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Commercial Tenant Finish / Remodel (Tenant Improvement) Permit in Wellington, Colorado

Required for interior tenant finish, buildout, and remodel work within an existing commercial building in Wellington. Reviewed by SAFEbuilt under the Town's Commercial Tenant Finish & Remodel Plan Submittal Checklist, subject to the same commercial plan-review process and 10-business-day first-comments target as new commercial construction, plus the same 65%-of-Building-Fee commercial plan review fee. A separate building permit from the Wellington Fire Protection District (WFPD) is also required. Restaurant and commercial-kitchen tenant finishes are subject to additional supplemental requirements under the Town's Commercial Kitchens and Restaurants Plan Submittal Guideline.

Verified 2026-08-02 · Source

When you need this permit

  • Reviewed under the Town's Commercial Tenant Finish & Remodel Plan Submittal Checklist. NOTE — a genuine labeling inconsistency exists across the Town's own source documents: the Tenant Finish & Remodel checklist PDF itself instructs applicants to select Community Core/Connect permit type 'New Commercial' (step 3a), while the Town's separate Commercial Kitchens and Restaurants guideline lists 'Commercial Remodel' and 'Commercial Addition' as the applicable permit types for the same category of work. This file does not guess which label is authoritative — applicants should confirm the correct Community Core category with SAFEbuilt or the Building Department before applying
  • Structural plans are required for any structural changes such as removal of bearing walls, openings in bearing walls, or floor systems added for storage
  • Electrical plans are required for adding circuits, service upgrades, or emergency lighting, and must include load calculations, one-line diagrams, and fault current analysis
  • Mechanical plans are required for HVAC equipment changes, relocation, or ductwork/refrigeration piping changes; plumbing plans are required for any changes to sewers, drains, vents, water piping, roof drains, or gas piping
  • Applicants must separately apply for a building permit through the Wellington Fire Protection District (WFPD), distinct from the Town's Community Core/Connect application
  • Restaurant/commercial-kitchen tenant finishes additionally require: a grease interceptor sized per the adopted Plumbing Code (or engineer-designed and jurisdiction-approved) for grease-producing operations; a Type I hood with approved suppression for grease/smoke-producing cooking appliances; a Type II hood for heat/steam-producing equipment that doesn't produce grease/smoke; a fire sprinkler system if the space exceeds 5,000 sq ft or has 50+ occupants; two exits with panic hardware for 50+ occupant loads (not passing through kitchen/storage/similar spaces); Larimer County Health Department approval as a condition of Certificate of Occupancy; and a seating plan for indoor/outdoor dining areas
  • All plan sheets must be stamped by a Colorado-licensed architect or engineer per C.R.S. 12-4-112
  • All contractors must hold a current Town of Wellington Contractor License Contractor

Required documents

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Fee schedule

Permit IssuanceFee Schedule effective 2026-04-01
$25 flat
Building Permit Fee (valuation-based, same general schedule as residential)No separate tenant-finish-specific valuation table is published
$75 minimum for $1-$1,000 valuation, scaling per the tiers in the Fee Schedule effective 2026-04-01 (see residential-building-permit entry for full tier table)
Building Plan Review Fee (Commercial and Multi-Unit)Same commercial rate applied to new commercial construction — confirmed directly from the Town's Fee Schedule, which does not distinguish new construction from tenant finish/remodel within the 'Commercial and Multi-Unit' plan review line item
65% of Building Fee
Town Administrative Fee
10% of Building Fee
Water / Wastewater Capital Investment FeeNot typically triggered by a like-for-like interior tenant finish with no change to water service
Only applicable if the tenant finish requires a new or upsized commercial water tap/meter — see the commercial-building-permit entry's Water/Wastewater Capital Investment Fee tiers by meter size

Review timeline

Plan reviewWellington’s published plan-review target
10+ business days

How long did your Commercial Tenant Finish / Remodel (Tenant Improvement) Permit permit actually take in Wellington?

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

Inspection process

  1. 1

    Rough Electrical / Plumbing / Mechanical

    Trade rough-ins before concealment; only applicable trades for the scope of work

  2. 2

    Framing

    Required only if the project includes structural modifications (e.g., bearing wall removal)

  3. 3

    Fire Protection / Suppression System

    Required only where a hood suppression system or fire sprinklers are part of the design

  4. 4

    Final Inspection

    All work complete per approved plans; for restaurant/food-service tenant finishes, Larimer County Health Department approval must be on the jobsite before final inspection will be approved

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

Tips

  • The Town's own Commercial Tenant Finish & Remodel checklist instructs applicants to select 'New Commercial' as the Community Core permit type (step 3a), while the separate Restaurant/Kitchen guideline says 'Commercial Remodel' or 'Commercial Addition' — confirm the correct category with SAFEbuilt or the Building Department before submitting to avoid a completeness-check delay.
  • Restaurant and commercial-kitchen tenant finishes carry substantial supplemental requirements (grease interceptor, hood suppression, health department sign-off, seating plan) beyond a standard commercial tenant finish — review the Commercial Kitchens and Restaurants Plan Submittal Guideline early if your buildout includes food service.
  • Like new commercial construction, a WFPD building permit is required separately from the Town's Community Core/Connect application — easy to miss since no residential permit type in Wellington carries the same requirement.

Frequently asked questions

Yes. Per the Town's Commercial Kitchens and Restaurants Plan Submittal Guideline, Larimer County Health Department approval is required as a condition of the Certificate of Occupancy, and a letter, email, or fax of approval must be on the jobsite before final inspection will be approved.

In Wellington, the published Permit Issuance is: $25 flat. Additional published fees: Building Permit Fee (valuation-based, same general schedule as residential) — $75 minimum for $1-$1,000 valuation, scaling per the tiers in the Fee Schedule effective 2026-04-01 (see residential-building-permit entry for full tier table); Building Plan Review Fee (Commercial and Multi-Unit) — 65% of Building Fee; Town Administrative Fee — 10% of Building Fee; Water / Wastewater Capital Investment Fee — Only applicable if the tenant finish requires a new or upsized commercial water tap/meter — see the commercial-building-permit entry's Water/Wastewater Capital Investment Fee tiers by meter size. These are the jurisdiction's own published figures — see the fee schedule table and source citations on this page.

Wellington's published plan-review target for a commercial tenant finish / remodel (tenant improvement) permit is 10+ business days.

You'll need: Building Permit Application; Architectural Plans; Energy Code Compliance Documents; Wellington Fire Protection District Building Permit. Depending on your project, Wellington may also ask for: Structural Plans; Electrical Plans; Mechanical / Plumbing Plans; Grease Interceptor / Type I-II Hood Suppression Documentation; Health Department Approval Letter. See the required-documents checklist on this page for details on each.

Wellington requires 4 inspection(s) for a commercial tenant finish / remodel (tenant improvement) permit, in order: Rough Electrical / Plumbing / Mechanical, Framing, Fire Protection / Suppression System, Final Inspection. Schedule each through Town of Wellington Planning and Building Department (970-821-5078 (Building Department direct); 970-568-3381 (Town main line, ext. 115 for building permit verification)).

Apply through Town of Wellington Planning and Building Department at 8225 Third Street, P.O. Box 127, Wellington, CO 80549. Phone: 970-821-5078 (Building Department direct); 970-568-3381 (Town main line, ext. 115 for building permit verification), email: Building@wellingtoncolorado.gov. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Municipal Services Building, 8225 Third Street (across from Centennial Park). Plan review and inspections are conducted by SAFEbuilt, the Town's contracted building-department partner, not Town staff directly; inspection scheduling calls to SAFEbuilt (970-674-1036 or 866-671-1036) must be placed before 4 p.m. for next-business-day scheduling.. Official information: https://wellingtoncolorado.gov/554/Building.

Wellington, Colorado has adopted: 2024 International Building Code (IBC) — effective January 1, 2026; 2024 International Residential Code (IRC) — effective January 1, 2026; 2024 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) — effective January 1, 2026; 2024 International Mechanical Code (IMC) — effective January 1, 2026; 2024 International Plumbing Code (IPC) — effective January 1, 2026; 2024 International Fire Code (IFC) — effective January 1, 2026; 2024 International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC) — effective January 1, 2026; 2024 International Existing Building Code (IEBC) — effective January 1, 2026; 2024 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code (ISPSC) — effective January 1, 2026; 2026 National Electrical Code (NFPA 70-NEC) — effective January 1, 2026 (per the Town's Building Department page; note this is one code cycle ahead of the 2023 NEC used by most other 2026-era Colorado jurisdictions in this corpus — verified directly against the Town's own 'Building Code Update' announcement, not assumed); 2025 Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code, Version 1.0 — adopted alongside the 2024 I-Codes; Colorado Model Electric and Solar Ready Code — adopted alongside the 2024 I-Codes, addressing HB22-1362's statewide energy/electric-readiness floor; Local Amendments — Ordinance No. 15-2025 (adopted on first reading October 14, 2025 and second reading/adoption November 12, 2025; effective January 1, 2026) replace the Town's prior 2018 I-Code local amendments (originally under Ordinance No. 5-2019) and Ordinance No. 8-2019 (2019 building fee schedule) as the current governing local amendment package. Ordinance No. 15-2025 is codified on Municode (a JavaScript single-page application at library.municode.com/co/wellington); bare curl/automated fetch still returns HTTP 200 with no static text, but CORRECTED 2026-07-23: the full codified text IS retrievable via a live browser session (Municode renders client-side JS content that a headless curl fetch cannot execute) — confirmed directly against Chapter 18, Articles 1-4 (IBC/IRC/IPC/IMC amendments), version 'JUL 10, 2026 (CURRENT)', which quotes Ordinance No. 15-2025's full section-by-section amendment text verbatim, including the IRC R401.2 foundation/soils-report amendment. The Town's own Building Department webpage 'Building Departments News & Update' section (dated 11.25.2025) remains a valid corroborating first-party source for the adoption dates.; Previous code cycle (through December 31, 2025, now superseded): 2018 International Code editions (IBC, IRC, IECC, IMC, IPC, IFGC, IPMC, IEBC, IFC) under Ordinance No. 5-2019, and 2023 NEC. The Town's own Contractors/Homeowners webpages still host several 2018-cycle 'SAFEbuilt Building Guide' packets (Re-Roof 2018, Accessory Structure 2018, Deck/Porches 2018, Patio Covers 2018, Pole Barn 2018, Swimming Pools 2018, PV System 2019) that have not yet been refreshed to reference the 2024 I-Codes as of this review — treated as legacy/stale content rather than the governing code list, consistent with the Town's own live 'Current (Effective January 1, 2026)' code list.. Local amendments apply — see the Wellington overview page for the full list.

The Town's own documents are inconsistent: the Commercial Tenant Finish & Remodel checklist itself says to select 'New Commercial,' while the separate Commercial Kitchens and Restaurants guideline names 'Commercial Remodel' or 'Commercial Addition' for the same scope of work. RE-CHECKED 2026-08-02: neither PDF carries a printed revision date or version number, so there's no way to tell from the documents themselves which is the more current/authoritative label -- this is a genuine unresolved conflict in the Town's own materials, not a research gap. Confirm with SAFEbuilt or the Building Department directly before applying.

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