How Lakewood Handles Frost Depth & Snow Load: A Practical Guide
Lakewood maintains 126 local ordinances across all categories, and 3 of those deal specifically with frost depth & snow load. Here is a breakdown of what the city actually requires, what is prohibited, and where Lakewood falls on the strict-to-permissive spectrum compared to other cities.
Ground Snow Load
Lakewood sets a ground snow load of 30 pounds per square foot and marks it non-reducible, so the usual code reductions cannot be applied to bring it down.
Key details: Ground snow load: 30 psf, non-reducible. Minimum roof snow/live load: 30 psf minimum, stated separately. How it compares: Below Denver (43 psf) and Aurora (40 psf). Code edition enforced: 2021 I-Codes with the 2023 National Electrical Code. Source document: Lakewood Codes and Loads permit handout.
Ground snow load is a design input checked at plan review rather than a citable offence. Structural drawings must show the design based on 30 psf without applying reductions, and must also satisfy the separate 30 psf minimum roof snow or live load. Applying a standard reduction to the ground figure is the specific error the non-reducible qualifier exists to prevent.
Lakewood is more permissive than most cities when it comes to ground snow load. That said, there are still limits.
Building Design Criteria
Lakewood's design loads set residential seismic category B, Exposure C, and a wind speed that changes at a street boundary, the 10,000 West block of Kipling, rather than by elevation.
Key details: Seismic design category, residential: B. Seismic, commercial: Calculated per Chapter 16, IBC. Wind exposure: Exposure C. Wind banding: Split at the 10,000 West block of Kipling, not by elevation. Codes enforced: 2021 IBC, IRC, IPC, IMC, IFGC, IECC, IEBC, IFC, ISPSC and the 2023 NEC.
These are design inputs enforced at plan review rather than offences in themselves. The wind banding is the entry that most often goes wrong, because the boundary is a street block rather than a contour line, so a site near Kipling needs its side of that line established rather than assumed.
Frost Line Depth
Lakewood sets a frost depth of 36 inches in the Codes and Loads handout its Public Works permit office publishes, matching neighbouring Denver.
Key details: Frost depth: 36 inches. Code edition enforced: 2021 I-Codes (2021 IRC and IBC) with the 2023 National Electrical Code. Winter design temperature: 1°F. Air freezing index: 532. Mean annual temperature: 51°F.
Footing depth is checked at the foundation inspection before concrete is placed, by Lakewood's permit office. A footing bearing above 36 inches will not pass. Because the figure comes from the department's own handout rather than the codified ordinance, that handout is the document plan reviewers work from, and matching it is the practical test.
The Bottom Line
Lakewood's frost depth & snow load rules are a mixed bag. Some areas are strict, others are relaxed, and the details matter. The best approach is to check the specific rule that applies to your situation rather than assuming Lakewood is broadly strict or permissive.
Keep in mind that Lakewood can amend these rules at any council meeting. For the most current version of any rule mentioned here, check the specific ordinance page, where we track updates as they happen.