Commerce City, CO Building Safety: Building Permits (2026)

Sec. 5-7 of the Commerce City Building Code (the C3BC, adopted by Ordinance No. 2476 as the 2021 edition) requires any owner or the owner's authorized agent to apply to the building official and obtain a permit before construction, enlargement, alteration, repair, moving, demolition, an occupancy change, or a lot-line move, and before installing, altering, or replacing an electrical, gas, mechanical, or plumbing system regulated by the C3BC. The Community Development Department administers and enforces the code under Sec. 5-6, and the building official, appointed by the city manager, has direct authority over permit review and can delegate tasks to technical and compliance staff.

Sec. 5-2 incorporates the 2021 International Building, Residential, Existing Building, Energy Conservation, Fuel Gas, Mechanical, Plumbing, Swimming Pool and Spa, Private Sewage Disposal, and Green Construction Codes, the 2023 National Electrical Code, and the 2021 International Fire and Property Maintenance Codes by reference, so a permit application is reviewed against whichever of those adopted codes applies to the work. Sec. 5-8 exempts a specific list of minor work from the permit requirement, including small detached sheds under two hundred fifty-six square feet, low fences and walls, small above-ground pools, and ordinary repairs like replacing windows, plumbing fixtures, or roof covering, but Sec.

5-8 itself states that an exemption from the permit requirement never authorizes work that otherwise violates the C3BC or another city ordinance. A denied or contested permit decision can be appealed to the five-member board of appeals under Sec. 5-21 within twenty-one days of the building official's notice.