Change of Use / Certificate of Occupancy in Village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, New Mexico

Village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque requires a change of use / certificate of occupancy permit for: Contact Village Planning & Zoning ((505) 344-6582 / pandz@losranchosnm.gov) to confirm whether a proposed change in use requires only the Village's own Zoning Certification Application (a status verification, with no construction component) or a Bernalillo County Building Permit (if occupancy classification or Existing Building Code compliance is triggered); If a Bernalillo County Building Permit is required, the applicable requirements mirror this file's general Building Permit entry: compliance with the Village's directly-adopted 2015 New Mexico Building/Existing Building Code family, plus Middle Rio Grande Conservation District (MRGCD) Tract considerations under Village Code Sec. 9.4.3 if applicable; For the Village's own Zoning Certification Application specifically: submit property owner name/address, legal description (if the property has no formal address), and a written list of the specific zoning/use questions to be addressed, along with the $25.00 application fee; Submitting the Zoning Certification Application authorizes Village Planning & Zoning staff to inspect the property to determine the status of the use, and any violations found during that inspection are subject to immediate correction. If your project isn't listed, confirm with Village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque Planning and Zoning Department (Director: Shanna Schultz, AICP) at (505) 344-6582 (fax (505) 344-8978) before starting work.

No standalone Certificate-of-Occupancy fee line exists. The Village's Zoning Certification Application (a related but distinct status-verification product) costs $25.00; a Bernalillo County Building Permit fee, if one is triggered by the change, follows the county's own Administrative Resolution 25-2009 (Table 3-A): $30.00 plus $4.00 per $1,000.00 of valuation for the permit itself, plus $30.00 plus $2.00 per $1,000.00 of valuation for plan review.

Village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque does not publish a plan-review timeline for this permit. Contact Village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque Planning and Zoning Department (Director: Shanna Schultz, AICP) at (505) 344-6582 (fax (505) 344-8978) for current turnaround.

You'll need: Zoning Certification Application. Depending on your project, Village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque may also ask for: Bernalillo County Building Permit Application (if an occupancy classification change triggers Existing Building Code compliance). See the required-documents checklist on this page for details on each.

Village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque requires 1 inspection(s) for a change of use / certificate of occupancy permit, in order: Zoning / Use Status Inspection. Schedule each through Village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque Planning and Zoning Department (Director: Shanna Schultz, AICP) ((505) 344-6582 (fax (505) 344-8978)).

Apply through Village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque Planning and Zoning Department (Director: Shanna Schultz, AICP) at 6718 Rio Grande Blvd. NW, Los Ranchos, NM 87107. Phone: (505) 344-6582 (fax (505) 344-8978), email: Shanna Schultz (Director): sschultz@losranchosnm.gov; Michelle Austin (Business Licenses & Building Permit intake): maustin@losranchosnm.gov; Brennon Williams (Public Hearing deadlines): bwilliams@losranchosnm.gov; Planning & Zoning general: pandz@losranchosnm.gov; Village general: info@losranchosnm.gov. Office hours: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday-Friday. The Village does not accept online submittals for Planning & Zoning applications; two (2) complete sets of plans plus the filled-out application form must be dropped off in person at Village Hall, or in the after-hours drop-off box outside the main doors (the Village disclaims responsibility for documents left there). Effective September 1, 2025, all permit fees are collected at the time of a complete application's submittal rather than at issuance, per the Village's own 'Notice of Changes to Permitting Process' (Aug. 11, 2025).. Official information: https://www.losranchosnm.gov/planning-and-zoning.

Village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, New Mexico has adopted: GOVERNANCE MODEL — verified verbatim from the Village's own codified ordinances (Chapter 9, Article 4, § 9.4.2(L), hosted by American Legal Publishing at codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/losranchosnm): 'BUILDING PERMIT shall mean a permit issued by the Village or its designee for construction on an MRGCD Tract pursuant to the applicable ordinances in effect at the time a zone review and a Building Permit are applied for. Bernalillo County is currently the designee for the Village for the purpose of issuing Building Permits.' This definition sits within Article 4 (Middle Rio Grande Conservation District Tracts) and is drafted specifically for construction on MRGCD Tracts — a land classification that covers a substantial share of Los Ranchos parcels (nearly every Village permit application form in this file has a dedicated 'MRGCD Map No.' field). The Village's own Forms page and Planning & Zoning intake process (email Michelle Austin with the property address, added square footage, and proposed use; 'there are two different types of residential building permits') indicate the Village itself is the front door and pre-consultation point for a Building Permit application, while Bernalillo County's Planning & Development Services Building Section (415 Silver SW / 111 Union Square SE, Albuquerque, (505) 314-0350) is the named designee for issuance on MRGCD Tracts. This is a third, distinct governance pattern in this corpus alongside full local self-administration (Rio Rancho) and deferral of only MEP trades to a neighbor (Corrales, to Rio Rancho) — Los Ranchos defers actual structural Building Permit issuance itself, at least for MRGCD Tract construction, to the County. By contrast, the Village directly and locally administers its own 'Zone Review Permits' (ZRP) for fence/wall, pool/spa, re-roof, solar panel, and demolition work — these are processed entirely at Village Hall with Village-printed fees and never routed to the County. Sources: codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/losranchosnm/latest/losranchos_nm (Chapter 9, Articles 3-5); losranchosnm.gov/forms/.; Pursuant to § 3-17-6 NMSA 1978 (2007) and the Village's own codified ordinances (Chapter 9, Article 5, § 9.5.1 'Code Adopted By Reference'), the Village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque has directly adopted, verbatim: (A) Building Codes in General — 2015 New Mexico Commercial Building Code (14.7.2 NMAC), 2015 New Mexico Residential Building Code (14.7.3 NMAC), 2015 New Mexico Earthen Building Materials Construction Code Phase III (14.7.4 NMAC), 2009 New Mexico Non-Load Bearing Baled Straw Construction Building Code Phase III (14.7.5 NMAC), 2009 New Mexico Energy Conservation Code (14.7.6 NMAC), 2015 New Mexico Existing Building Code (14.7.7 NMAC), 2015 New Mexico Historic Earthen Buildings (14.7.8 NMAC); (B) Plumbing Codes — 2015 New Mexico Plumbing Code (14.8.2 NMAC), 2012 New Mexico Swimming Pool, Spa and Hot Tub Code (14.8.3 NMAC); (C) Mechanical Codes — 2015 New Mexico Mechanical Code (14.9.2 NMAC), Boilers (14.9.4 NMAC), Medical Gas Installation and Certification (14.9.5 NMAC), 2012 New Mexico Solar Energy Code (14.9.6 NMAC); (D) Electrical Codes — 2017 New Mexico Electrical Code (14.10.4 NMAC), 2012 New Mexico Electrical Safety Code (14.10.5 NMAC); (E) Miscellaneous — errata sheets to the adopted uniform/international codes, AND 'the Bernalillo County amendments to the International and New Mexico Codes known as the Uniform Construction Codes of Bernalillo County.' Because Bernalillo County is the named designee for actual Building Permit issuance (see governance note above), a project may in practice also be measured against Bernalillo County's own Chapter 10 Building Ordinance (Uniform Construction Codes of Bernalillo County) — the county's ordinance on file with this session (Ordinance 2011-12, repealing 2009-5) lists 2009-edition International Codes, but Bernalillo County's own Ordinances & Codes page indicates that ordinance chapter has since been further amended (most recently by County Ordinance No. 2024-18, effective 8-13-2024) — this session did not chase the full current text of the 2024-18 amendment, so the county's current code editions are not independently confirmed here and should not be assumed identical to the 2009 baseline. Sources: codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/losranchosnm (§ 9.5.1); bernco.gov/planning/wp-content/uploads/sites/58/2021/04/BuildingOrd.pdf; bernco.gov/planning/ordinances-codes/.; Village Code of Ordinances, Chapter 9, Article 2 (Zoning and Zone Map) governs zone-specific setbacks, height, and use requirements; Article 3 (Permits for the Sale, Construction and Remodeling of Property) requires a separate $35.00 realtor Parcel Permit for each property sold in the Village (not a construction permit, and out of scope for this file) and an annual business license for any contractor/developer performing work in the Village. Source: codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/losranchosnm.. Local amendments apply — see the Village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque overview page for the full list.

No standalone product exists. The Village's own Zoning Certification Application ($25.00) verifies current zoning/use status, while an occupancy-classification change that triggers Existing Building Code compliance is processed through Bernalillo County's general Building Permit application, the same designee arrangement already documented for this jurisdiction's Building Permit.