Adams County building department

Adams County Building Safety issues building, plumbing, mechanical, and electrical permits for unincorporated Adams County only. Property inside an incorporated city or town goes through that municipality’s building department; a parcel outside city limits is a county permit even if it has a city mailing address. The county’s Eye on Adams map lets you look up parcels and existing permits by address before you apply.

What needs a permit

The county’s permit-requirements list covers new construction, additions, alterations, repairs, moving, demolition, and change of occupancy, plus electrical, gas, mechanical, and plumbing work. Common residential items on the list include roofing, siding, basement finishes, furnaces, water heaters, air conditioning, fireplaces, lawn sprinklers, pools and spas, patio covers, garages, and room additions.

Published exemptions

Project	No permit if
Deck	Not more than 30 inches above ground
Storage shed or gazebo	200 sq ft or less
Fence	Less than 42 inches tall
Retaining wall	24 inches or less, measured from bottom of footing
Roof repair	1 square (100 sq ft) or less on any slope
Other	Painting, flooring, wallpaper, landscaping, concrete porches, fixture replacement, same-size window/door replacement

Larger versions of any of these need a permit.

Applying in the E-Permit Center

All applications, uploads, fees, and inspection requests go through the county’s Accela-based E-Permit Center. You need an account first. The county’s submittal guidelines set these file rules:

• Every file must be a PDF, no larger than 100 MB. For larger files, contact the Development Services Team at 720-523-6800 or [email protected] before submitting.
• Upload the full plan set, including soils report and correspondence, as one bookmarked file. Use bookmark names like “123 Main Street – BDP 1 – Architectural Plans”, and raise the number (BDP 2, BDP 3) on each resubmittal.
• Combine supporting documents, such as structural calculations and energy compliance, into a single bookmarked file.
• Plans must be drawn to scale, in landscape, with north at the top. PDFs must allow county staff to annotate and stamp.
• Design professionals must electronically sign and stamp every sheet.

The county posts project checklists for ADUs, additions, basement finishes, decks and porches, garages, patio covers and carports, pole barns, remodels, re-roofs, hot tubs, gas lines, EV chargers, mobile and modular homes, and commercial work. It also requires a Property Owner Authorization Form when someone other than the owner applies. Payments are accepted only through the E-Permit Center. The county warns about scam invoices that ask for wire transfers.

Fees

Permit fees are based on project valuation, meaning total materials and labor. Some project types use a cost-per-square-foot calculation based on ICC Building Valuation Data. Highlights from the county’s Building Permit Fee Schedule:

Valuation	Permit fee	Plan review
$1–$500	$24.00	$16.00
$10,000	$157.00	$102.00
$50,000	$577.00	$375.00
$100,000	$1,027.00	$668.00
$100,001–$500,000	$1,027 + $7.00 per additional $1,000	65% of permit fee

Other published fees:

• Re-inspections cost $75.
• Inspections outside normal hours cost $100 per hour, with a two-hour minimum.
• Revisions to approved plans are billed at a minimum of $100 per hour.
• Residential plan review is 65% of the permit fee. An extra 25% is added if a review needs more than three resubmittals.

A separate 2020 Traffic Impact Fee schedule also applies to some projects.

Adopted codes

The Board of County Commissioners adopted the 2024 International Codes on April 21, 2026, effective July 1, 2026. The adopted set includes:

• 2024 IBC, IRC, IFC, IMC, IPC, IFGC, IEBC, ISPSC, and IPMC
• 2023 National Electrical Code
• Colorado Model Low Energy and Carbon Code
• Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code

Complete applications accepted before July 1, 2026 are reviewed under the 2018 codes.

New construction must also follow the county’s Wildland Urban Interface ordinance (Ordinance 14). Check the state Wildfire Resiliency Code map and show the hazard class on your plans.

The county’s local amendments include a one-layer maximum for roofing, so a re-roof is a full tear-off. Other re-roof rules:

• Asphalt shingles must carry the ASTM D3161 rating for the county’s 115 mph design wind speed.
• Ice and water shield is not required.
• A sheathing inspection is required wherever new sheathing goes on, plus a final inspection.

Published design criteria:

• Ground snow load: 30 psf
• Frost depth: 30 inches
• Seismic Design Category: B
• Weathering: severe

Inspections

You can request inspections 24/7 in the E-Permit Center or through the automated inspection line at 720-523-6320. Either way you need the permit number and the inspection code.

• Cutoff: Requests must be in by 8:00 a.m. the day before the inspection. Later requests go to the next available business day.
• Cancelling or rescheduling: Do it at least 48 hours before the scheduled day. Late changes, and inspections called in before the work is ready, cost a $75 re-inspection fee, which must be paid before you can schedule again.
• On site: Keep the permit card and county-approved plans on the job, and post the address so it can be read from the street.
• Weather closures: If county offices close, that day’s inspections are cancelled and you must reschedule them yourself. They do not roll over.

Certificate of occupancy

After the final inspection passes, upload the required documents to the permit in the E-Permit Center. Then email [email protected] with the BDP number to request the CO. Submit the documents as one file.

For a house or ADU, the required documents are:

• The signed-off permit card. This includes fire department sign-off, plus Infrastructure Management, Adams County Health Department (septic), and Stormwater sign-offs where they apply.
• An insulation certificate.
• Blower-door test results.
• An Improvement Location Certificate, for homes in new subdivisions.

The county accepts only one permit card. If you lose it, you have to collect new signatures for every earlier inspection.

Contractors and related offices

• Contractor registration: Every contractor working in unincorporated Adams County must register before pulling a permit. Registration is free, in Class A through D, with Class D covering specialty trades. You need general liability insurance listing Adams County Building Safety as certificate holder, plus a Colorado municipal license or ICC certification. Electricians and plumbers also need their state license.
• Septic (OWTS): Permits come from the Adams County Health Department, not Building Safety.
• Zoning and land use: Handled by Planning & Development in the same Community & Economic Development department.
• Office hours: The One Stop Customer Center at the Government Center is open Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m.