What does New Mexico’s prompt payment law require on private construction?

In New Mexico, construction contracts with private owners and local public bodies must provide for payment within twenty-one days after the owner receives an undisputed request for payment and for contractors and subcontractors to pay their subcontractors and suppliers within seven days after being paid, and a late payment bears interest at one and one-half percent of the undisputed amount per month. The act does not apply to construction contracts for residential property with four or fewer dwelling units, and its definition of owner excludes the state department of transportation. Interest owed by an owner begins on the twenty-second day, interest owed to a subcontractor or supplier begins on the eighth day, and both run until payment is issued. An owner that receives an improperly completed invoice must tell the sender within seven days what is wrong with it and need not pay it until it is resubmitted complete. An owner, contractor or subcontractor may not retain or hold back amounts owed for work performed. A local public body may pay within forty-five days when grant money funds the work, but only if the contract and every page of the plans carry the statutory extended-payment notice. In an action to enforce the act the court may award court costs and reasonable attorney fees. A written contract can set its own payment terms where the statute allows. This is N.M. Stat. Ann. §§ 57-28-2, 57-28-3, 57-28-5, 57-28-11.

WhatNew Mexico
Payment deadlineOwner pays in 21 days; subs in 7 days; 1.5% a month
Who this coversPrivate construction, not only public works

What the statute says

“… all construction contracts shall provide that payment for amounts due shall be paid within twenty-one days after the owner receives an undisputed request for payment …”

Quoted word for word from the section’s text.

Source

N.M. Stat. Ann. §§ 57-28-2, 57-28-3, 57-28-5, 57-28-11

Read the statute in the New Mexico Statutes (New Mexico Compilation Commission): nmonesource.com.

The linked sections open Justia’s free copy of the code, because the state’s own site has no stable address for each section.

Checked against the statute on November 15, 2026.

This is a summary of a published statute, not legal advice. Rules change, local ordinances can add to them, and the terms of a specific lease may differ. Check the citation and speak to a lawyer before acting.

How Seayora uses this rule

A contractor on Seayora keeps every job’s dates, its estimate, its invoices and its payments in one record, so the date work was last performed, the date each invoice went out and the amount still owed are on file when a lien or payment deadline is counted.

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