Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Permit in Blue River, Colorado

Blue River requires a solar photovoltaic (pv) permit for: Building Permit required for the structural/racking portion, billed under the Town's valuation-based Building Permit Fee table; Electrical Permit required for PV wiring/interconnection, billed under the Town's electrical fee table — either the square-footage tiers (if part of new construction) or the 'all other electrical work' valuation-based tier (for a retrofit solar installation); By statute (C.R.S. § 24-48.5-113 / HB21-1284), the aggregate of all permit fees and charges imposed by any Colorado governmental body for an active solar energy system installation is capped at $500 residential / $1,000 commercial; Apply through the Town of Blue River Building Department. If your project isn't listed, confirm with Town of Blue River Building Department at (970) 547-0545 (Town Hall, ext. 1 for building permit questions); Building Official direct: (720) 241-4741 before starting work.

The combined Building Permit and Electrical Permit fees cannot exceed $500 for a residential system, per the statewide cap in C.R.S. § 24-48.5-113 (HB21-1284). Blue River's own fee schedule has no distinct solar line item — a retrofit PV installation would typically be billed under the Town's 'all other electrical work' valuation-based tier plus the structural Building Permit fee, subject to the statewide cap.

Blue River does not publish a plan-review timeline for this permit. Contact Town of Blue River Building Department at (970) 547-0545 (Town Hall, ext. 1 for building permit questions); Building Official direct: (720) 241-4741 for current turnaround.

You'll need: Building Permit Application; Electrical Permit Application. See the required-documents checklist on this page for details on each.

Apply through Town of Blue River Building Department at Town Hall, 0110 Whispering Pines Circle, Blue River, CO 80424 (mailing: P.O. Box 1784, Breckenridge, CO 80424). Phone: (970) 547-0545 (Town Hall, ext. 1 for building permit questions); Building Official direct: (720) 241-4741, email: info@townofblueriver.org (applications/general); Building Official: SPinspections@caa.inc; Code Enforcement: CodeEnforcement@townofblueriver.org; inspections/scheduling issues: publicworks@townofblueriver.org. Office hours: Town Hall open Tuesday-Friday, 7:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. (per the Town's own Contact Us page). Building inspections are conducted Tuesdays and Thursdays and must be scheduled by 4:00 p.m. the day before (Monday inspections scheduled by 4:00 p.m. the prior Thursday); requests received Friday are scheduled for the following Tuesday. The Building Official's function is performed by a contracted firm (email domain caa.inc), not a Summit County employee and not a direct Town staff member.. Official information: https://townofblueriver.colorado.gov/building-department.

Blue River, Colorado has adopted: 2024 International Residential Code (IRC) with Town amendments — the Town of Blue River's Type A Permits page states: 'The Town of Blue River has adopted the following codes with amendments: 2024 International Residential Code, 2024 International Energy Code, 2024 International Electrical Code, 2020 International Fire Code'; 2024 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) with Town amendments — per the same live Type A Permits page; 2024 International Electrical Code (IEC) with Town amendments — per the same live Type A Permits page; 2020 International Fire Code (IFC) — per the same live Type A Permits page; Blue River's own published sources disagree on the adopted residential code year. The Town's Building FAQ page states that Blue River follows the 2018 International Residential Code, while the Type A Permits page cites the 2024 IRC. The codified ordinance (Chapter 18 of the Town Code) is older than both: it adopts the 2012 IBC, 2017 International Electrical Code, 2012 IECC and 2012 IFC by reference, with extensive local amendments, and has not been re-codified. Treat the Type A Permits page as the operative standard for what a plan submittal must meet today, and confirm the code year with the Building Official before you design or order materials.; Town of Blue River Municipal Code, Chapter 18 (Building Regulations) — contains extensive local amendments to the (older, codified) I-Code editions, including a locally-amended design snow load, frost line depth, and solid-fuel-burning-device restrictions (see localAmendments); Ordinance No. 2026-01 (signed, effective 12:00 a.m. March 31, 2026 — townofblueriver.colorado.gov/sites/townofblueriver/files/Ordinance%202026-01%20Chapter%2018%202026%20Code%20Amendments%20Signed.pdf) repealed and reenacted Article II of Chapter 18 in its entirety, closing the code-edition gap described above. It adopts by reference: International Building Code 2024 (1st printing, Aug. 2023) — the first current-edition IBC codified for Blue River, superseding the 2012 IBC citation above — plus International Residential Code 2024, International Mechanical Code 2024, International Property Maintenance Code 2024, International Existing Building Code 2024, International Energy Conservation Code 2024, International Swimming Pool and Spa Code 2024, International Wildland-Urban Interface Code, the 2023 National Electrical Code (superseding the 2017 IEC citation above), Colorado Fuel Gas Code, Colorado Plumbing Code, Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code (dated June 1, 2025), and the Colorado Model Electric Ready and Solar Ready Code (June 1, 2023). The Town's live Type A Permits page already cited the 2024 series; the codified ordinance has now caught up to it. Two things the ordinance does not resolve. It does not touch the International Fire Code edition — Ord. 2026-01's title and adopted-codes list include no Fire Code at all, and fire code appears to remain under separate authority, consistent with the Red White & Blue Fire District note. And the Town's own live Building FAQ page (townofblueriver.colorado.gov/building-in-blue-river) still displays stale 'International Residential 2018 Code' text elsewhere on the same page even though the codified ordinance is now 2024, so the page-versus-ordinance discrepancy is real — rely on the codified ordinance. None of this creates a distinct commercial-building-permit or TI-permit track; see the NO COMMERCIAL PERMIT TRACK entry below.. Local amendments apply — see the Blue River overview page for the full list.