Colorado Springs, CO Frost Depth & Snow Load: Roof Snow Load (2026)

Unlike most Colorado jurisdictions, the Pikes Peak Regional Building Code publishes the flat roof snow load directly instead of requiring it to be derived from the ground snow load. Below 7,000 feet the flat roof snow load is 30 psf uniform; at or above 7,000 feet it is 40 psf uniform. Both are banded on the same elevation threshold as the ground snow load, and both are given as uniform values. Publishing the roof figure removes a step and removes the argument that goes with it, but it does not remove the need to consider unbalanced conditions: the code requires that unbalanced loads be accounted for in all directions. The design factors that would otherwise drive the conversion are fixed at an exposure factor of 1.0 and a thermal factor of 1.0.