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Commercial Tenant Improvement / Tenant Finish Permit in Durango, Colorado

Durango's 'Do I Need a Permit?' table lists TENANT FINISH — 'New tenant interior remodel' — as its own permit category, distinct from COMMERCIAL REMODEL (addition/remodel of an existing commercial building) and NEW COMMERCIAL, and the City's July 2026 fee schedule separately names 'tenant finish projects' as a category subject to the DFPD Plan Review Fee. Genuinely distinct in Durango, which fits the town's downtown Main Avenue retail/restaurant turnover: a tenant finish is the interior build-out/remodel when a new tenant takes a commercial space. Issued by the City Building Division under the 2024 IBC; a pure change of occupancy with NO construction is instead handled through a Planning Division Change of Use Application, and interior renovations with no structural changes do not require a building permit per the City's Commercial Property Services page (see the caveat in requirements — the two City pages frame the trigger differently).

Verified 2026-08-02 · Source

When you need this permit

  • Permit required per the Do I Need a Permit? table: 'TENANT FINISH — New tenant interior remodel'
  • SCOPE-TRIGGER CAVEAT, both City statements quoted: the Do I Need a Permit? table lists tenant finish ('new tenant interior remodel') as a permit category without qualification, while the Commercial Property Services page states 'All structural interior remodels of existing commercial buildings will need a building permit. If no structural changes are being made, then you do not need a building permit.' The two pages frame the trigger differently for non-structural new-tenant build-outs; confirm your specific scope with the Building Division (970-375-5000 / Building@DurangoCo.Gov) rather than assuming either page alone governs
  • CHANGE OF USE WITHOUT CONSTRUCTION: starting a business in an existing building with no additions or renovations but a changed use (e.g. office to restaurant) requires a Planning Division Change of Use Application — staff evaluates zoning, parking, and Major Street Impact Fee implications; same-use turnover (retail to retail, no work) needs only a business license
  • DFPD Fire Code Plan Review: the fee schedule names tenant finish projects explicitly as subject to the DFPD Plan Review Fee, and all commercial projects must submit a Fire Code Plan Review package to DFPD (104 Sheppard Drive, 970-382-6000) with the receipt provided at City application
  • Life Safety Sheet required for all commercial projects per IBC Chapter 10; occupancy-based plumbing fixture counts and full ADA compliance shown on floor plans; reflected ceiling plan with emergency egress illumination
  • MEP design sheets required at initial submittal and may not be deferred (restaurant build-outs: kitchen/hood design criteria, gas pipe sizing, grease traps, equipment schedules); only fire alarm, sprinkler design, truss sheets, and fire protection engineering may be deferred
  • Most commercial projects require an architect's stamp; site plan required for all submittals regardless of scope
  • HISTORIC/DESIGN-REVIEW INTERSECTION: interior-only tenant finish work does not by itself trigger design review, but any EXTERIOR renovation on a downtown Main Avenue contributing structure or landmarked building requires a Historic Preservation Board recommendation to the Design Review Board; signs need their own sign permit under LUDC Article 3-6 plus the Downtown Overlay Design Guidelines in the Downtown Overlay District (Main Avenue, Camino del Rio, East Second Avenue)
  • Commercial owners must use licensed plumbers and electricians; electrical permits go to the State of Colorado Electrical Board, plumbing/gas to the City (effective 07/01/2026) Contractor
  • Applications via the OpenGov portal (durangoco.portal.opengov.com); no fees due at submittal

Required documents

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Fee schedule

Building Permit Fee — valuation-based tiers (same table as all building permits)Building Permit Fee Schedule effective July 1, 2026 (Resolution R-2017-42), verified directly from the PDF — tenant finish has no separate flat fee; it is billed on the same valuation-based table. No separate City plan-review fee exists.
$24 minimum; $69 for the first $2,000 + $11/additional $1,000; $487 for the first $40,000 + $9/additional $1,000; $1,027 for the first $100,000 + $7/additional $1,000 (each rounded up to the next interval)
Use TaxCombined City sales/use tax is 3.5%; half of valuation is assumed to be labor
1.75% of total project valuation
DFPD Plan Review FeeThe July 2026 fee schedule: 'Durango Fire Protection District (DFPD) Plan Review Fee - Applicable to multi-family, commercial and tenant finish projects (Contact DFPD)' — tenant finish is named explicitly; amount not published on the City schedule
Set and collected by DFPD — contact DFPD (970-382-6000)
Major Street Impact Fee — differential on change of usePlanning staff evaluate Major Street Impact Fees as part of the Change of Use review per the Commercial Property Services page; the fee schedule publishes the per-category rates but not the change-of-use crediting method — confirm the net assessment with the Planning Division
Assessed via the Change of Use Application where the new use carries a higher per-1,000-sq-ft rate (e.g. Restaurant $7,802 vs Office/Institutional $2,823 per 1,000 sq ft gross floor area)
Reinspection FeeEffective 07/01/2026, paid before the final inspection phase
$125.00 per failed inspection

Review timeline

Plan reviewDurango’s published plan-review target
0–30 business days

How long did your Commercial Tenant Improvement / Tenant Finish Permit permit actually take in Durango?

Anonymous — one question, no email. Answers are combined and only shown once at least 5 people have reported.

Inspection process

  1. 1

    Rough Framing (interior partitions)

    New interior walls and structural modifications before cover

  2. 2

    Rough Plumbing / Mechanical

    City-inspected trade rough-ins before concealment; electrical rough-in is inspected separately by the State of Colorado Electrical Board, and fire alarm/sprinkler modifications by DFPD

  3. 3

    Final Inspection

    All City-permitted work complete per approved plans; separate state electrical final and DFPD life-safety sign-offs also required before the space opens

See the full Durango inspection guide — scheduling & re-inspection fees →

Tips

  • Durango treats a new tenant's interior remodel as its own permit category (TENANT FINISH), and the fire district's plan-review fee explicitly names tenant finish projects — plan on a DFPD submittal and fee even for an interior-only build-out.
  • If you're only changing the use with zero construction (office to restaurant in an as-is space), your path is a Planning Division Change of Use Application, not a building permit — but watch the Major Street Impact Fee: a use change to a higher-intensity category like restaurant ($7,802/1,000 sq ft vs $2,823 for office) is evaluated in that review.
  • The City's two pages frame the permit trigger differently: the permit table lists any 'new tenant interior remodel,' while the Commercial Property Services page exempts interior renovations with no structural changes. Confirm your specific scope with the Building Division before assuming a cosmetic-only fit-out is exempt.
  • Downtown Main Avenue tenant turnover: interior work alone doesn't wake the Historic Preservation Board, but touching the storefront or any exterior element of a contributing structure does (HPB recommendation to the DRB), and new signage needs its own sign permit under both LUDC Article 3-6 and the Downtown Overlay Design Guidelines.
  • Restaurant conversions are the heavy case: hood/kitchen design criteria, gas pipe sizing, and grease traps must all be in the initial MEP sheets (no deferral), plus the Change of Use review and the biggest Major Street Impact Fee category.

Frequently asked questions

No building permit — but if the use is changing (e.g. office to restaurant), you must file a Change of Use Application with the Planning Division, which reviews zoning, parking, and Major Street Impact Fees. If the use stays the same (retail to retail) with no work, you only need a business license.

In Durango, the published Building Permit Fee — valuation-based tiers (same table as all building permits) is: $24 minimum; $69 for the first $2,000 + $11/additional $1,000; $487 for the first $40,000 + $9/additional $1,000; $1,027 for the first $100,000 + $7/additional $1,000 (each rounded up to the next interval). Additional published fees: Use Tax — 1.75% of total project valuation; DFPD Plan Review Fee — Set and collected by DFPD — contact DFPD (970-382-6000); Major Street Impact Fee — differential on change of use — Assessed via the Change of Use Application where the new use carries a higher per-1,000-sq-ft rate (e.g. Restaurant $7,802 vs Office/Institutional $2,823 per 1,000 sq ft gross floor area); Reinspection Fee — $125.00 per failed inspection. These are the jurisdiction's own published figures — see the fee schedule table and source citations on this page.

Durango's published plan-review target for a commercial tenant improvement / tenant finish permit is 0–30 business days.

You'll need: Building Permit Application (OpenGov portal); Construction Drawing Set; MEP Design Sheets; DFPD Fire Code Plan Review receipt. Depending on your project, Durango may also ask for: Change of Use Application (Planning Division). See the required-documents checklist on this page for details on each.

Durango requires 3 inspection(s) for a commercial tenant improvement / tenant finish permit, in order: Rough Framing (interior partitions), Rough Plumbing / Mechanical, Final Inspection. Schedule each through City of Durango Community Development Department, Building Division (970-375-5000).

Apply through City of Durango Community Development Department, Building Division at 949 E 2nd Avenue, Durango, CO 81301. Phone: 970-375-5000, email: Building@DurangoCo.Gov. Office hours: Not published on the Building Division pages as of this review; main City Hall line 970-375-5000. General building-permit questions: Building@DurangoCo.Gov. Fee-schedule calculation questions: 970-375-4850.. Official information: https://www.durangoco.gov/311/Applying-for-a-Building-Permit.

Yes. The City's Do I Need a Permit? table lists them as separate categories: TENANT FINISH is a 'new tenant interior remodel,' while COMMERCIAL REMODEL is 'an addition or remodel of an existing commercial building' generally. The July 2026 fee schedule also names tenant finish projects as their own category for the DFPD Plan Review Fee. Both are billed on the same valuation-based fee table.

Interior-only work does not. But any exterior renovation to a contributing structure on downtown Main Avenue or a landmarked building requires a Historic Preservation Board recommendation to the Design Review Board, and new signs in the Downtown Overlay District need a sign permit conforming to both LUDC Article 3-6 and the Downtown Overlay Design Guidelines.

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