Burlington building permits

Building department

Address

415 15th Street, Burlington, CO 80807

Phone

719-346-8652

Email

jim.keehne@burlingtoncolo.com

Office hours

Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Fax: 719-346-8397. Building permits are administered directly by City Hall administrative staff (no separate, dedicated Building Division or named Building Official is published) — the Building Permit Application lists Jim Keehne, City Administrator, as the responsible city officer, with a Public Works signoff line also present on the form.

Website

Official site

Inspection guide

See how inspections work in Burlington — 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.

• NONE LOCALLY ADOPTED — per the City's own Building Permit Application form (DocumentCenter/View/187), which the applicant must sign: 'I hereby agree and understand that City of Burlington has not adopted a building code… Show full textShow less

  NONE LOCALLY ADOPTED — per the City's own Building Permit Application form (DocumentCenter/View/187), which the applicant must sign: 'I hereby agree and understand that City of Burlington has not adopted a building code and it is my responsibility to follow all state guidelines regarding state building codes, local building codes and all inspections the State of Colorado, City of Burlington and the Colorado Department of Local Affairs and Housing may require.'

• The City's own Building Codes webpage (burlingtoncolo.com/96/Building-Codes) states that the City 'requires all buildings to meet the compliance standards of the State of Colorado's building codes' and links to the… Show full textShow less

  The City's own Building Codes webpage (burlingtoncolo.com/96/Building-Codes) states that the City 'requires all buildings to meet the compliance standards of the State of Colorado's building codes' and links to the Colorado Office of the State Architect (OSA) building-codes page (osa.colorado.gov/state-buildings/building-codes). That OSA page's adopted-code list applies ONLY to state-owned and state-lease-purchased construction and specific state-assisted categories (K-12 schools, health facilities), NOT to private construction in municipalities. Burlington's reference to it therefore does not establish any specific IBC/IRC/IECC/NEC edition as locally adopted or locally enforced for private building permits — it points at a source that does not govern ordinary residential or commercial permits in Burlington.

• Net effect: Burlington has NO locally adopted model code edition — no IBC, IRC, IMC, IPC, IFGC, IECC, IFC, IEBC or NEC edition/year is specified anywhere in the City's own building-permit materials OR in its codified Municipal Code. Show full textShow less

  Net effect: Burlington has NO locally adopted model code edition — no IBC, IRC, IMC, IPC, IFGC, IECC, IFC, IEBC or NEC edition/year is specified anywhere in the City's own building-permit materials OR in its codified Municipal Code. Applicants are directed to follow 'state guidelines' generally and Colorado DOLA/Division of Housing requirements where applicable. The Municipal Code itself supports this directly: Title 15 DOES contain a 'Chapter 15.04 - BUILDING CODE ADOPTED', but the codified chapter has no adoption section in it — it runs 15.04.020 (Fee for building permit) then 15.04.030 (Fire zones established), with no 15.04.010 and no model-code-adoption text anywhere in the chapter, despite the chapter's own title. The remaining chapters of Title 15 are 15.14 (Manufactured Housing) and 15.16 (Mobile Home Parks), neither of which adopts a model code. Source: City of Burlington Code of Ordinances Title 15 (Buildings and Construction), library.municode.com (nodeId TIT15BUCO).

• Burlington's codified building chapter still carries a Uniform Building Code cross-reference, which is the likely explanation for the absence of an I-code adoption section above. Show full textShow less

  Burlington's codified building chapter still carries a Uniform Building Code cross-reference, which is the likely explanation for the absence of an I-code adoption section above. Burlington Code of Ordinances Sec. 15.04.030 ('Fire zones established') reads verbatim: 'For the purpose of applying the Uniform Building Code, all of the area within the corporate limits of the city is divided into two fire zones. Fire Zone 1 shall consist of all that part of the city included within the boundaries of Zoning Districts C-1 and L-1 as shown upon the official copy of the city zoning district map on file in the office of the city clerk. There shall be no Fire Zone 2. Fire Zone 3 shall consist of all that portion of the city not included within Fire Zone 1 as described in this section.' (Prior code Sec. 11.3.) The Uniform Building Code is the pre-2000 ICBO code family that the I-codes replaced, and the chapter was never re-pointed at an I-code edition. Note the internal oddity in the section as written: it announces 'two fire zones' and then names Zone 1 and Zone 3 while expressly abolishing Zone 2 — that is how the ordinance reads. The section states no UBC edition year, so it does not amount to adoption of any particular UBC edition; it is a surviving cross-reference in a chapter whose adoption section is absent. Source: City of Burlington Code of Ordinances Title 15 (Buildings and Construction), on library.municode.com.

• CORRECTION RECORDED 2026-08-17. No code edition changed in this record and no figure changed, because Burlington's headline claim turned out to be right. Show full textShow less

  CORRECTION RECORDED 2026-08-17. No code edition changed in this record and no figure changed, because Burlington's headline claim turned out to be right. What changed is that the claim no longer rests on 'Municode could not be crawled'. The distinction matters and is the whole point of this campaign: 'I read Chapter 15.04 and it contains no adoption section' is evidence of absence; 'my crawler could not read Municode, and nothing turned up' is not. The chapter also yielded two facts the blocker had hidden — the surviving Uniform Building Code cross-reference at Sec. 15.04.030, and the fact that the valuation fee schedule is CODIFIED at Sec. 15.04.020 (Ord. No. 952, Sec. 1, 3-9-2020) rather than merely printed on a form.

Permit types & fees

• Residential Building Permit (New Construction / Addition)

  Required for new construction or additions to residential (and other) structures within Burlington city limits. Issued through City Hall on a single combined 'Building Permit Application / Zoning Compliance Application' form. Because Burlington has not adopted a local building code, the applicant is contractually bound (via the permit application itself) to follow applicable State of Colorado building-code guidance and any Colorado Department of Local Affairs/Division of Housing requirements rather than a codified local building code.

  See fee schedule→

• Residential Addition / Remodel Permit

  Additions are covered by the same combined Building Permit/Zoning Compliance Application as new construction (Part A, 'Addition' checkbox). Interior remodels that do not change the building footprint, use, or zoning compliance still require checking with City Hall, per the Building Permits page's instruction to 'check with City Hall staff prior to any construction, remodeling, or other changes.'

  From$25valuation-based→

• Electrical Permit

  Burlington's own Building Permit Application does not describe a City-run electrical permit or inspection process (it only requires that electrical work be performed by a duly licensed electrician). Per DORA's own current, publicly accessible jurisdiction page (dpo.colorado.gov/ElectricalPlumbingPermits): Kit Carson County is NOT among the Colorado counties listed as having their own local Electrical Inspection Program (the page states 'The State does not inspect in local jurisdictions having its own Electrical Inspection Program... If the county where your job site is located is listed below, do not continue with the permit application process' and lists Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Chaffee, City of Pueblo/Town of Boone, Delta (City of Delta only), Denver, Douglas, Eagle, El Paso, Jefferson, Larimer, Mesa, Pitkin, Pueblo, San Miguel, Summit, Teller, and Weld — Kit Carson is absent). Combined with CRS 12-115-120's default-to-state-inspection rule for jurisdictions without their own certified program, electrical permitting/inspection in Burlington defaults to the Colorado State Electrical Board (DORA).

  See fee schedule→

• Plumbing Permit

  As with electrical work, Burlington's own Building Permit Application requires plumbing work be performed by a duly licensed plumber but describes no separate City-run plumbing permit or inspection process. Per DORA's current jurisdiction page (dpo.colorado.gov/ElectricalPlumbingPermits), Kit Carson County is NOT among the counties listed as having their own local Plumbing Inspection Program (the page states 'The State does not inspect in local jurisdictions having its own Plumbing Inspection Program' and lists Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Chaffee, City of Pueblo/Town of Boone, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Eagle, El Paso, Elbert, Garfield, Gilpin, Grand, Jackson, Jefferson, La Plata, Lake, Larimer, Mesa, Moffat, Pitkin, Prowers, Pueblo, Routt, Summit, Teller, and Weld — Kit Carson is absent). This is corroborated by 3 CCR 720-1 (State Plumbing Board Rules), Rule 7.1.1, which confirms permits/inspections run 'either through the Board or the Local Authority Having Jurisdiction' — Kit Carson County having no such local authority per the above list, plumbing permitting/inspection in Burlington defaults to the Colorado State Plumbing Board (DORA).

  See fee schedule→

• Mechanical / HVAC Permit

  Mechanical/HVAC work (furnace, ductwork, ventilation) in Burlington is covered under the general combined Building Permit/Zoning Compliance Application ('Other' scope in Part A) rather than a standalone mechanical permit form; no separate City mechanical code or inspection process is published.

  From$25valuation-based→

• Re-Roof Permit

  Re-roofing is covered under the general Building Permit/Zoning Compliance Application ('Other' scope) rather than a distinct re-roof permit type; no re-roof-specific fee, document set, or timeline is separately published by the City.

  From$25valuation-based→

• Rooftop Solar PV Permit

  No solar-specific permit type, expedited track, or fee schedule is published by the City of Burlington; none appears on the City's site or in DOLA/DORA materials. A rooftop solar PV installation would be processed under the general combined Building Permit/Zoning Compliance Application, with the electrical portion of the work falling under the Colorado State Electrical Board permit system — see the electrical-permit entry, which rests on DORA's own current jurisdiction page at dpo.colorado.gov/ElectricalPlumbingPermits showing Kit Carson County absent from the counties with their own local Electrical Inspection Program.

  From$25valuation-based→

• Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Permit

  No distinct ADU ordinance, permit type, or standalone zoning provision exists for Burlington, Colorado — a directly verified finding from the full text of the city's codified ordinances at library.municode.com/co/burlington (VERSION: Apr 15, 2021, codified through Ordinance No. 960, enacted December 14, 2020 — the most current codified supplement; the site's own 'Adopted Ordinances Not Yet Codified' list runs through Ord. No. 1017 (adopted 4/27/26), none of which touch Title 17 Zoning's residential-use or accessory-use sections in any ADU-relevant way). Chapter 17.08 (Definitions) defines 'Dwelling,' 'Dwelling, multifamily,' 'Dwelling, single-family,' 'Dwelling, two-family,' and 'Dwelling unit' but contains NO 'accessory dwelling unit,' 'dwelling, accessory,' or equivalent term anywhere in its full definitions list (17.08.010 through 17.08.335). Section 17.20.060 ('Accessory uses and buildings in residential districts') exhaustively enumerates the only authorized accessory uses in any residential district — (A) home occupations, (B) one accessory structure not exceeding fifty feet in height, and (C) accessory buildings/uses customarily incident to the above not involving a business, including a private garage — and does not include a second dwelling unit or living quarters among them. Section 17.20.010 (R-1 Single-Family Residential) permits 'single-family dwellings' by right (subsection A.1) but places 'multifamily dwelling units providing permanent living accommodations for two or more dwelling units' only under Uses Permitted by Special Review (subsection B.4) — meaning any additional dwelling unit on an R-1 lot (the closest available mechanism for what would function as an ADU) is NOT permitted by right and instead requires a Special Review certificate of zoning compliance from the Board of Adjustment and Appeals under Chapter 17.32 (standards at 17.32.010: fire hazard, noise, vibration, air pollution, odors, glare, traffic hazard, utility burden, neighborhood character, general welfare; application procedure at 17.32.020). Burlington's codified zoning ordinance thus has no ADU-specific ordinance, definition, or by-right pathway — a second/accessory dwelling unit is treated as an additional 'multifamily' unit requiring Special Review, not as an accessory use. Burlington is also NOT a 'Subject Jurisdiction' under Colorado's statewide ADU mandate, HB24-1152 (C.R.S. 29-35-402 through 405) — DOLA's dlg.colorado.gov/accessory-dwelling-units page lists Subject Jurisdictions as home-rule/statutory/territorial-charter cities within a federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) boundary with population 1,000+, and Burlington/Kit Carson County sit outside every Colorado MPO, so no state-law by-right ADU mandate applies here either.

  From$25valuation-based→

• Demolition Permit

  Demolition is one of the enumerated project types on the general Building Permit/Zoning Compliance Application intake. A separate dangerous-building-abatement process also exists under Ordinance No. 990 (burlingtoncolo.com/DocumentCenter/View/909). The City's posted PDF keeps the phrase 'proposed...DRAFT' in its filename, but the document itself was PASSED, ADOPTED and ORDERED PUBLISHED by the City Council on July 8, 2024, signed by Mayor Greg Swiatkowski, attested by City Clerk Georgia Gilley, and carries a Clerk's Certificate and a Certificate of Publication for The Burlington Record on July 11, 2024 - it is the enacted, currently effective ordinance, not an unadopted draft. Ordinance No. 990 governs INVOLUNTARY code-enforcement demolition and abatement of buildings the City declares 'dangerous' (structural failure, fire/collapse hazard, uninhabitable, abandoned 6+ months, public nuisance, and the rest of Section 2, items A-P). It is legally and procedurally distinct from a standard VOLUNTARY demolition permit processed on the combined Building Permit/Zoning Compliance Application.

  From$25valuation-based→

• Commercial Tenant Improvement / Change of Use Permit

  Commercial tenant improvements and changes of use are processed under Part B ('Change of Use') of the combined Building Permit/Zoning Compliance Application, which separately captures present use, proposed use, current zoning, and any annexation/petition status, alongside Part A for any physical construction scope.

  From$25valuation-based→

• Deck / Covered Patio Permit

  Decks and covered patios are processed under the general 'Addition' or 'Other' scope on the combined Building Permit/Zoning Compliance Application; no deck-specific fee, document set, or exemption threshold is separately published by the City.

  From$25valuation-based→

• EV Charger / EVSE Permit

  Installation of an electric vehicle charger (EVSE) at a Burlington property is electrical work, and the City of Burlington does not itself issue electrical permits — electrical permitting, inspection, and fees are handled by the Colorado State Electrical Board (DORA), not itemized in any City of Burlington fee document. There is no City-issued EV-charger-specific permit or fee. A City building permit / zoning compliance application may still be required for the overall project depending on scope (e.g., new equipment enclosures).

  See fee schedule→

• Sign Permit

  Burlington has no standalone sign ordinance, no sign permit application, no sign-specific fee, and no size or height standard for signs. Title 17 (Zoning) contains no definition of 'sign' in Chapter 17.08, and none of Chapters 17.04 through 17.44 is a sign-regulations chapter. Signs are handled as structures: Chapter 17.20, Article IV (Sections 17.20.150, 17.20.160 and 17.20.180) permits them in required front, side and rear yards alongside driveways, sidewalks, retaining walls and fences, subject to the same yard-setback and lot-coverage limits as those structures. Because a sign is a structure, Burlington Municipal Code 17.12.020(A)(1) requires a Certificate of Zoning Compliance to erect one, applied for on the same combined Building Permit/Zoning Compliance Application used for decks and covered patios, reroofs and mechanical work. Confirm placement and any size expectations with the City before you fabricate a sign.

  From$25valuation-based→

• Fire Sprinkler and Fire Alarm System Permit

  Colorado is home-rule with no statewide fire code floor, so which authority governs fire sprinkler and alarm work in Burlington had to be established rather than assumed. Burlington has its own long-standing volunteer fire department — the Burlington Volunteer Fire Department, established in 1908 as the City's fire department and reorganized as a rural fire protection district in 1952, covering roughly 850 square miles and about 3,500 residents in far eastern Kit Carson County. No fire code adoption, standalone fire sprinkler or alarm permit, fee schedule or plan-review process is published anywhere: the City's website has no Fire Department page; Burlington Municipal Code Title 8 (Health and Safety) has no Fire Prevention chapter, its five chapters being Board of Health, Nuisances, Garbage/Rubbish/Weeds, Trees/Shrubs, and Sale and Use of Fireworks; Title 15 (Buildings and Construction), Chapter 15.04 'Building Code Adopted', has no adopted fire-suppression code — its only fire-related provision (15.04.030) defines two now-obsolete 'Fire Zones' solely 'for the purpose of applying the Uniform Building Code', a code the City's own Building Permit Application confirms is no longer in force; and the fire department's own website (burlingtonvolunteerfiredept.com) has no Prevention, Inspection or Permits section. One fire-related code action does apply: City of Burlington Ordinance No. 1016, an emergency ordinance passed and published April 2026, adopted the 2025 Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code as new Section 15.04.040 of the Municipal Code, per the mandatory statewide adoption deadline in C.R.S. 24-33.5-1237(2)(a). That is a wildfire-hardening building code covering structural and material standards — it is not a fire-suppression, sprinkler or alarm code and creates no fire-system permit process. Note that it is not yet reflected in the codified online text, which remains at Supplement 13 through Ordinance No. 960, so check the ordinance itself rather than the codified chapter.

  See fee schedule→

• Change of Use / Certificate of Zoning Compliance Permit

  Burlington codifies change of use directly. Burlington Municipal Code Chapter 17.12 (Building Permits and Certificates of Zoning Compliance), Section 17.12.020(A), states: 'A certificate of zoning compliance shall be required:...3. To change the use of any building or structure; 4. To change the use of any property in the city.' Sections 17.12.020 through 17.12.060 set the procedure. The requirement reaches any change of use in the city, residential or commercial, not only commercial tenant improvements. File it under Part B ('Change of Use') of the City's combined Building Permit/Zoning Compliance Application.

  See fee schedule→

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