At a glance
If your New Mexico ticketing habits were formed before April 2026, they are out of date. The Public Regulation Commission's damage prevention rules changed, and New Mexico 811 now issues ticket types that did not previously exist.
_If your New Mexico ticketing habits were formed before April 2026, they are out of date. The Public Regulation Commission's damage prevention rules changed, and New Mexico 811 now issues ticket types that did not previously exist._
What changed
The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission's Pipeline Safety Bureau amended the state's excavation damage prevention rules under Title 18, Chapter 60 of the New Mexico Administrative Code, effective April 6, 2026. 1Jump to source 12Jump to source 2
Under the rule change, New Mexico 811 began issuing new ticket types: 1Jump to source 12Jump to source 2
- Update Tickets
- Near Miss Tickets
- Changes to Design Locates
New Mexico 811 offered training webinars covering the changes ahead of and around the effective date. 2Jump to source 2
Why it matters locally
This applies to every excavation in Doña Ana County and the rest of southern New Mexico — the Las Cruces side of our service area. Texas and New Mexico already differ on how long marks stay good:
| Texas | New Mexico | |
|---|---|---|
| Advance notice | At least 2 business days 3Jump to source 3 | At least 2 business days 2Jump to source 2 |
| Keeping marks current | Re-notify if start slips past 14 days from the original notice 3Jump to source 3 | Request reaffirmation every 10 working days after the initial request 2Jump to source 2 |
Crews that work both sides of the state line already have to hold two sets of rules in their heads. The April 2026 change adds to the New Mexico side.
What to do
- Read the rule change document rather than relying on habit or on what a colleague says the ticket types mean. 1Jump to source 1
- Check whether Near Miss reporting now applies to you. A near-miss ticket type only produces useful data if the people who encounter near misses actually file them.
- Revisit your Design Locate process if you do pre-construction work in New Mexico — that is the part of the change most likely to affect engineering and design-phase scopes.
- Update internal SOPs and any training material that names New Mexico ticket types.
Standing caveat: this is a summary for orientation, not legal advice. The rule document is the authority, and where a project has compliance exposure, read it.
View 3 numbered sources
Sources
- Title 18, Chapter 60 — Pipeline Safety Excavation Damage Prevention, rule change final edits — New Mexico Public Regulation Commission, via New Mexico 811 — https://www.nm811.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/PRC_RuleChange_FinalEdits.pdf
- New Mexico Utility Damage Prevention & Excavation Safety — New Mexico 811 — https://www.nm811.org/
- Excavator FAQs — Texas One Call requirements and safety — Texas 811 — https://texas811.org/excavator-faqs/
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