N.M. Code R. § 15.1.7.38 – Maintenance, Repair and Servicing of Gaming Devices

A. A licensee shall not alter the operation of approved gaming machines or associated equipment and shall ensure that the gaming machines and associated equipment are maintained in proper condition.
B. Only the following persons shall service or repair a gaming machine or associated equipment:
1. (1) a licensed manufacturer;
2. (2) an employee of a licensed manufacturer; or
3. (3) a technician approved by the board and employed by a distributor or gaming operator licensee.
C. A licensed manufacturer shall maintain a certification program for the purpose of training and certifying technicians to service and repair gaming devices manufactured by the licensed manufacturer. Upon request, the licensed manufacturer shall provide evidence of such program to the board, including a full description of the program, models of gaming devices for which training is provided, criteria for certification, information concerning instructor qualifications, and copies of training materials and tests. Any program deemed insufficient by the board shall be modified at the board’s request.
D. The licensed manufacturer shall ensure that its technician employees have received sufficient and appropriate training in the service and repair of each of its approved gaming machine models before the gaming machine may be placed in operation in the state.
E. A licensed manufacturer that certifies other persons as technicians shall ensure that the technicians have received sufficient and appropriate training in the service and repair of the approved gaming machine to be operated by the gaming operator licensee, or distributed by the licensed distributor, employing the technician.
F. A gaming operator and a licensed distributor shall establish written standards for qualifications of a gaming device technician, which shall be submitted to the board for consideration and approval. Approval of the standards shall not be unreasonably denied so long as they include manufacturer gaming device certifications or a reasonable equivalent of work experience in the gaming industry. The educational and work experience requirements may be substituted by a background in electronics or mechanics; a limited background in these areas may be compensated for by an in-house training program whereby the individual is closely supervised by an approved technician for a specified period of time.
1. (1) In order to be approved to service a gaming device, a person shall submit an application for a work permit and shall submit documentation of the qualifications required in Subsection F of 15.1.7.38 NMAC.
2. (2) The board shall notify the technician and their employer of whether the submitted qualifications are approved within seven (7) days of receipt of the documentation. Notification of approval of the application for work permit shall be done by the normal process as set out in parts 15.1.5 NMAC and 15.1.13 NMAC.
G. The gaming operator licensee shall ensure that all service and repairs on its gaming machines, including the installation or repairs of component parts such as bill acceptors, monitoring systems, or other parts that would significantly alter the current or subsequent operation of a gaming machine, are made correctly and in compliance with board requirements.
H. The gaming operator licensee shall notify the board’s information systems division prior to performing any maintenance or service that requires access to the logic area of a gaming machine. The gaming operator licensee shall not perform any maintenance that requires access to the logic area of a gaming machine, as defined in board rule 15.1.7.18 NMAC, until the board’s information systems division disables the gaming machine from service and approves performance of the maintenance or service.
I. The gaming operator licensee shall notify the board’s information systems division by telephone to obtain authorization prior to taking out of service any gaming machine that is deemed to be in an error condition that requires the gaming machine to be powered down for more than the remainder of the gaming day.
J. The gaming operator licensee shall not install gaming media in a gaming machine without prior written approval of the board’s information systems division.
K. The gaming operator licensee shall not perform any maintenance on a gaming machine that will result in clearing any critical memory of the machine without prior written approval of the board’s information systems division.
L. Except for qualified technicians, no employee of the gaming operator licensee shall perform service or repairs on the licensee’s gaming machines other than incidental repairs, unless such service or repairs are performed under the direct supervision of a qualified technician as part of an in-house training program approved by the board. Incidental repairs are repairs that do not affect any of the machine’s major systems or require that the person making the repair access any internal space of the gaming machine.
M. The board may allow, at the board’s discretion, on-site training by a qualified technician as long as the technician's qualifications have been approved by the board. Technicians in training shall work under the direct supervision of a qualified technician and shall obtain board qualification by satisfactorily completing all required training within thirty (30) days of employment.
N. The gaming operator licensee shall keep a machine access entry log inside the main cabinet access area of each gaming machine. Every person who gains entry into any internal space of a gaming machine shall sign the machine entry access log, indicate the date and time of entry and list all areas inspected, repaired or serviced. The gaming operator licensee shall retain the maintenance log for a period of five (5) years and shall make the maintenance log available to the board or its authorized agents upon request.
O. In addition to the machine entry access log required by Subsection J of 15.1.7 NMAC, a gaming operator licensee shall maintain a written log in a form acceptable to the board for recording service or repairs performed on the licensee's gaming machines by qualified technicians employed by a manufacturer or distributor licensee whose principal place of business is outside the state . Any qualified technician employed by such a manufacturer or distributor who performs service or repairs on the gaming machines of a gaming operator shall make a complete entry on the log at the time of the service or repairs, recording, at a minimum, the name and work permit number of the qualified technician performing the service or repairs, the dates and times of the service or repairs and a brief description of the service or repairs performed.
[11/30/98; 15.1.7.38 NMAC - Rn, 15 NMAC 1.7.38, 3/31/00; 15.1.7.38 NMAC - Rn, 15.1.7.37 NMAC & A, 12/15/10; A, 10/15/15]