N.M. Admin. Code § 3.2.1.11

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 23, December 10, 2024

Section 3.2.1.11 - CONSTRUCTION

A.Construction service as distinguished from other services.

(1) The term "construction" is limited to the activities, or management of the activities, which are listed in Section 7-9-3.4 NMSA 1978 and which physically change the land or physically create, change or demolish a building, structure or other facility as part of a construction project.

(2) "Construction" does not include services that do not physically change the land or physically create, change or demolish a building, structure or other facility as part of a construction project, even though they may be related to a construction project. The fact that a service may be a necessary prerequisite or ancillary to construction or a construction project does not in itself make the service a construction service. Excluded from the meaning of "construction" are activities such as, but not limited to: hauling to or from the construction site, maintenance work, landscape upkeep, the repair of equipment or appliances, laboratory work or accounting, architectural, engineering, surveying, traffic safety or legal services. Some of these activities may qualify as construction-related services; see Section 7-9-52 NMSA 1978.

B.Construction includes: Pursuant to Section 7-9-3.4 NMSA 1978 the term "construction" includes the painting of structures, the installation of sprinkler systems and the building of irrigation pipelines.

C.Construction does not include:

(1) The term "construction" does not include the installation of carpets or the installation of draperies, but see 3.2.209.25 NMAC.

(2) The term "construction", as defined in Section 7-9-3.4 NMSA 1978, does not include leasing or renting tangible personal property, such as construction equipment, with or without an operator but see Section 7-9-52.1 NMSA 1978 for transactions on or after January 1, 2013.

D.Oil and gas industry construction:

(1) "Construction", as this term is used in Section 7-9-3.4 NMSA 1978, includes the following activities related to the oil and gas industry:

(a) building and altering of gas compression plant facilities and pump stations, including: clearing of property sites; excavating for foundations; building and setting foundation forms; mixing, pouring, and finishing concrete foundations for buildings and plant equipment on foundations; fabricating and installing piping; installing electrical equipment, insulation, and instruments; erecting buildings; placing sidewalks, drives, parking areas; installing storage tanks; and dismantling equipment and reinstalling elsewhere;

(b) building of or extension of gas-gathering pipelines, including: connecting gathering lines to lease separators, fabricating and installing meter runs, digging trenches, beveling pipe, welding pipe, wrapping pipe, backfilling trenches, testing pipelines, fabricating and installing pipeline drips and installing conduit for pipelines crossing roads or railroads;

(c) building of or extension of product pipelines, including: building pressure-reducing stations; connecting pipelines to storage tanks, fabricating and installing valve assemblies, digging trenches, beveling pipe, welding pipe, wrapping pipe, laying pipe, backfilling trenches, testing pipelines and installing conduit for pipeline crossing roads or railroads;

(d) building secondary-recovery systems, including: excavating and building foundations, installing engines and water pumps, installing pipelines for water intake, installing pipelines for carrying pressured water to input wells, installing instruments and controls and erecting buildings;

(e) installing lease facilities, including: installing wellheads, flow lines, chemical injectors, separators, heater-treaters, tanks, stairways and walkways; building foundations; and setting pump units and engines, central power units and rod lines;

(f) demolishing pipelines, including: digging trenches to uncover pipelines, dismantling and removing drips and meter runs, backfilling trenches, tamping and smoothing right-of-way;

(g) increasing pipeline capacity, including: removing small pipelines and replacing with larger lines, and digging adjoining trenches and laying new pipelines;

(h) repairing plant, including: replacing tubing in atmospheric condensers, replacing plugged boiler tubing; removing cracked, broken or damaged portions of foundations and replacing anew; replacing compressors, compressor engines, or pumps; and regrouting and realigning compressors;

(i) drilling wells, including: drilling ratholes, excavating cellars and pits, casing crew services, cementing services, directional drilling, drill stem testing and fishing jobs in connection with drilling operations;

(j) general dirt work, including: building roads, paving with caliche or other surfacing materials; digging pits, trenches, and disposal ponds, building firewalls and foundation footing; and constructing pads from caliche or other materials.

(2) "Construction", as the term is used in Section 7-9-3.4 NMSA 1978, does not include the following activities related to the oil and gas industry:

(a) well servicing, including: acidizing and fracturing formations; pulling and rerunning rods or tubing; loading or unloading a well; shooting; scraping paraffin; steaming flow lines and tubing; inspecting equipment; fishing jobs, other than in connection with drilling operations; bailing cave-ins; reverse circulating and resetting packers;

(b) lease and plant maintenance, including: cleaning; weed-control; preventive care of machinery, pipelines, gathering systems, and engines; tank cleaning; testing of flow lines by pressure or X-ray means; cleaning lines and tubing by acid treatment or mechanical means, or replacing and restoring machinery components;

(c) transporting equipment, including: transporting drilling rigs, rigging-up and rigging-down, and hauling water and mud;

(d) salvaging of materials from a "production unit", as defined in the Oil and Gas Emergency School Tax Act, such as: killing the gas pressure, removing casing heads, welding pull nipples on the casing, cutting or shooting casing strings, pulling casings from the well bore, cementing to fill the abandoned well or plug the well, filling the cellar, and welding steel pipe markers;

(e) rental of equipment such as: power tongs, blowout preventors, tanks, pipe racks, core barrels, integral parts of a drilling rig or integral parts of a circulation unit, for transactions on or after January 1, 2013, see Section 7-9-52.1 NMSA 1978;

(f) measuring, "logging" and surveying services in connection with the drilling of an oil or gas well are construction-related services as of January 1, 2013, see Section 7-9-52 NMSA 1978. "Logging" as that term is used in this subsection is a method of testing or measuring an oil or gas well by recording various aspects of the geological formations penetrated by the well.

E.Construction includes prefabricated buildings; prefabricated versus modular buildings:

(1) The sale of prefabricated buildings, whether constructed from metal or other material, is the sale of construction. A prefabricated building is a building designed to be permanently affixed to land and manufactured (usually off-site) in components or sub-assemblies which are then assembled at the building site. Prefabricated buildings are not designed to be portable nor are they capable of being relocated.

(2) A portable building or a modular building is a building manufactured (usually off-site) which is designed to be moveable or is capable of being relocated and, when delivered to the installation site, generally requires only blocking, levelling and, in the case of modular buildings, joining of modules. For the purposes of Subsection F of 3.2.1.11 NMAC, neither portable buildings, modular buildings nor manufactured homes defined as vehicles by Section 66-1-4.11 NMSA 1978 are prefabricated buildings.

F.Construction materials and services; landscaping:

(1) Landscaping items, such as ornaments, rocks, trees, plants, shrubs, sod and seed, which are sold to a person engaged in the construction business, that are an integral part of the construction project, are construction materials. Persons who seed, lay sod or install landscape items in conjunction with a construction project are performing construction services.

(2) Receipts from selling landscaping items to, and from seeding, laying sod or installing landscape items for, persons engaged in the construction business may be deducted from gross receipts if the buyer delivers a nontaxable transaction certificate to the seller as provided in Section 7-9-51 and Section 7-9-52 NMSA 1978, respectively.

G.Nontaxable transaction certificates:

(1) Nontaxable transaction certificates are available from the department for persons who are engaged in the construction business and performing activities, as set forth in Sections 7-9-3.4, 7-9-52 and 7-9-52.1 NMSA 1978 to execute to providers of construction materials, construction services, construction-related services and lessors of construction equipment. See 3.2.201.11 NMAC for additional requirements on construction contractors to obtain nontaxable transaction certificates.

(2) Only persons who are licensed by the state of New Mexico as construction contractors may apply for and execute nontaxable transaction certificates under the provisions of Sections 7-9-51 NMSA 1978, 7-9-52 NMSA 1978, and 7-9-52.1 NMSA 1978, except that a person who performs construction activities as defined in Section 7-9-3.4 NMSA 1978 in the ordinary course of business, and who is exempt from the laws of the state of New Mexico requiring licensing as a contractor may apply for and execute such certificates.

H.Construction materials; general:

(1) The term "construction materials" means tangible personal property which is intended to become an ingredient or component part of a construction project.

(2) Tangible personal property intended ultimately to become an ingredient or component part of a construction project although not purchased for a specific project is nonetheless a construction material. Example: A government agency makes bulk purchases of asphalt which is stored by the agency for use in future road construction or repair projects. The asphalt is a construction material.

(3) Tools, equipment and other tangible personal property not designed or intended to become ingredients or component parts of a construction project are not construction materials if such materials accidentally become part of a construction project. Example: A workman accidentally drops a pair of gloves and a hammer into a form into which concrete is being poured. Because the gloves and the hammer are not intended to be included in the concrete structure, they are not construction materials.

N.M. Admin. Code § 3.2.1.11

9/29/67, 12/5/69, 3/9/72, 3/20/74, 7/26/76, 6/18/79, 11/8/79, 4/7/82, 5/4/84, 4/2/86, 11/26/90, 3/19/92, 1/13/96, 11/15/96, 5/15/97, 9/15/97, 3.2.1.11 NMAC - Rn & A, 3 NMAC 2.1.11, 10/31/2000; A, 12/30/03; A, 12/14/12, Amended by New Mexico Register, Volume XXIX, Issue 24, December 27, 2018, eff. 12/27/2018, Adopted by New Mexico Register, Volume XXXII, Issue 19, October 13, 2021, eff. 10/13/2021