Window Replacement Permits in Albuquerque
Window replacement is not on the City of Albuquerque's exempt list. Here is what that means, who takes the permit out, and the bedroom egress minimums that can rule a window out before anybody talks about style.
Does window replacement in Albuquerque need a permit?
The City of Albuquerque publishes a list of work exempt from permitting. Window replacement is not on it.
So the working assumption for an Albuquerque home is that this is permitted work, and the answer for your project comes from the City. Not from whatever a contractor is in the habit of doing.
The City's Home Owner's Building Permit Guide sets out that exempt list in full. It covers things like small storage sheds under a set floor area, low fences and freestanding masonry walls, painting and papering and tiling and carpeting, window awnings that do not project past a set distance, and repairs under a one-thousand-dollar valuation. Read the whole list and replacing windows is nowhere in it.
The same guide states that remodeling work not listed as exempt needs a permit, and that some smaller projects may only need a minor alteration and repair permit, which a Building Safety plan reviewer decides. It also states that the permit is issued only to the homeowner or to a general contractor holding a New Mexico GB-2 or GB-98 license, and that obtaining it is the responsibility of the homeowner or the contractor doing the work.
Where do you confirm it for your own project?
With the City. The Building Safety Division is the office that answers this, and the currently adopted building codes page shows which code editions are in force today.
Adopted codes change. Treat any published guide, this page and the City's own PDF included, as the place to start reading rather than the last word on a project you are about to pay for.
What are the egress rules for a bedroom window?
This is the part that catches people. It is entirely possible to replace a bedroom window with something that looks better, costs more, and no longer meets the rules. Per the City's Home Owner's Building Permit Guide, every sleeping room must have at least one operable emergency escape and rescue opening, and where that opening is a window it carries specific minimums.
- Sill height no more than 44 inches above the floor.
- Minimum net clear opening of 5.7 square feet above or below the grade floor.
- Minimum net clear opening of 5 square feet for grade floor openings.
- Minimum net clear opening height of 24 inches.
- Minimum net clear opening width of 20 inches.
- Operable from inside the room without keys or tools.
Net clear opening is the phrase to slow down on. It means the hole a person can climb through with the sash all the way open. Not the size of the frame, and not what the tape measure says on the outside.
That is why a replacement unit fitted inside an existing frame can shrink the escape opening even though the hole in the wall never changed, and why the choice between an insert and full-frame installation is sometimes decided by egress rather than by the condition of the frame.
What else does the code touch on a window job?
The residential code also governs where tempered safety glass is required, and the City's guide notes that smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms come into play when interior work requiring a permit is carried out. Raise both with the plan reviewer early. Finding out at inspection is the expensive version.
How does this change how you choose a window?
It rules some choices out before style ever comes up. A bedroom currently served by a large slider may not tolerate a fixed picture unit, and a casement that swings wide can sometimes deliver a legal opening where a hung window cannot. That is a design constraint worth knowing at the start, which is why how to choose replacement windows puts style next to fit rather than treating it as decoration. What a new unit does for comfort is a separate question, covered in the window energy ratings guide.
None of this is difficult. Most owners try to settle it by asking two contractors and give up when the answers come back different, which is reasonable, because only the City's answer counts.
It is also far easier to sort out before the glass is ordered than after it arrives.
Want the openings walked, sleeping rooms included? Call (505) 336-9753 for a free, in-home estimate. If you are still reading rather than calling, start with window replacement in Albuquerque, and market ranges for the work itself are on the cost guide.
Last updated August 5, 2026.
Permits and egress FAQ
Does Albuquerque require a permit to replace windows?
Window replacement does not appear on the City of Albuquerque's published list of work exempt from permitting, so the working assumption is that it is permitted work. The Building Safety Division is the office that confirms it for any specific project.
What work does the City list as exempt from permitting?
The City's homeowner permit guide lists items such as small storage sheds under a set area, low fences and freestanding masonry walls, painting and tiling and carpeting, short window awnings, and repairs under a one-thousand-dollar valuation. Window replacement is not among them.
Who needs to take out the permit, the owner or the contractor?
Either one. Per the City's guide the permit is issued only to the homeowner or to a general contractor holding a New Mexico GB-2 or GB-98 license, and obtaining it falls to the homeowner or to the contractor performing the work.
What are the egress requirements for a bedroom window?
Every sleeping room needs at least one operable emergency escape and rescue opening. Where that opening is a window, the City's guide sets a sill height no more than 44 inches above the floor and requires it to work from inside without keys or tools.
How much clear opening does an egress window need?
Per the City's homeowner permit guide, 5.7 square feet of net clear opening above or below the grade floor and 5 square feet at the grade floor, with a minimum clear height of 24 inches and a minimum clear width of 20 inches.
Can I replace a bedroom window with a smaller one?
Not if it drops the sleeping room below the escape and rescue minimums. Net clear opening is measured through the fully opened sash, so a unit set inside an existing frame can shrink the escape opening even when the wall opening is unchanged.
Does a permit change how long the project takes?
Permitted work adds review and inspection steps to a schedule, and the City notes that residential permit applications take time to review. A realistic project timeline is built around that rather than around installation alone.
What happens if work is done without a permit?
A project under construction or completed without a permit may be charged a double permit fee, per the City's guide. Unpermitted work also tends to surface later during a sale or an insurance claim, which is the more expensive version of the same problem.
Does replacing glass only need a permit?
Swapping a failed sealed glass unit inside a sound frame is a different scope from replacing the window, and the City is the right place to confirm how it is treated. Which job you are actually doing is decided by the condition of the frame, not by the fog on the glass.
When does an inspection get scheduled?
Inspections are arranged against an issued permit, and the City's guide states that all work must be inspected during the construction process. Whoever holds the permit books them using the permit number and the type of inspection needed.
Want every opening walked, sleeping rooms included?
Every opening checked against what it has to do, bedrooms first, before anything gets ordered. Free, at the house.
(505) 336-9753