Aurora, Colorado Building Permit Guide

Aurora is the third largest city in Colorado and spans three counties. The city licenses general contractors itself, but for electricians and plumbers it relies on the state licence: it issues the electrical and plumbing permits and inspects the work, and wants the state credential on file.

The Building Division handles permitting and inspection, with applications through the city’s business portal. Permits related to structures are issued only after plans have been routed to all departments for final review and approval.

This guide covers work inside the Aurora city limits. Aurora spans Arapahoe, Adams and Douglas counties, so recording and any county-level approval follow the parcel rather than the city, and unincorporated land in any of the three is permitted by that county.

What requires a building permit in Aurora?

An exemption from a building permit is never an exemption from zoning, from the adopted energy provisions, or from a trade permit. Confirm scope with the Aurora Building Division before work starts.

Local rules worth knowing

Landscape and water carry their own gate here: permits for irrigation systems and new lawns are issued only after landscape plan mylars have been approved by the planning and development services department, and the irrigation plans themselves are approved by the city’s water utility rather than by the building division — a sequencing step that is easy to discover far too late on a landscaped commercial site

Colorado has no statewide building code for private buildings: each city and county decides whether a code applies and which edition, while the state sets electrical and plumbing rules, a minimum energy code on any update, and a wildfire code for the mapped wildland-urban interface. Building codes in Colorado

Who handles permitting in Aurora?

The Building Division issues building and trade permits and carries out inspections, with a contractor lookup published so an owner can confirm which contractors are licensed to work in the city before signing anything.

The certificate of occupancy has a wider gate than the building work alone. Before it is issued the general contractor must complete all applicable building inspections — structural, electrical, heating and ventilation, plumbing and life safety — and the city additionally requires engineering and grade inspections and the completion of applicable public improvements. On a site with frontage work outstanding, the building can be finished and the certificate still unavailable.

The inspection permit card and the approved plans must remain available at the job site, and next-day inspections can be requested through the portal, by email or by telephone with the permit number, project address, inspection type and a callback number ready. Zoning sits in the city’s Unified Development Ordinance, which carries both the zoning and subdivision regulations.

In 2025, building permits issued in Aurora authorized 1,561 new privately owned housing units, 1,156 of them single-family homes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey.

Permit types

Residential permits

Residential work follows the codes the city adopted, with the general contractor registered with the Building Division and any electrical or plumbing contractor verified against the state boards. Specialty trade contractors must show their state licence at registration, and the licence type — master or journeyman — must be appropriate for the work.

How Colorado contractor credentials work

Commercial permits

Commercial work is routed to all departments for final review before a structural permit issues, and the occupancy gate includes engineering, grade and public improvement completion. On landscaped sites the irrigation and lawn permits sit behind approved landscape mylars and water utility approval, which should be sequenced at the start rather than at handover.

Local licences, state trade registration and design professionals

Three credential layers appear on a Colorado project and they are held by three different bodies: the local general contractor licence and any bond the jurisdiction requires; state registration for the electrical and plumbing contractors, verified with the state boards; and, on commercial and larger residential work, drawings stamped by a Colorado-licensed architect or professional engineer. Confirm what the Aurora Building Division requires for the specific building before filing.

Colorado has no state general contractor licence (cities and counties license builders), while electricians and plumbers are licensed statewide by the State Electrical and Plumbing Boards. Contractor licensing in Colorado

Aurora permit costs and fees

Aurora fees follow the published schedule by permit type and valuation. Electrical and plumbing permits are issued by the city as separate permits, so budget for them alongside the building permit.

Because Colorado sets no statewide building fee schedule, two jurisdictions on the same model code can price the same project very differently. The component most often missed is the trade permit: electrical and plumbing permits are separate local permits with their own fees. Ask the Aurora Building Division for the schedule in force on your filing date, and confirm the electrical and plumbing route separately.

Colorado has no state building fee schedule, so fees, including electrical and plumbing permit fees, are set locally wherever a local inspection programme exists. Permit fees in Colorado

Trade permits and who may pull them

Electricians and plumbers are licensed by the state, but the state boards issue trade permits only where a city or county has no inspection programme of its own, and inspect all public school work. Trade permits in Colorado

How to apply for an Aurora building permit

Review, corrections and what actually causes delay

The first cause of delay in Colorado is the wildland-urban interface, where a parcel inside the mapped area brings requirements the building code alone does not describe. The second is the energy code, because the tier a jurisdiction sits on depends on when it last updated rather than on a statewide date. The third is edition drift between neighbouring jurisdictions on the same corridor. There is no statutory review clock for building permits: any timeline you are given is that jurisdiction’s own target. Confirm the checklist with the Aurora Building Division before filing.

Local permit validity is set by Aurora; where the state boards issue a trade permit, it runs 12 months from issue. Permit validity in Colorado

Inspections in Aurora

Standard checkpoints include footing and foundation, framing, rough-in electrical, plumbing and mechanical, insulation and energy compliance, fire systems on commercial work, and final, with a certificate of occupancy before the building is used. Next-day inspections can be requested through the portal, by email or by telephone, with the permit number, project address, inspection type and a callback number ready.

Do not cover work before the required inspection has been approved. Keep the issued permits, the approved plans and the energy compliance documentation available on site.

Aurora permit search and official resources

Permit records in Colorado are split the way the permits are. Where the Aurora Building Division is the authority for the City of Aurora, it holds the building record — and the electrical and plumbing permits too, because this area runs its own electrical and plumbing inspections (the state boards permit only where no local programme exists). If you are buying, refinancing or renovating, check both, because a clean local record does not mean the trade work was ever permitted.

These are the primary sources behind this guide. Codes, fee schedules and procedures change — confirm the position for your filing date.

• City of Aurora contractor licensing and lookup
• City of Aurora permitting
• Colorado electrical and plumbing permits homepage
• State Electrical Board permit and inspection information
• House Bill 22-1362, building greenhouse gas emissions

Frequently asked questions

Does Aurora license plumbers and electricians?

No. The city requires a current State of Colorado master's and contractor's licence to be on file with the Building Division, and states that it does not issue a separate plumbing or electrical contractor licence. The trades are the part Colorado does decide centrally. The State Electrical Board and the State Plumbing Board issue permits and inspect only where a city or county has no electrical and plumbing inspection programme of its own. This area has one, so the trade permits are issued locally; the state still inspects electrical, plumbing and gas work in public schools. Electricians and plumbers are licensed by those state boards and the licences are statewide, while general contractors are licensed by municipalities and counties, often with a surety bond. It is a violation of state law for anyone other than the homeowner, who is not a registered electrical or plumbing contractor, to install that work, and the homeowner exception covers only work you do yourself on a home you live in that is not for sale or rent.

What do I need before a certificate of occupancy?

More than the building. Before a certificate is issued the general contractor must complete all applicable building inspections including structural, electrical, heating and ventilation, plumbing and life safety, and the city also requires engineering and grade inspections and completion of applicable public improvements.

Why is my irrigation permit held up?

Usually the landscape approvals. Permits for irrigation systems and new lawns are issued after landscape plan mylars are approved by the planning and development services department, and the irrigation plans themselves are approved by the city's water utility.

Which code edition applies?

The edition Aurora adopted: the 2021 International Codes (building, residential, mechanical, fuel gas, fire, plumbing, existing building, energy conservation and swimming pool) and the 2026 National Electrical Code, which applies to new electrical permit applications from 1 August 2026. Colorado has no statewide building code. For private buildings, state law leaves adoption to local government, so whether a building code applies at all, and which edition, is decided by the municipality or the county — roughly 270 municipalities and 64 counties, each choosing for itself. House Bill 22-1362 does not compel any jurisdiction to update, but when a jurisdiction adopts or updates a building code it must take up at least the specified minimum energy code, so the energy floor arrives with the update rather than on a statewide date; for updates made on or after 1 July 2026 that floor is the state’s Model Low Energy and Carbon Code. Where the energy provisions or the state model codes conflict with the Colorado plumbing code or the National Electrical Code, the plumbing code or the electrical code prevails.

Which county am I in?

Possibly any of three. Aurora spans Arapahoe, Adams and Douglas counties, so recording and any county-level approval follow the parcel rather than the city.

How do I check a contractor?

The city publishes a contractor lookup showing which contractors are licensed to work in Aurora. For electrical and plumbing contractors, also pull the state board record and confirm the licence is active, the type is appropriate for the work and there are no disciplinary actions.

Simplify Aurora permitting with Alliance Permitting

Two credentials held by two different bodies, and a landscape gate most people meet at handover. We check all three before filing.

Trusted by leading builders, developers, and national contractors — 21+ years of filing in the jurisdictions we write about.

Contractors and builders choose Alliance for Aurora because the work is done by people who have stood at the counter:

• 21+ years of filing, so the trade authority is settled before the application goes in
• We confirm which edition the jurisdiction adopted and when it last updated
• Local general contractor licence and state trade registration both verified, in different places
• Wildland-urban interface position checked against the state map before the design is fixed
• Two inspection queues sequenced so a cover-up never waits on the wrong inspector

Alliance Permitting is a permit documentation and submission company in Colorado. We prepare your paperwork, file it correctly and coordinate with the permitting authority through issuance. We are not a contractor and we do not perform licensed plan review or inspections; that work stays with your licensed team and the jurisdiction.

This guide is provided by Alliance Permitting for general information about Aurora permitting. Requirements, fees, and procedures change; confirm details with the permitting authority before relying on them.