legislative or administrative standards for conducting an inspection are satisfied with respect to a particular establishment. The warrant application must inform the judicial officer of the substance of the complaint so that it can determine whether the alleged conditions, if true, constitute a violation. N.M. Construction Indus. Div. v. Cohen, 2019-NMCA-071.
Administrative search warrant was required. — Where the New Mexico construction industries and manufactured housing division (division) received a written complaint regarding unsafe conditions on respondent's rental property and a written complaint regarding multiple additions that had occurred on the property without the proper permits or inspections, and where the division's inspectors attempted to inspect the property to look for code violations but were denied access by respondent, the district court erred in ordering the division to inspect the property, because although the district court's order found that the division had statutory authority to conduct an inspection, the order lacked a determination of whether probable cause supported an administrative search warrant and no exception to the warrant requirement applied. N.M. Construction Indus. Div. v. Cohen, 2019-NMCA-071.