Building without a permit in Colorado

What Colorado law says

Colorado has no single statewide building code, so building permits are issued and enforced locally: counties adopt building codes under C.R.S. 30-28-201, and once a code is adopted, C.R.S. 30-28-205 makes it unlawful to erect, alter, or remodel a structure without first obtaining a permit. Violating a county building code is a civil infraction under C.R.S. 30-28-209, which carries a fine of up to $100 per offense under C.R.S. 18-1.3-503(1.6), with each day counted as a separate offense, and the county can also ask the county court to impose a civil penalty of $500 to $1,000 under C.R.S. 30-28-210, plus up to $100 for each day the violation continues after the court order; an unpaid penalty becomes a lien on the property collected like unpaid taxes. Cities and towns adopt building codes under their own powers (C.R.S. 31-15-601) and can punish ordinance violations with a fine of up to $2,650, adjusted annually for inflation, or up to one year in jail, or both, under C.R.S. 31-16-101. Electrical and plumbing work is regulated by the state: working as an electrician or plumber without the required active license, permit, or registration is a class 2 misdemeanor under C.R.S. 12-115-123 and 12-155-122 via 12-20-407(1)(a), punishable by up to 120 days in jail, a fine of up to $750, or both under C.R.S. 18-1.3-501. The state boards also keep fine schedules for licensees and registrants of up to $1,000 for a first offense, up to $2,000 for a second, and up to $2,000 per day for further violations under C.R.S. 12-115-122(3) and 12-155-123(2).

Cited from C.R.S. 30-28-201, 30-28-205, 30-28-209, 30-28-210; C.R.S. 31-15-601, 31-16-101; C.R.S. 12-115-122, 12-115-123, 12-155-122, 12-155-123, 12-20-407(1)(a); C.R.S. 18-1.3-501(1)(a.5), 18-1.3-503(1.6): official text. Localities enforce these rules and may add their own fees and procedures on top.

Can you get a permit after the work is done?

There is no statewide after-the-fact building permit process in Colorado, because building permits themselves are local: counties issue them under C.R.S. 30-28-205 and municipalities under their own codes, so legalizing unpermitted structural work runs through the county or city building department, not a state statute. State law does build in a cure incentive at the county level: under C.R.S. 30-28-210(2)(d), if the violation is corrected and the building inspector is notified at least five business days before the court date, the county attorney must ask the court to dismiss the civil penalty action without a fine. On the state electrical side, the statute expressly contemplates a late application: under C.R.S. 12-115-121(3), if the permit application was not filed before the installation began, the inspection fee is doubled, and the work must still pass state inspection. The plumbing article has no equivalent double-fee clause, but a permit obtained before work starts and a state inspection are still required under C.R.S. 12-155-120 wherever no local authority inspects.

Cited from C.R.S. 30-28-205; C.R.S. 30-28-210(2)(d); C.R.S. 12-115-121(3); C.R.S. 12-155-120: official text.

The typical path, whatever your locality calls it: stop any ongoing work, contact the permit office before they contact you, apply for the permit describing what was actually built, and expect the office to require opening up or inspecting concealed work. Voluntarily coming forward generally goes better than waiting for a complaint or a sale to surface it.

Who can pull the permit

Colorado's state electrical law has a homeowner exception: under C.R.S. 12-115-116(2), you do not need an electrician's license to do electrical work on your own property or residence, as long as all the work, other than maintenance or repair of existing systems, is inspected under the state law. The exception does not apply if the property is intended for sale or resale by someone in the construction or remodeling business, is rental property, or is generally open to the public. A homeowner performing work on the homeowner's home is a qualified applicant who may pull the state electrical permit under C.R.S. 12-115-120(11)(c), and plumbing mirrors this: C.R.S. 12-155-118(2) allows unlicensed plumbing work on your own property or residence with the same carve-outs, and C.R.S. 12-155-120(11)(c) lets a homeowner pull the state plumbing permit. The State Electrical and Plumbing Boards at DORA require that the homeowner personally perform the work, that it be inspected before cover and again at completion, and that it meet the National Electrical Code or the adopted plumbing codes. Colorado has no statewide general contractor license: Title 12 licenses electricians and plumbers at the state level, and general building contractors are licensed, if at all, by the individual city or county.

Cited from C.R.S. 12-115-116(2); C.R.S. 12-115-120(11)(c); C.R.S. 12-155-118(2); C.R.S. 12-155-120(11)(c): official text.

Selling or buying in Colorado?

• Selling a house with unpermitted work
• Buying a house with unpermitted work

How Colorado compares: building without a permit, state by state.

Your local permit office

Enforcement, after-the-fact fees, and the exact fix-it process are local. We cover these Colorado permit offices:

• Aurora
• Denver
• Jefferson County

Official sources

• https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-30.docx
• https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-12.docx