Do you need a plumbing permit in Colorado?
By Mario Bailey Last checked
- Always required
- 2
- of 3 jurisdictions
- Conditional
- 1
- depends on size or scope
- Not required
- 0
- exempt outright
Plumbing Permit rules nationwide, beyond Colorado.
Requirements and size thresholds for plumbing permits vary by locality. The table below compares what each Colorado county or city requires. Always confirm with the local office before starting.
Comparing states? See plumbing permit rules across every locality we cover.
The application steps and inspection sequence for plumbing permits come from the model code rather than from Colorado law, so they read the same wherever you build. We keep that walkthrough in one place: how a plumbing permit application and its inspections work, start to finish. What changes between Colorado jurisdictions is below: who requires a permit, what they charge, and which office you file with.
Swipe sideways to see thresholds and confidence.
| Locality | Permit required? | Typical threshold | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aurora | Conditional | Not specified | Confirmed on official page |
| Denver | Yes | Not specified | Confirmed on official page |
| Jefferson County | Yes | Not specified | From an official source |
| No localities match your filter. | |||
What a plumbing permit costs in Colorado
3 Colorado jurisdictions we cover publish a fee figure for this work. Each line is quoted from that office's own schedule and linked to its citation. The figures are not comparable to one another: some are flat minimums, some a percentage of job value, some charged per fixture, so what you pay depends on which schedule applies and on your job's valuation.
On the 2026 flat-rate schedule (Form #A175, footer "Flat-Rate Fee (Revised 08/2026)"), "Water Heater Replacement" and "Gas Pipe Installation or Modification" sit under the price heading "$99 EACH"; "Tankless Water Heater" under "$287 EACH"; "Furnace and Water Heater Replacement" at "$292"; and "Furnace, Air Conditioner and Water Heater Replacement" under "$336 EACH". City use tax on materials is collected separately: "The flat fee process has no effect on the calculation and collection of city use taxes."
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Valuation-based fee per CPD Table 1 with a $20 minimum; standard fixture and water heater swaps issue as no-plan-review quick permits, per the Development Fees schedule and Quick Permits page
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Plumbing permits not tied to an active building permit bill on the countywide valuation fee table with a $55 minimum for the first $1,000 of value, per the 2024 Building Code Supplements fee schedule effective 7/1/2026
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Jurisdictions not listed publish no dollar figure we could quote. Absence does not mean a permit is free.
Common questions about plumbing permits in Colorado
- Do I need a plumbing permit in Colorado?
- In most of Colorado, yes. Permits are issued locally, so the answer comes from your Colorado city or county rather than a single statewide rule. Of the 3 Colorado jurisdictions we have verified for plumbing work, 2 require a permit outright, 1 depends on the size or scope of the job, and 0 require none.
- Is there a plumbing permit exemption in Colorado?
- 1 of the 3 Colorado jurisdictions we cover sets a threshold rather than a flat rule, so the same job can be exempt in one Colorado county and permitted in the next. The table above lists each Colorado jurisdiction's published threshold in its own words, with the source and the date we verified it.
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