Change of Use / Certificate of Zoning Compliance Permit in Burlington, Colorado

Burlington requires a change of use / certificate of zoning compliance permit for: A certificate of zoning compliance is required to change the use of any building, structure, or property in the city (Burlington Municipal Code 17.12.020(A)(3)-(4)); It is unlawful to use or occupy any building or premises whose use has been changed, converted, or altered until a certificate of zoning compliance has been issued (17.12.020(C)); violation is punishable under Section 17.40.020; Complete Part B ('Change of Use') of the combined Building Permit/Zoning Compliance Application: present use, proposed use, current zone, and annexation/petition status if applicable; Submit the application on the form prescribed by the zoning compliance officer, together with a plat drawn to scale showing the lot's actual shape/dimensions, the existing and intended use of each building and of the property, present and proposed utility/service connections, drainage courses and easements, and conditions within fifteen feet of the lot perimeter (17.12.030(A)-(B), the same Title 17.12.030(B) plat cited throughout this record); In areas not served by public water or sewer, submit a certified statement that proposed water/sewer facilities will conform to State Department of Health minimum requirements (17.12.030(C)); An application filed on behalf of a fraternal, charitable, or civic organization must be accompanied by a resolution of that organization authorizing the application (17.12.030(D)); A certificate issued becomes invalid if the physical work it authorizes is not commenced within six months of issuance, or is suspended/abandoned for one year (17.12.040) — for a pure change of use involving no physical construction, confirm with City Hall how this expiration provision is applied in practice; Complete Part A of the combined application as well if the change of use is accompanied by construction, remodeling, or alteration work (see the residential-addition-remodel and commercial-tenant-improvement entries). If your project isn't listed, confirm with City of Burlington, City Hall (Building Permits) at 719-346-8652 before starting work.

Burlington does not publish a plan-review timeline for this permit. Contact City of Burlington, City Hall (Building Permits) at 719-346-8652 for current turnaround.

You'll need: Building Permit Application / Zoning Compliance Application (PDF); Scaled Site Plat (Title 17.12.030(B)). See the required-documents checklist on this page for details on each.

Burlington requires 1 inspection(s) for a change of use / certificate of zoning compliance permit, in order: Final/Field Inspection. Schedule each through City of Burlington, City Hall (Building Permits) (719-346-8652).

Apply through City of Burlington, City Hall (Building Permits) at 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.. Official information: https://www.burlingtoncolo.com/151/Building-Permits.

Burlington, Colorado has adopted: 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 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. 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. 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. 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.. Local amendments apply — see the Burlington overview page for the full list.

Yes. Burlington Municipal Code 17.12.020(A) requires a certificate of zoning compliance to change the use of any building, structure, or property in the city — it is unlawful to occupy the property under the new use until the certificate is issued. Apply via Part B ('Change of Use') of the combined Building Permit/Zoning Compliance Application.

No dollar figure is published online. Municipal Code 17.04.090 states the fee is set by the city council and posted at the zoning compliance officer's and city clerk's offices, not itemized in the code itself — confirm the current amount directly with City Hall (719-346-8652).