Historic Preservation Alteration Certificate (Certificate of Appropriateness) in Yuma, Colorado

Yuma requires a historic preservation alteration certificate (certificate of appropriateness) permit for: This chapter only applies to a structure, site, or district that has gone through Yuma's LOCAL historic-designation process: nomination on City-provided forms (75% property-owner approval required for a district nomination), a Historic Preservation Commission public hearing held within 60 days of the nomination being deemed complete, a Commission decision within 30 days after the hearing concludes, and recording of the designation resolution with the Yuma County Clerk and Recorder (§§16.01.060, .070, .080); For a LOCALLY-DESIGNATED structure/site/feature: no construction, alteration, restoration, removal, or demolition may occur, and the Building Department will not issue a building permit for the work, until an Alteration Certificate (or a Certificate of Exemption) is obtained from the Commission (§16.01.090.A-B); File a 'Historic Preservation Committee Review Application (Request for a Certificate of Appropriateness)' with the Commission (c/o Yuma Public Library, PO Box 291, Yuma CO 80759, 970-848-2368) before starting work; the Commission meets the 3rd Monday of each month when there is something to review, with a submittal deadline of the last day of the month prior to the target meeting; Required submittal items per the application form: detailed project description (scope, materials, design elements, colors), proof of ownership, historic and present photos of the property, a site plan (if applicable, showing access/property lines/setbacks/driveways/parking), and elevations with height indicated (if applicable); Administrative staff approval (without a full Commission hearing) is available for: repainting in approved colors, minor repairs that don't affect exterior appearance, normal maintenance, interior work, and pruning/removal of dead landscape materials (application form, page 2); The owner or authorized agent must be present at the HPC review hearing; an approved Alteration Certificate is valid for one year and void thereafter; A Commission denial (or an approval with unacceptable conditions) may be appealed in writing to the City Council within 20 days of the Commission's decision (§16.01.090.G, §16.01.110). If your project isn't listed, confirm with City of Yuma Building Inspection / Code Enforcement at 970-848-3878 (City Hall); 970-630-7118 (Building Inspector direct line) before starting work.

In Yuma, the published Historic Preservation Committee / Alteration Certificate review is: No fee found. These are the jurisdiction's own published figures — see the fee schedule table and source citations on this page.

Yuma does not publish a plan-review timeline for this permit. Contact City of Yuma Building Inspection / Code Enforcement at 970-848-3878 (City Hall); 970-630-7118 (Building Inspector direct line) for current turnaround.

You'll need: Historic Preservation Committee Review Application (Request for a Certificate of Appropriateness). See the required-documents checklist on this page for details on each.

Yuma requires 1 inspection(s) for a historic preservation alteration certificate (certificate of appropriateness) permit, in order: Property access/inspection (as needed). Schedule each through City of Yuma Building Inspection / Code Enforcement (970-848-3878 (City Hall); 970-630-7118 (Building Inspector direct line)).

Apply through City of Yuma Building Inspection / Code Enforcement at 320 South Main Street, Yuma, CO 80759 (mailing: PO Box 265, Yuma, CO 80759). Phone: 970-848-3878 (City Hall); 970-630-7118 (Building Inspector direct line), email: building.inspector@yumacolo.org. Office hours: Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (City Hall, 320 South Main Street). Official information: https://cityofyuma.colorado.gov/building-inspection.

Yuma, Colorado has adopted: 2015 International Building Code (IBC) — per the City's own 'Roofing, Siding and Window Requirements' handout ('All projects must conform to Chapter 15 of the 2015 IBC, IRC and ICC as specified'; Siding requirements cite '2015 IBC Chapter 14 section 1403'); this is the most current, actively-maintained City-published statement of adopted edition found after full chasing.; 2015 International Residential Code (IRC) — same source as above.; 2015 International Existing Building Code (IEBC) — RE-VERIFIED 2026-07-23 on a live primary source: Municode Chapter 15.28 (§15.28.010, 'Adopted') was read directly via the Browser pane (which renders Municode's Angular SPA server-side content client-side, unlike a plain fetch/curl request, which still returns only the app shell), current through Supplement No. 5 (codified through Ordinance No. 5-2025, adopted 4-15-2025; online content updated 7-25-2025). Full section text confirmed verbatim: 'There is hereby adopted by reference the International Existing Building Code, 2015 edition, as published by the International Code Council, as the Existing Building Code of the City of Yuma, Colorado, regulating and governing the repair, alteration, change of occupancy, addition and relocation of existing buildings...' (Ord. 17-2018, 2018). This closes the prior partial-confidence flag, which had relied only on a search-engine-indexed snippet rather than a directly re-read chapter body.; 2015 International Fire Code (IFC) — RE-VERIFIED 2026-07-23 by directly reading Municode Chapter 15.16 (§15.16.010, 'Adopted') via the Browser pane, current through Supplement No. 5: 'There is hereby adopted by reference the International Fire Code, 2015 edition, as published by the International Code Council, as the Fire Code of the City of Yuma, Colorado...' (Ord. 17-2018, 2018) (administered by Fire Department, not modeled in this file's permitTypes).; 2015 International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC) — RE-VERIFIED 2026-07-23 by directly reading Municode Chapter 15.30 (§15.30.010, 'Adopted') via the Browser pane, current through Supplement No. 5: 'There is hereby adopted by reference the International Property Maintenance Code, 2015 edition...' (Ord. 17-2018, 2018) (administered by Code Enforcement, not modeled in this file's permitTypes).; Most recent International Plumbing Code (IPC) as adopted by the State of Colorado, adopted by reference by the City of Yuma — RE-VERIFIED 2026-07-23 by directly reading Municode Chapter 15.32 (§15.32.010, 'Adopted') via the Browser pane, current through Supplement No. 5: 'There is hereby adopted by reference the most recent International Plumbing Code, adopted by the State of Colorado, as published by the International Code Council, as the Plumbing Code of the City of Yuma, Colorado...' (Ord. 17-2018, 2018) — confirming the City ties its plumbing code edition to whatever the State of Colorado has adopted rather than naming a fixed edition year itself; see localAmendments for why plumbing permits/inspections are administered by the State Plumbing Board (DORA/DPO), not the City, for Yuma jurisdiction.; 2015 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), with the 2015 IECC/IRC Table R402.1.2/N1102.1.2 U-factor/SHGC table and the 2012 IECC/IRC Table R402.1.1/N1102.1.1 table both cited as applicable (values stated as identical between the two editions) in the City's 'Roofing, Siding and Window Requirements' handout, for window replacement energy compliance specifically.; 2023 National Electrical Code (NEC) as adopted by the Colorado State Electrical Board — City of Yuma does not run its own local electrical program (see localAmendments); wiring work is governed by whatever NEC edition the State Electrical Board has adopted, verify current edition directly with the State Electrical Board (dpo.colorado.gov/Electrical) at time of permit, since the City does not separately publish or amend an NEC edition of its own.; No newer code-edition cycle (e.g. 2018, 2021, or 2024 IBC/IRC family) is referenced anywhere on the City's Building Inspection page, Permits and Forms page, Roofing/Siding/Window Requirements handout, or Building Permit Application form after full chasing (page fetch via full-header curl, PDF text extraction, and Municode search-index snippet) — the City's actively-maintained public materials consistently cite the 2015 ICC family, so this file records 2015 IBC/IRC/IEBC/IFC/IPMC as the governing adopted editions rather than assuming a later cycle. RE-VERIFIED 2026-07-23 with a genuinely new avenue — the Municode Library's own live Supplement History Table (nodeId=SUHITA, read directly via the Browser pane) — confirms the CURRENT codification is Supplement No. 5 (online content updated 7-25-2025), which lists every ordinance considered for codification through Ordinance No. 5-2025 (adopted 4-15-2025) as either 'Included' or 'Omitted'; no ordinance postdating 4-15-2025 (including no Dec-2025-era ordinance) appears anywhere in that table, and a direct read of every Title 15 code-adoption chapter (15.04, 15.10, 15.12, 15.16, 15.24, 15.28, 15.30, 15.32, 15.36, 15.40, 15.41) confirms each still cites its original 2015-cycle edition (or, for Chapter 15.24, the 1997 UCADB), with the only post-2018 touch to any of these chapters being the identical, uniform Ord. No. 3-2025 (4-1-2025) penalty-cross-reference amendment applied chapter-by-chapter — not a code-edition update. This is a live, direct, chapter-by-chapter confirmation (not an inference from absence), and closes this line to full confidence: as of 2026-07-23, Yuma has adopted no newer I-code cycle than 2015.. Local amendments apply — see the Yuma overview page for the full list.

Yes, but only for a structure, site, or feature that has gone through Yuma's own LOCAL historic-designation process under Municode Chapter 16.01. §16.01.090.B states the Building Department will not issue a building permit for work on a designated structure or feature until an Alteration Certificate (or Certificate of Exemption) has been obtained from the Historic Preservation Commission. This does not apply to non-designated properties, and the practical number of currently-designated properties could not be confirmed from the City's public-facing materials as of 2026-08-02.