Douglas County, CO Building Safety: Building Permits (2026)

Section 1-211, Building Restrictions, makes it unlawful to erect, construct, reconstruct, alter, or change the use of any building or other structure, including surface and subsurface structures, or to move a structure from one property to another anywhere in unincorporated Douglas County without first obtaining a building permit from the County Building Division. The rule reaches beyond new construction: reconstruction, alteration, and even a use change on an existing structure all trigger the same permit requirement, and moving a structure onto a different property counts as construction for this purpose.

Submitted plans must conform to every applicable provision of the Zoning Resolution and be built to the Douglas County Building Code as adopted, tying the permit review to both the zoning chapter and the separate building code simultaneously. The section also blocks permits in specific situations: no structure requiring a permit can be erected, placed on, or extended over an easement unless the agency or agencies holding jurisdiction over that easement approve in writing first, and a copy of that written approval must reach the Building Division before the permit issues.

A related restriction in the same section bars any structure that would create an aviation hazard, such as a tower, tree, or chimney tall enough to obstruct aircraft using a public airport, within the Centennial Airport Review Area Overlay District. Enforcement of these building restrictions runs through the same Director's authority and penalty structure that governs the rest of the Zoning Resolution.