A building permit submittal package on a desk with rolled construction drawings, forms on a clipboard, and a hard hat.

Barndominium Permits and Approvals in Colorado

There is no single Colorado barndominium permit. Colorado has no statewide residential building code, so the building permit comes from your city or town, your county, a regional building department — or, in a rural county that has adopted no code, from nobody. Around it sit approvals that apply almost everywhere: the septic permit from the local public health agency, the well permit from the Division of Water Resources, and electrical and plumbing permits from the state or your local program. We work out which apply to your parcel and prepare the drawings and applications for each.

Stamped drawings where your jurisdiction requires them
Drawn to your jurisdiction's snow, wind and frost values
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Permitting & Approvals: how the work runs

Four stages, in this order. The sequence matters more than it looks: getting the design values, the water and septic answers and any permits settled before anything is fabricated is what keeps a Colorado build from stalling.

1

Find who has jurisdiction

We start by identifying every authority over the parcel: city, town, county or regional building department; zoning; the local public health agency for septic; the Division of Water Resources for the well; whether the state or a local program inspects electrical and plumbing; and whether the parcel is in the mapped wildland-urban interface. Colorado cities, counties and towns set their own rules, so the answer really is parcel by parcel.

2

Zoning, land division and water first

Zoning and water can stop a build before a drawing is reviewed. We check the zoning for a dwelling and a shop, the parcel's history — a division into parcels of 35 acres or more is outside the state's definition of a subdivision — and what well permit the parcel can get. The Division of Water Resources says complete well applications may take up to 49 days to review, so that application goes in early.

3

Drawings and applications

The drawing set is prepared to your jurisdiction's design figures and submittal rules, with sealed structural drawings from a Colorado-licensed professional engineer where they are required, and the energy-code information your jurisdiction asks for. The septic design goes to the local public health agency, and the site plan shows the building, the septic area and the well together so each reviewer sees the same site.

4

Review, corrections and inspections

We answer reviewers' comments and resubmit until the permits issue, then keep the inspection schedule moving through construction. Electrical and plumbing permits are pulled by the licensed trades doing that work. Where your county has no building code, there is no structural inspection, and we tell you so plainly rather than let it pass unnoticed.

Overhead view of floor plan and structural elevation drawings spread on a workbench with a scale ruler and pencil.
No statewide code

In Colorado, who issues your permit depends on where your land is

Colorado counties are authorized, not required, to adopt a building code for unincorporated land, and cities and towns regulate their own. Some areas share a regional building department; some rural counties have no building code at all. Where a local government does have a building code, Colorado law requires an energy code with it, and state law requires local governments with land in the mapped wildland-urban interface to adopt a wildfire code meeting the state board's standard. The septic, well, electrical and plumbing approvals apply regardless.

Where we deliver permitting & approvals

In Colorado the lines that matter are city limits, county lines and contour lines. Inside a city or town you have its zoning and its building department; out in the county, some counties enforce a building code and some rural ones do not; and in the mountain counties the snow load climbs with elevation, so two parcels in the same county can be drawn to very different roofs. Cross one of those lines and what changes is whether the build is inspected, who reviews the drawings and whose snow, wind and frost values they answer to. The septic permit from the local public health agency and the well permit from the Division of Water Resources go with you almost everywhere.

Barndominium builders across Colorado.

Every city and county we build in has its own answer on permits, septic, water and design values. The service area pages set out what each one publishes.

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Before you commit

What actually decides the price

Square footage is the number everyone leads with, and it is rarely the one that moves a barndominium budget. These four do.

  • Which authority has jurisdiction

    A city building department, a county, a regional department or no building department at all: each has its own review, fees and timeline. Permit fees are set by each jurisdiction and published by it, and we quote them from that jurisdiction rather than guess.

  • Water rights and the well permit

    The well permit can be the slowest approval and the one that changes the plan. On a parcel under 35 acres a new well may be limited to use inside the house; on a lot in a subdivision created after June 1, 1972 an augmentation plan often governs what the well may do. Where a well is not available, a central water tap or a hauled-water system changes the budget.

  • Wildfire and other overlays

    A parcel in the mapped wildland-urban interface may carry wildfire code requirements, a floodplain parcel carries floodplain rules, and some counties map geologic hazards such as swelling or collapsing soils. Each overlay can add a report, a review or a construction requirement. We find them at the start rather than at plan review.

  • Sealed drawings and reports

    Many Colorado building departments want sealed structural drawings for steel and post-frame buildings, and some require them automatically past a snow-load line — Jefferson County requires design by a registered design professional above 70 psf of ground snow. A soils report, a septic design and an energy-code submittal may each be required. Which of those your parcel needs sets the preparation cost.

A building permit submittal package on a desk with rolled construction drawings, forms on a clipboard, and a hard hat.

Permitting & Approvals in Colorado: common questions

8 questions we get asked most often about building in Colorado. If yours is not on the list, ask it directly.

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Are barndominiums legal in Colorado?
Yes. Colorado has no law against them; a barndominium is a house built with a steel or post frame, and it is permitted as a dwelling wherever a building code applies. What varies is local: zoning, covenants, design figures and whether your county has a building code at all. Our legal guide sets out how the rules fit together.
Does Colorado have a statewide building code for homes?
No. Counties are authorized to adopt a building code for unincorporated land, and cities and towns adopt their own, so the code, the edition and the design figures depend on where your land is. Electrical and plumbing are the exception: those trades are licensed by the state, and the state inspects wherever the local jurisdiction has no inspection program of its own.
What if my county has no building code?
Then there is no county building permit or structural inspection for the house. The septic system still needs a permit from the local public health agency under Regulation 43, the well still needs a permit from the Division of Water Resources, and electrical and plumbing work is still permitted and inspected by the state. Zoning may still apply. We recommend an independent structural review of the frame in that case.
Does the energy code apply everywhere in Colorado?
No. Colorado law requires an energy code in counties and municipalities that have a building code, and ties newer editions to when they update their codes. Where a county has no building code, there is no energy code to enforce. Building to a sound energy standard is still worth it for comfort and running costs, and we design the envelope that way wherever you build.
What is the 35-acre rule?
Two different things people call by one name. Under Colorado's county planning statute, a division of land into parcels of 35 acres or more is not a subdivision. Separately, the Division of Water Resources says a new well on a parcel under 35 acres may be limited to in-house use, while 35 acres or more may qualify for a domestic well with outside use. Both are worth checking before you buy.
Do I need an engineer's stamp on my barndominium plans?
Often. Colorado does not require an architect for a one- to four-family dwelling, but many building departments want a Colorado-licensed professional engineer's seal on the structure of a steel or post-frame building, and some require it past a snow-load line. We tell you what your jurisdiction requires and coordinate the seal where it is needed.
How long do Colorado permits take?
Each authority runs its own clock. The Division of Water Resources says complete well applications may take up to 49 days to review. Building permit review times are set by each city, county or regional department and change with their workload. Applying for the slow approvals first, and submitting complete applications, is what shortens the overall time.
How do I start?
Start the survey with the parcel's location or address and what you want to build. We come back with who has jurisdiction over your land, which approvals apply, and what each one will need.

Keep reading

The pages that answer the next question this one raises.

Barndominium Laws in Colorado

Where a building code applies, where none does, and where the agricultural exception stops.

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How Long Does It Take?

How building, septic, well and trade approvals fit into the schedule.

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Where We Build

Which authority actually reviews your parcel, city by city and county by county.

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Ready to put permitting & approvals against a real plan? Start there and the rest follows.

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Tell us about the land

Tell us where the parcel is and what you want on it, and we will come back with who has jurisdiction, what the land needs before it can be built on, and a realistic budget range. Starting the survey costs nothing.

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