City of Fountain building permits
VerifiedDepartment contacts, adopted codes, permit types, fees, and gotchas for City of Fountain, Colorado.
Last verified 2026-07-19 · Source · Embed this page’s badge · Version history
Building department
- Address
- Pikes Peak Regional Building Department, 2880 International Cr., Colorado Springs, CO 80910; City of Fountain Planning Department, 116 South Main Street, Fountain, CO 80817
- Phone
- PPRBD (719) 327-2880; City of Fountain Planning Department (719) 322-2000
- Office hours
- City of Fountain Planning Department: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM, Monday-Friday, per the department's own webpage. PPRBD office hours not separately verified on pprbd.org as of 2026-07-19.
- Website
- Official site
- Permit portal
- Apply online at City of Fountain's portal
Inspection guide
See how inspections work in City of Fountain — sequence, scheduling & re-inspection fees.
Codes adopted
Colorado has no statewide-mandated building code edition. Under the Colorado Constitution's home-rule provisions (art. XX, home rule for municipalities since 1902; home rule for counties since 1970), building codes and zoning are an enumerated home-rule charter power, so cities and counties adopt and amend their own construction codes independently — predominantly the I-Codes, with editions and local amendments varying by jurisdiction. The one statewide floor is for energy: HB22-1362 (2022) created the Energy Code Board (jointly appointed by the Colorado Energy Office and the Department of Local Affairs) and requires that, on or after July 1, 2023 and before July 1, 2026, any municipality or county that adopts or updates a building code must adopt and enforce an energy code achieving performance equivalent to or better than the 2021 IECC together with the board's Model Electric Ready and Solar Ready Code (which includes electric-ready, EV-ready, and solar-ready provisions); from July 1, 2026 onward the floor shifts to the board's Model Low Energy and Carbon Code or an equivalent. Electrical and plumbing permitting defaults to the Colorado State Electrical Board and State Plumbing Board (within DORA's Division of Professions and Occupations) — the state issues permits and inspects statewide except in counties/jurisdictions that operate their own certified Electrical or Plumbing Inspection Program, in which case the local program has authority instead. Always confirm the currently adopted code edition, local amendments, and inspection authority (state board vs. local program) with the specific jurisdiction before submitting plans.
- Fountain does NOT operate its own building department. Building permitting, plan review, and inspections for the entire City of Fountain are performed by the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department (PPRBD) — a multi-jurisdictional regional authority created by a 1966 Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) covering unincorporated El Paso County, Colorado Springs, Fountain, Manitou Springs, Woodland Park, Green Mountain Falls, Monument, Palmer Lake, and Calhan — per PPRBD's own About page (pprbd.org/Home/About) and its homepage jurisdiction list.
- PPRBD administers the 2023 Pikes Peak Regional Building Code (PPRBC), which adopts by reference: 2021 International Building Code (IBC), 2021 International Residential Code (IRC), 2021 International Mechanical Code (IMC), 2021 International Fuel Gas Code (IFGC), 2021 International Plumbing Code (IPC), 2023 National Electrical Code (NEC), 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), 2021 International Existing Building Code (IEBC), 2019 ASME A17.1 (conveyances/elevators), and 2021 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code (ISPSC) — per pprbd.org/Information/Codechanges and the PPRBC 2023 Edition document (pprbd.org/File/ByAlias/PPRBC2023Edition).
- Separately, the City of Fountain adopts and enforces its own Zoning Ordinance (Fountain Municipal Code Title 17), which governs land use, setbacks, signs, short term rentals (Chapter 17.29), and animal-keeping/chickens (Chapter 17.18) — administered by the City's own Planning Department independent of PPRBD, per library.municode.com/co/fountain and the City's own permit application forms.
Permit types & fees
Residential Building Permit (New Single-Family/Duplex Construction)
Required for new single-family, duplex, townhouse, and similar residential construction within Fountain city limits. Issued and inspected by the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department (PPRBD) under Project Code 101 (New Single Family Housing, Detached) or related codes, NOT by the City of Fountain directly. Fee is valuation-based per PPRBD's Table A.
Commercial Building Permit
Required for new commercial, industrial, institutional, or mixed-use construction within Fountain city limits, covering PPRBD Project Codes such as 320 (Industrial), 324 (Offices/Banks), 327 (Retail), and similar categories. Issued and inspected by PPRBD; requires City of Fountain Site Development Plan approval first.
Manufactured/Modular Home Installation Permit
Required for installation of any HUD, UBC, or IRC manufactured/modular/mobile home on a site within Fountain, whether permanent or temporary set. Issued and inspected by PPRBD, categorized as 'new single family construction' with valuation-based fees. City of Fountain zoning site-plan approval is a prerequisite.
Solar PV Permit
Required for installation of rooftop or ground-mounted photovoltaic (PV) and solar-thermal systems within Fountain city limits. As with all building permits in Fountain, the actual permit is issued by the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department (PPRBD) — not the City — under PPRBD's Alternative Energy Plan Requirements, which require both a building permit and an electrical permit for PV systems (plus a mechanical/plumbing permit for solar-thermal systems altering interior piping). PPRBD does not publish a solar-specific flat fee; systems are billed at standard Table A valuation-based building-permit rates plus an electrical trade fee. Colorado's statewide solar permit fee cap (C.R.S. § 24-48.5-113, enacted via HB21-1284) limits any local solar permit fee to $500 for a residential system and $1,000 for a commercial system, which applies as a ceiling on whatever PPRBD's valuation-based calculation would otherwise produce.
EV Charger / EVSE Permit
Required for installation of a residential or commercial electric vehicle charging station (EVSE) within Fountain city limits. As with all electrical work in Fountain, the permit is issued by the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department (PPRBD), not the City. PPRBD's published fee schedule (pprbd.org/Information/FeeSchedule) has no distinct 'EV charger' or 'EVSE' line item — a standalone EVSE circuit is billed as a standalone electrical permit under Table C (valuation-based), or as a Table B.1 residential trade attachment fee ($50.00) if the electrical work is filed together with another building permit (e.g., a panel upgrade or new construction).
Sign Permit
Required for installation of free-standing, low-profile, wall, awning/roof/projecting, or temporary signs within Fountain city limits. The City of Fountain Planning Department reviews and approves the sign/site plan for zoning compliance; the applicant must then separately contact PPRBD for the actual building permit to construct the sign.
Short Term Rental Permit
Required to operate a dwelling or room as a short term rental (30 days or less) within Fountain city limits, under Fountain Municipal Code Chapter 17.29. Issued directly by the City of Fountain Planning Department (not PPRBD) to a specific named owner; not transferable and valid for one year.
Chicken/Hen Permit
Required to keep chickens on residential property within Fountain city limits, under Fountain Municipal Code Chapter 17.18 (Animal Raising and Keeping). Issued directly by the City of Fountain Planning Division; requires a coop site inspection before final approval. No permit fee is published for this permit type.
Tips & gotchas
- Fountain has NO building department of its own. Building permits, plan review, and inspections for every structure in Fountain city limits are handled exclusively by the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department (PPRBD), a joint regional authority (est. 1966 IGA) that also covers Colorado Springs, unincorporated El Paso County, Manitou Springs, Woodland Park, Green Mountain Falls, Monument, Palmer Lake, and Calhan — per PPRBD's own About page. This is a materially different structure from a single self-administered city building office or a county-only authority.
- The City of Fountain's own Planning & Zoning Department runs a PARALLEL, separate track: it approves the zoning-side Plot Plan or Site Development Plan BEFORE PPRBD will issue the actual building permit, and it directly issues its own City-specific permits — Sign Permit, Short Term Rental Permit, Chicken Permit, Group Home Permit, Temporary Use Permit — none of which are PPRBD building permits.
- PPRBD's fee schedule is valuation-based (Table A: e.g., $80 for the first $2,000 of valuation plus $8 per additional $1,000 up to $25,000) rather than a flat per-square-foot schedule; a 28% plan-examination surcharge on the building permit fee applies on top of the base permit fee.
- No PPRBD or City of Fountain source publishes a fixed plan-review or permit-issuance turnaround time in business or calendar days for any permit type in this file. PPRBD's homepage instead shows a rolling 'plan review status' queue (the date each review department is currently working from, refreshed hourly) rather than a guaranteed day-count — every permitType here carries reviewTimelineDays: null with an honest note rather than an estimate derived from that queue.
- The City of Fountain's Development Review Fee Schedule (Exhibit C of Resolution 22-023) dates most line-item fees to 2020, with only Drainage Reports and Recordation (letter/legal size) fees updated in 2022 — confirm current rates directly with the Planning Department (719-322-2000) before budgeting a project, as fees may have changed since this 2020/2022 schedule was captured.
- Applications for both PPRBD and City of Fountain permits can be submitted online: PPRBD's own account portal (account.pprbd.org) for building permits, and the City of Fountain's GeoCivix portal (fountaincolorado.geocivix.com/secure) for City applications, per the City's 'Apply for Permit' navigation link.