Unincorporated Washington County building permits

Building department

Address

Washington County Courthouse, 150 Ash Avenue, 2nd Floor, Akron, CO 80720

Phone

(970) 345-2701 ext. 234 (fax (970) 514-7710, per the department's live webpage — resolved as current: a 2020 Wayback capture of the same page shows fax 345-2702 with then-Zoning-Official Denise Chavez named, while the live page today shows no named official ('temporary') and the new fax, indicating the webpage was updated since 2020 and the number changed; the Building Permit Application form (Rev. 06-14, unrevised since 2014) still carries the older 345-2702 and is treated as stale on this one field)

Email

planning@co.washington.co.us (per the Foundation Permit and Mobile/Manufactured Home Permit forms; also matches the address shown for then-Zoning-Official Denise Chavez on a 2020 Wayback capture of the department's own webpage — the current live webpage's visible text does not repeat an email address, but nothing found contradicts this one, so it is carried forward as still-current pending direct confirmation)

Office hours

Not published as specific hours for this department; the County's website states only that proposed regulations are available for inspection 'during normal business hours' at 150 Ash Avenue. The Planning Commission's regular meeting is the third Monday of each month at 7:00 p.m. in the old courtroom at the Courthouse (date subject to change).

Website

Official site

Inspection guide

See how inspections work in Unincorporated Washington County — 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.

• No model building code (IBC/IRC/NEC) found published online — see the FAQ below for what governs instead
• Manufactured/mobile homes: Colorado Division of Housing state standards apply, not a county-adopted code
• County Zoning Resolution is in force but not published online — full scope on this point unconfirmed
• HB22-1362 (2022), Colorado's statewide model energy and low-carbon code law, exempts jurisdictions under 2,500 residents. Show full textShow less

  HB22-1362 (2022), Colorado's statewide model energy and low-carbon code law, exempts jurisdictions under 2,500 residents. Unincorporated Washington County is roughly 3,060 people -- county total 4,817 per the 2020 Census, minus Akron's 1,757, Akron being the county's only incorporated municipality -- so the population exemption does not apply on its own. The law's model-code mandate attaches only when a jurisdiction adopts or updates a building code, and no affirmatively adopted county building code, energy or otherwise, is published anywhere findable, so there is no trigger event on record. The County's Zoning Resolution is not published online, so treat this as nothing found rather than a certainty that nothing exists. If the County adopts or updates any code, the Model Low Energy and Carbon Code requirement binds any update after July 1, 2026. Confirm current requirements with the County before designing to an energy code.

Permit types & fees

• Building Permit (New Construction, Addition, Remodel, Accessory Structures)

  Washington County's general Building Permit Application covers new construction, additions, and remodels for residences (including manufactured homes checked as a class of work on this same form) plus accessory structures — out buildings (barns, shops, machine sheds), grain bins, garages, room additions, and decks with attached roofs or screened porches. Reviewed and approved by the County Commissioner Chairman via the Land Use Office. Review focuses on zoning and placement compliance (legal description, road access, construction materials, foundation type, size, sewer/water source) rather than a technical model-code plan review — see the FAQ below for a note on the County's separate, not-online-published Zoning Resolution.

  From$100.00→

• Commercial Building Permit (Use by Special Review)

  Washington County issues commercial building permits through the same general Building Permit Application (Rev. 06-14) used for residential construction, rather than a separate commercial form — but the application's own fee grid carries a distinct, higher fee tier for a commercial-use building approved under Use by Special Review (USBR): $150.00, versus $100.00 for other buildings. Commercial, mixed-use, and industrial USE of the property is a separate zoning gate from the building permit itself: it requires a USBR application, a public-hearing process through the Planning Commission and then the Board of County Commissioners, adopted by Resolution 2004-68 (April 20, 2004), with CMRS/wind-tower uses added by Resolution 2004-142 (September 21, 2004) and site-plan amendments added by Resolution 2004-181 (December 30, 2004), all per the USBR application form's own citation of its adopting resolutions. The USBR form's enumerated 'Principal Permitted Uses' for Community Business, Mixed Use Development, and Industrial Uses establish that commercial and industrial use categories exist in the county's zoning scheme, even though the County has not published its underlying Zoning Resolution online.

  From$150.00→

• Mobile or Manufactured Home Permit (with Foundation Permit if applicable)

  A separate application (distinct from the general Building Permit) for placing a mobile or manufactured home in unincorporated Washington County. Installation and inspection standards are set by the Colorado Division of Housing (state), not a county-adopted code; the County collects its own permit fee and the state's inspection/insignia fee, arranges the state-required inspection, and — if the unit will sit on a permanent foundation or basement — requires a separate Foundation Permit using the same County-designated inspector.

  From$100.00→

• Small Solar Energy Conversion System (SECS) Permit — Rooftop/Accessory Solar

  Washington County's Solar Power Production Facilities Zoning Regulations define a 'Small Solar Energy Conversion System' (small SECS) as a solar energy conversion system occupying less than 7 acres of total land that is an accessory use (i.e., primarily energy production by the property owner where it is sited) — this covers ordinary residential rooftop and small ground-mount solar. Per the regulations: 'All small SECS require a building permit from the County' and small SECS are explicitly EXEMPT from the county's Solar Power Production Facility (SPPF) regulations, which instead require a Use by Special Review plus a building permit for larger, non-accessory, or 7+ acre commercial solar farms. A small SECS therefore uses the same general Building Permit Application as other construction (see residential-building-permit) — there is no dedicated solar application form or published flat fee, but Colorado's statewide fee cap on active solar energy system permits applies regardless of any locally calculated valuation-based fee.

  From$500.00valuation-based→

• Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Station / EVSE Permit

  Unincorporated Washington County has no dedicated EV charger/EVSE permit application, fee, or process. Like the county's small solar (SECS) permit, an EV charging station installation would be handled through the county's single general Building Permit Application (Rev. 06-14), the same declared-value-based form used for all other construction and electrical work here, since the Land Use Office does not maintain a separate trade-specific electrical permit or in-house electrical inspector distinct from the general building permit. Because Washington County has not retained its own local electrical inspection program, the electrical/EVSE-circuit component of an EV charger installation instead falls under the Colorado State Electrical Board (DORA/DPO)'s statewide permit and fee schedule, per DORA's own published jurisdictional framework for unincorporated areas without a local electrical program. Washington County's population (approximately 4,700) is well below the 20,000-person threshold that triggers 'covered county' status under Colorado's HB24-1173 (Electric Vehicle Charging System Permits Act, effective 8/7/2024), so the statute's model-code/objective-standards adoption mandate and 3-business-day decision-notification requirement do not apply to this jurisdiction.

  From$90valuation-based→

• Sign Permit

  Unincorporated Washington County publishes no dedicated local sign-permit application, sign ordinance, or sign fee schedule online. The current Planning & Zoning department webpage and the Planning and Zoning Forms page list only Building/Foundation/Mobile-Home permits, USBR (Use by Special Review) and its amendment/extinguishment forms, Subdivision Exemption, Temporary Use, Road Access/Road Cut, Petition for Vacation, Address Request, and similar land-use forms — no sign-specific document appears among them. The County's own Zoning Resolution is currently in force (see localAmendments) but is not published online anywhere reachable, so ask the County Land Use Office directly about any on-premise sign standard it may contain. The one sourced sign-permitting mechanism that reaches unincorporated Washington County is the Colorado Department of Transportation's (CDOT) statewide Outdoor Advertising Permit program, which regulates OFF-PREMISE advertising devices (billboards) within CDOT's 'control area' adjacent to the state highway system under the Colorado Outdoor Advertising Act (C.R.S. Title 43, Article 1, Part 4) — state highways cross the county's unincorporated area. That state permit application requires Part 3 to be completed and signed by 'the representative of the local jurisdiction' (i.e., Washington County) certifying the site's zoning classification and compliance with local ordinances, giving the County Land Use Office a real, sourced role even though CDOT itself issues the permit.

  From$10.00→

• Fire Sprinkler / Fire Alarm System Permit

  Fire protection for unincorporated Washington County is split among small, geographically distinct rural fire protection districts rather than one countywide authority: Akron Rural Fire Protection District (around Akron), Otis Rural Fire Protection District (around Otis, ~65 sq mi), and Southwest Washington County Fire Protection District (Anton, Last Chance, Lindon, Cope, Woodrow, and other southern/western communities, ~980 sq mi), all dispatched through the shared Washington/Yuma Combined Communications Center. None of the three publishes an official department website carrying a permit, plan-review, or fee process — each is reachable only through third-party directory listings or, in one case, a Facebook page. For FIRE SPRINKLER / SUPPRESSION systems specifically, Colorado's statewide Fire Suppression Program rule, 8 CCR 1507-11 § 2.2, defines the default 'Authority Having Jurisdiction' (AHJ) as 'the Division [of Fire Prevention and Control, DFPC], unless delegated to a Local Authority Having Jurisdiction having Fire Suppression Systems Inspectors certified to the appropriate level' — none of the three local rural districts is listed as employing DFPC-certified Fire Suppression Systems Inspectors, so DFPC itself is the best-sourced default AHJ and permit issuer for a fire sprinkler/suppression system installed in unincorporated Washington County. FIRE ALARM systems are a separate, unresolved gap: DFPC's Fire Suppression Program rule (8 CCR 1507-11) governs suppression/sprinkler systems, not fire alarm systems, and Colorado does not operate a state-level fire alarm permitting program — alarm permits are established locally under each jurisdiction's adopted fire code. Washington County publishes no fire code adoption online, consistent with the absence of a published model building code noted in the code-adoption entry, and none of the three local fire districts publish an alarm-permitting process online, so no fire-alarm permit process can be documented for this jurisdiction.

  From$800.00valuation-based→

• Change of Use Permit

  Unincorporated Washington County has no distinct 'Change of Use Permit' application, procedure, or fee. Neither the current Planning & Zoning department webpage nor the Planning and Zoning Forms page lists any change-of-use-specific document among the County's full published set of land-use forms (Building Permit, Foundation Permit, Mobile/Manufactured Home Permit, USBR and its Amend/Extinguish forms, Subdivision Exemption, Temporary Use, Road Access, Road Cut, Petition for Vacation, Request for Address). A change of use is instead handled through one of two existing mechanisms, depending on what is actually changing: (1) a change to a commercial, mixed-use, or industrial USE of land (as distinct from the building itself) requires a 'Use by Special Review' (USBR) application — a public-hearing zoning-approval process under Resolution 2004-68 with its own $500.00 Administrative Review Fee, $150.00 Sign Posting Fee, and recording fees; or (2) a physical remodel/change tied to an existing building routes through the County's general Building Permit Application (Rev. 06-14), whose 'Class of work' options include 'Remodel' as one of only four checkboxes. Neither mechanism is labeled or fee-structured as a dedicated 'change of use permit' the way, for example, Northglenn's UDO Sec. 11-6-5(d) is.

  See fee schedule→

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