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

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/low-carbon code law) population-based carve-out analysis: unincorporated Washington County's population is approximately 3,060 (county total 4,817 per 2020 Census, minus Akron's 1,757 — Akron is the only incorporated municipality in the county per this corpus's counties.json), which is ABOVE the law's 2,500-resident exemption threshold, so the population carve-out alone would not exempt the county. HB22-1362's model-code mandate is triggered only when a jurisdiction adopts or updates a building code; within the bound of what this file could actually read online, no building code (energy or otherwise) was found to have been affirmatively adopted, so no adoption/update event was found for the law's mandate to attach to. Given the unpublished-Zoning-Resolution caveat above, this is stated as 'no trigger event found' rather than an affirmative certainty that none exists. Re-check if the County adopts any future code, or if the Zoning Resolution's actual text is obtained and found to reference one — either would trigger the law's Model Low Energy and Carbon Code requirement (binding on any update after July 1, 2026).

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.

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• 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.

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• 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.

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• 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.

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