09/24/2026
HIRING SOMEONE FOR DIRT WORK? MAKE SURE THEY'RE LICENSED FIRST.
Whether it's a house pad or a commercial site, grading and excavation in New Mexico is licensed work. There are a lot of operators around the Four Corners with a machine and a trailer and no license. Here's what the state requires at a minimum:
- A NM Construction Industries Division (CID) license in the right classification. Earthmoving and excavating falls under GS-8. Utility trenching, roads and parking lots fall under separate GA and GF classifications. General building licenses like GB-2 (residential) and GB-98 (commercial and residential) also cover site work tied to building projects.
- Real experience. The license holder has to document 2 to 4 years of foreman-level experience, depending on the classification.
- Two state exams passed: a trade exam and a Business & Law exam.
- A $10,000 license bond filed with the state and kept active the whole time they're licensed.
- Workers' comp if they have even one employee.
- Liability insurance. The state doesn't set a minimum, but most commercial owners and many cities do. Albuquerque requires $2 million for excavation permits.
- Separate licenses for septic, sewer, water and gas lines. Digging the hole is one thing. Setting a septic tank or running utility lines takes its own license.
WHY IS NEW MEXICO SO STRICT ABOUT THIS?
Because everything gets built on top of the dirt. A pad that isn't compacted right cracks the slab. Bad grading floods the building. One wrong dig can hit a gas line or a buried power cable. The state licenses this work so the person running the machine has proven experience, has passed state exams, and can be held accountable if they cut corners.
HOW TO SPOT AN UNLICENSED OPERATOR
- No license number on the bid, contract, truck or ad. Licensed contractors are required to show it.
- They can't or won't give you a certificate of insurance.
- They want cash only, or they want you to pull the permit yourself.
- The price is way under everyone else's. There's usually a reason.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN IT GOES WRONG A YEAR LATER?
The pad settles and the slab cracks. The driveway or parking lot washes out after the first monsoon. Grading sends water toward the building instead of away from it. These problems usually don't show up until months later.
By then there's no license for the state to act on and no bond to claim against. Most likely there's no insurance either. Your option is suing them yourself, and a lot of these operators have nothing to collect. If one of their workers gets hurt on your property with no workers' comp, that can land on you. Unlicensed contracting is a misdemeanor, but a conviction doesn't fix your site.
DEKON ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES IS FULLY LICENSED, BONDED AND INSURED.
We hold a GB-98 General Building license with the NM Construction Industries Division ( #417265), which covers both commercial and residential work. We compact it right, grade it right, and put our name on the work. We've been in the Four Corners a long time and we're not going anywhere. If something we built has a problem, you know where to find us.
House Pads • Commercial Site Prep • Grading • Drainage • Excavation • Driveways and Lots • Hauling
📞 505-543-8083
🌐 dekonenv.com
📍 Farmington, NM
Before you hire anyone, look up their license at public.psiexams.com. Search by company name or license number. It takes two minutes. You can check ours too: #417265.
