Holyoke building permits

Building department

Address

407 E. Denver Street, Holyoke, CO 80734

Phone

970-854-2266

Email

contactus@cityofholyoke-co.gov

Office hours

City offices Monday-Friday 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM (closed weekends), per the City of Holyoke Forms & Documents page. No separate Building Department-specific hours or direct phone/email distinct from the main city line (970-854-2266 / contactus@cityofholyoke-co.gov) were found published anywhere on the city's site as of this review; the Building Department does not have its own dedicated staff-listing or contact page distinct from the city's general Forms & Documents / Business Office pages.

Website

Official site

Inspection guide

See how inspections work in Holyoke — 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.

• IMPORTANT SEED-URL CORRECTION: the seed URL provided for this research (https://www.holyoke.org/departments/building/) resolves to the City of Holyoke, MASSACHUSETTS Building Department (413-322-5600, City Hall Annex Room 300, buildcon@holyoke.org) — a completely different municipality. It does NOT describe Phillips County, Colorado's City of Holyoke in any way. The correct and verified official source for City of Holyoke, COLORADO is https://www.cityofholyoke-co.gov (confirmed via web search cross-referencing Phillips County, CO address 407 E. Denver Street, phone 970-854-2266, and Wikipedia/Census records for Holyoke, Colorado). All facts in this file are drawn exclusively from cityofholyoke-co.gov and its linked documents/PDFs, plus direct verification of Colorado statewide electrical/plumbing jurisdiction rules; none are drawn from the Massachusetts site.
• RE-CHASE 2026-07-23 — GAP CLOSED: Municode's Holyoke, CO library (library.municode.com/co/holyoke), previously returning 401/403 to automated tools, loaded successfully via a live browser session on this pass. The Holyoke Municipal Code, Title 15 - BUILDINGS AND CONSTRUCTION, is codified as Supplement 2, 'Online content updated on December 13, 2024,' 'Codified through Ordinance No. 1-2024, enacted September 17, 2024.' Holyoke has adopted, by reference, as its own local code (each chapter states a certified copy is on file with the city clerk): International Building Code, 2018 edition, incl. appendices C/E/I/J (Sec. 15.04.010); International Residential Code, 2018 edition (Sec. 15.08.010); International Mechanical Code, 2018 edition, incl. appendix A (Sec. 15.12.010); International Fire Code, 2018 edition, incl. appendices B/C/D/I (Sec. 15.16.010); International Energy Conservation Code, 2018 edition (Sec. 15.20.010); International Existing Building Code, 2018 edition (Sec. 15.22.010); 'the most recent edition of the Colorado Plumbing Code as adopted by the state plumbing board' as the city's own Plumbing Code, no fixed year — floats to whatever edition the state plumbing board currently has in effect (Sec. 15.24.010); and the National Electrical Code, 2017 edition, 'as adopted by the state' (Sec. 15.26.010). Quoted directly from the live Municode page.
• Local modifications on file (2026-07-23 re-chase): IBC 2018 Sec. 101.1 retitled 'Building Code of the City of Holyoke'; Sec. 103 deleted; Sec. 105.2 (Work Exempt from Permit) amended so 'fences not over six feet, three inches high' and 'retaining walls...not over four feet' are REMOVED from the exempt list (i.e., these now DO require a permit; see chapter 17.28 for fencing). IRC 2018 Sec. 101.1 retitled 'Residential Code of the City of Holyoke'; Sec. 104.10.1 (Flood Hazard Areas) deleted; Sec. 105.2 amended — exempt from permit: one-story detached accessory structures ≤120 sq ft; and 'decks not exceeding 120 square feet in area, that are not more than 18 inches above grade at any point, are not attached to a dwelling and do not serve the exit door required by section R311.4'; also exempt: like-for-like window/door replacement with no framing change; Sec. R313 (Automatic Fire Sprinkler Systems) deleted; Sec. N1102.4.1.2 (Testing) deleted. IMC 2018 Sec. 106.2 amended to exempt like-for-like category-one furnace/water-heater and A/C replacement (R-3 occupancies, prior install permitted/inspected/approved) from a new permit, and adds 'Sec. 106.5.2 Fee schedule. Fees for any permit, plan review or inspection required by this code shall be established from time to time by resolution of the city council' (confirms the fee-setting MECHANISM — a standalone council resolution, not a codified table — while the dollar figures themselves remain unpublished online; see the fee-schedule note below). IFC 2018 and IECC 2018 each retitled to the City of Holyoke's name in Sec. 101.1/C101.1 with no other substantive local modification noted.
• HB22-1362 (Colorado's statewide low-energy/carbon code requirement) and its predecessor HB19-1260 both operate on a 'when a jurisdiction updates its building code, the energy code update must accompany it' trigger — neither is a blanket mandate independent of a local update, and neither contains a population-based exemption threshold. The 2026-07-23 re-chase confirms the IECC edition currently on Holyoke's books is 2018 (not a newer low-energy cycle), but it could NOT establish exactly when Title 15's ICC chapters were last substantively enacted/updated: none of the Sec. 15.04.010 through 15.26.010 adoption sections carry an inline '(Ord. No. ___, ____)' legislative-history citation in the Municode text (unlike, e.g., the Mobile Home chapter at Sec. 15.28.010, which cites 'Ord. No. 5-1975'), and the code's front-matter 'codified through Ordinance No. 1-2024' banner reflects the single most-recent ordinance affecting ANY part of the whole Municipal Code, not necessarily Title 15 specifically. Whether HB22-1362 currently binds Holyoke therefore remains genuinely unresolved after this chase — recorded as such, not assumed either way — though it is now pinned down that whatever cycle IS in force is the 2018 ICC family, a materially more precise fact than the prior 'no edition found' state.
• RE-CHASE 2026-07-23 — GAP CLOSED (supersedes the DORA-vs-city ambiguity flagged in the prior 2026-07-06 pass): Holyoke Municipal Code Title 15 contains the City's OWN codified Electrical Code chapter (Sec. 15.26.010, adopting NEC 2017 'as adopted by the state,' expressly 'to provide for the issuance of permits and collection of fees therefor') and Plumbing Code chapter (Sec. 15.24.010, adopting by reference the state plumbing board's current Colorado Plumbing Code 'as the plumbing code of the CITY... providing for the issuance of permits and collection of fees therefor'). Both are codified as the City's own local ordinances under Title 15 - Buildings and Construction (footnoted to C.R.S. § 31-15-601 et seq., municipal building/fire-regulation power, and C.R.S. § 31-16-202, authority to adopt codes by reference) — not merely descriptive cross-references to a separate state process. This directly corroborates, on a live primary legal source, the City's own Forms & Documents page listing 'wiring' and 'plumbing' among its administered Building Department permit types, and as a home-rule municipality Holyoke has independent authority to run its own electrical/plumbing permitting program regardless of whether DORA's 'no state inspections in these counties' list includes Phillips County — that DORA list concerns default authority over UNINCORPORATED county land, not an incorporated home-rule city's own adopted code. Electrical and plumbing permits in Holyoke are therefore treated in this file as CITY-issued (City of Holyoke Building Department), under Secs. 15.26.010 and 15.24.010 respectively — not State of Colorado (DORA) issued. Remaining open, NOT resolved by the ordinance text: whether the City's own staff performs the physical inspections in-house or engages a state-certified/contract inspector — an operational detail the ordinance does not address.
• Fee-schedule mechanism CONFIRMED via primary ordinance text (2026-07-23), even though the dollar figures remain unpublished online: IMC Sec. 106.5.2 ('Fees...shall be established from time to time by resolution of the city council'); Zoning Sec. 17.44.050, Building permit—Fee ('A fee for the examination and administration of a building permit shall be payable to the city upon receipt of the application. The fee shall be as set from time to time by action of the city council and set out in the fee schedule.'); and the Mobile Home Regulations chapter, which repeatedly references applicants paying 'a fee in an amount set out in the consolidated fee schedule' (Secs. 15.28.040, 15.28.090). All three confirm Holyoke fees are set by a standalone CITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION establishing a 'consolidated fee schedule' — a document that is NOT part of the codified ordinances Municode publishes and was not located published online after this re-chase: checked the live city_council.php and city_clerk.php pages (no agendas/minutes/resolutions posted), ran a fresh Wayback Machine CDX index of the entire cityofholyoke-co.gov domain (562 archived URLs, filtered for fee/resolution/schedule/budget/council/minutes/agenda — the only hit was an unrelated 'Records Request Fees Schedule.pdf,' a CORA records-request fee document, not a building-permit fee schedule), and a live web search for 'City of Holyoke Colorado fee schedule resolution building permit' (returned only the already-flagged wrong-jurisdiction holyoke.org Massachusetts site plus unrelated other-Colorado-jurisdiction fee schedules). The consolidated fee schedule is confirmed to exist as a real governing document by council resolution, but its actual dollar figures remain genuinely unrecoverable via public online sources as of this pass.

Permit types & fees

• Residential Building Permit (New Construction)

  Required for new single-family residential construction within Holyoke city limits, issued by the City of Holyoke Building Department using its general Building Permit Application. RESOLVED 2026-07-23: the city has adopted the International Building Code, 2018 edition and International Residential Code, 2018 edition by reference as its own local code (Holyoke Municipal Code §§15.04.010, 15.08.010, current Supplement 2, Dec. 13, 2024), so review is against a specific, citable current-cycle code adoption, not merely the generic 2003-era Colorado Chapter ICC 'Building Guide' templates (which remain useful submittal aids but are not the code of record).

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• Residential Addition / Remodel Permit

  Required for additions, alterations, and repairs to existing residential structures in Holyoke. Unlike new-residence construction, additions and remodels always require standalone electrical/plumbing/mechanical permits where applicable, per the city's own Building Permit Application notice. RESOLVED 2026-07-23: governed by IRC 2018 as locally modified (Holyoke Municipal Code §15.08.010/.020), which carries several exemptions directly relevant to this permit type (see requirements).

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• Electrical Permit

  Required for wiring/electrical installation, alteration, or repair in Holyoke. RESOLVED 2026-07-23: Holyoke Municipal Code §15.26.010 (Electrical Code) codifies the National Electrical Code, 2017 edition, 'as adopted by the state,' as the City's OWN local electrical code, expressly 'providing for the issuance of permits and collection of fees therefor' under city ordinance authority. This permit type is therefore treated as CITY-issued (City of Holyoke Building Department), consistent with the Forms & Documents page listing 'wiring' among the permit types it administers — the DORA-vs-city ambiguity flagged in the 2026-07-06 pass is now resolved on a live primary legal source rather than left as an open discrepancy.

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• Plumbing Permit

  Required for plumbing installation, alteration, or repair in Holyoke. RESOLVED 2026-07-23: Holyoke Municipal Code §15.24.010 (Plumbing Code) adopts by reference 'the most recent edition of the Colorado Plumbing Code as adopted by the state plumbing board... as the plumbing code of the CITY,' expressly 'providing for the issuance of permits and collection of fees therefor' under city ordinance authority. This permit type is therefore treated as CITY-issued (City of Holyoke Building Department), consistent with the Forms & Documents page listing 'plumbing' among its administered permit types — the DORA-vs-city ambiguity flagged in the 2026-07-06 pass is now resolved on a live primary legal source.

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• Mechanical / Sheet Metal (HVAC) Permit

  Required for heating, ventilating, and air conditioning equipment installation or replacement in Holyoke, referred to on the city's Forms & Documents page as a 'sheet metal' permit. No evidence was found of a separate state deferral for mechanical/HVAC work (unlike electrical and plumbing, mechanical permitting in Colorado is not centralized through a DORA state board), so this permit type is treated as issued by the City of Holyoke Building Department. RESOLVED 2026-07-23: the adopted mechanical code is now confirmed — International Mechanical Code, 2018 edition (Holyoke Municipal Code §15.12.010).

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• Re-siding / Re-roofing / Soffit Permit

  Required for re-roofing, re-siding, and soffit replacement work in Holyoke, using the city's own dedicated 2020 Re-siding/Re-roofing/Soffit Permit Application — a distinct standalone form from the general Building Permit Application, unlike many peer jurisdictions in this corpus that fold re-roofs into the general building-permit process.

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• Deck / Patio Cover / Enclosed Patio Permit

  Required for uncovered decks, patio covers/carports, and enclosing existing patios in Holyoke. The city publishes three distinct Colorado Chapter ICC 'Building Guide' fill-in-the-blank worksheets for these scopes (Uncovered Decks, Patio Covers & Carports, Enclosing a Patio), used alongside the general Building Permit Application. RESOLVED 2026-07-23: the governing code is IRC 2018 (Holyoke Municipal Code §15.08.010), whose locally modified §105.2 exempt list directly covers small uncovered decks — see requirements.

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• Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic Permit

  Required for rooftop or ground-mounted solar photovoltaic installations within Holyoke city limits. As with every other permit type in this file, the City of Holyoke Building Department publishes no fee schedule (valuation table, flat rate, or square-footage rate) online — the general Building Permit Application's fee block is filled in by city staff at issuance rather than computed from a public rate table, and no separate solar-specific application or fee line exists. Colorado's statewide solar-fee cap (C.R.S. § 24-48.5-113, $500 residential/$1,000 commercial via HB21-1284) applies as a ceiling regardless of the amount the City ultimately assesses.

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• EV Charger / EVSE Permit

  Holyoke has no dedicated EV charger or EVSE permit and no distinct fee line item for electric vehicle charging equipment. As with every other permit type in this file, the City of Holyoke Building Department publishes no fee schedule (valuation table, flat rate, or square-footage rate) online -- an EV charger installation would use the same general Building Permit Application used for other construction, with the fee block filled in by city staff at issuance rather than computed from a public rate table. Colorado's HB24-1173 (2024), which mandates expedited/standardized EV-charger permitting, applies only to counties of 20,000+ and municipalities of 10,000+ population -- Holyoke (population roughly 2,000) falls well below that threshold and is not a covered municipality under the statute.

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