Kitchen remodel permits in Aurora, CO

Most kitchen remodels in Aurora fall into one of two groups. Some replace what is already there, in the same place, on the same pipes and wires. The others change something inside the walls. The first group usually needs no building permit. The second usually does, and the whole question comes down to which group your plan is in.

This guide goes through the City of Aurora's own rules for kitchens, taken from its Building Division's homeowner handbook, DIY and Do It Right, and from its permits and licensing pages. It explains how you can check your own plan. It can't approve it. Only the Building Division can say whether a particular job needs a permit, and the handbook itself tells homeowners to call and confirm.

Do I need a permit to remodel my kitchen?

If the work changes anything inside the walls, yes. The City's handbook puts it in one sentence: "if your remodeling work entails changing anything within the wall space (i.e. wiring, plumbing, etc.), a building permit is needed." Elsewhere it names a kitchen renovation as its first example of a job that needs one.

The same page draws the line from the other side. "Replacement of cabinets, countertops, sinks, toilets and appliances usually do not require a permit," it says. It then lists the kitchen changes that bring a permit back in: moving a sink, changing an oven or stove from gas to electric, and installing a new range or exhaust hood.

Read your plan against that table one line at a time. A refacing job, new counters on the same cabinets, a new sink in the same hole and new appliances in the same spots usually stay entirely on the no side. A remodel that moves the sink to an island, puts the range on a different wall or adds wiring inside a wall for new lighting has several yes lines. The kitchen cabinets page and the countertops page cover what each of those scopes involves.

What can a homeowner do without a permit in Colorado?

There isn't one Colorado answer, because permits here are set locally. The City's handbook explains why: municipalities adopt model building codes, "but these codes can vary from city to city. Also, local jurisdictions can add to or modify parts of the codes they adopt." A rule you read on another city's page, or on a county's, may not match Aurora's.

That matters in this search in particular. Pages from the City and County of Denver, Arapahoe County and Jefferson County all rank for kitchen permit questions near Aurora, and each describes its own office's rules. If your home is inside Aurora's city limits, the City of Aurora's Building Division is the office that counts.

Aurora itself crosses county lines, which is why this is worth checking before you read any rule. The City describes itself as reaching "into Arapahoe, Adams and Douglas counties", and its tax pages quote a different construction use-tax rate for the part that lies in Arapahoe County. The county building departments, for their part, say they don't handle homes inside a city. Arapahoe County's building division says its services are "for unincorporated parts of Arapahoe County only" and asks visitors to check their jurisdiction before anything else. Douglas County says its building permits "are issued for unincorporated areas of Douglas County." So a home inside Aurora's city limits deals with the City's Building Division whatever county it sits in, and a home just outside them deals with its county.

Inside Aurora, the no-permit side of a kitchen is the table above: replacing cabinets, countertops, sinks and appliances where they already are. By the handbook's own guideline, painting, new cabinet hardware and new doors on the old boxes change nothing inside a wall either. The handbook still asks for a call to "verify that no permit is required", which costs nothing and settles it.

Kitchen remodel permit in Aurora, CO: how the process runs

The handbook sets out five steps, and a kitchen follows them like any other job.

1. Talk to the Building Division. The handbook calls this the worthwhile first move, because a code official will ask what you plan to do and where, go over the code requirements, and send you to any other City division whose approval you need.
2. Submit an application. You describe the job, with sketches or plans where the City asks for them, and a code official reviews it. The handbook says most remodeling projects can be permitted without plan submittal, which is the usual case for a kitchen that keeps its walls where they are.
3. Receive the permit. The fee is paid before the permit is issued, and it covers the application, the review and the inspections. Once it is issued you are free to start work.
4. Call for inspections. Inspectors visit to check that the work matches the permit, the City's codes and any plans. The handbook asks for inspections to be requested a day ahead, and says inspectors are also available for free consultations during the work.
5. Receive final approval. When the work passes, the City closes the permit and gives you the record that it did.

Two rules in that process catch people out. The permit has to be kept at the job site, with any approved plans, for the inspector to see. And it doesn't last forever. The handbook says a permit "will expire if the work it covers does not begin within six months or is not completed within one year." It can be renewed or extended, but the City's own advice is to get the permit as close as you can to the day the work starts.

Much of this happens online through the City's Aurora4Biz portal. The City describes it as a place to upload plans and pay for some permits, among other building services, and its Building Division page says inspections can be requested by logging in to it. A newer DevPortal now handles some tasks that used to sit on Aurora4Biz.

Which inspections a kitchen permit brings

The handbook's permit list codes each inspection by trade. F is framing or structural, M is mechanical, E is electrical and P is plumbing. Its rows for changes to a home's plumbing system are marked P, changes to the electrical system E, and changes to the structure F.

A kitchen permit brings the inspections that match the work. A job that only moves the sink is a plumbing job, with plumbing inspections. A job that also adds circuits is inspected by an electrical inspector too. One that changes the structure brings a framing inspection, and the handbook's own note under the list says more inspections may be needed depending on the project.

Inspections are why the order of work matters. Pipes and wires inside a wall are inspected before the wall is closed, so the drywall, the cabinets and the countertop all wait on the inspector. The guide to how long a kitchen remodel takes places those inspections in the full sequence of a remodel.

Can a homeowner pull a kitchen permit in Aurora?

Yes, for the house you live in. The handbook's list of common code points says: "Homeowners can obtain permits for work on their primary home." It also says most remodeling projects can be "performed by the owner of the home without having to hire a contractor."

The same list gives the rule for anyone you hire: "Hired contractors must be licensed by the city of Aurora." The City issues its own contractor licenses, including one for remodeling contractors, but not for electricians or plumbers. Its licensing page says those two trades need a current State of Colorado master's and contractor's license on file with the Building Division, and that "the city of Aurora does not issue a separate plumbing or electrical contractor license." The cabinet refacing page covers the City's license types in more detail.

Whoever pulls the permit answers for it. The handbook says the property owner or the person hired to do the work is responsible for getting every necessary permit, so if a permit is in your name, the inspections and the final approval are yours to see through.

What happens if I don't get a permit?

The City's handbook is direct about it, and most of the cost falls on the owner, not on whoever did the work.

The first place it shows up is usually a sale. The handbook warns that a buyer's home inspection "may uncover remodeling or additions that were not properly permitted", which can hold up the sale and may mean redoing the work, this time with a permit. It adds that insurers may not cover work done without permits and inspections, and that an owner selling a home modified without a permit may be required to tear down an addition, leave a structure unoccupied or make repairs.

Then there is the City. The handbook says work done ahead of the permit "can result in fines and court appearances, and if plans are rejected, can result in removal of all work done at the owner's expense." For a kitchen, work done ahead of an inspection is the plumbing and wiring that are now behind finished drywall and new cabinets, which is the expensive place to find a problem.

The last reason is the one the permit exists for. The handbook points to faulty wiring as a fire risk and to bad plumbing or gas work as a flood or gas-leak risk. A permit puts an inspector's eyes on the work you won't see again once the kitchen is finished.

If you hire someone: the City's own checklist

The same handbook has eleven tips for hiring a contractor, and several of them are about permits and paperwork. They are worth using as a checklist on any kitchen quote, including one for a job that needs no permit.

• Hire only a contractor licensed by the City. The handbook points to the City's contractor lookup, now the Online Contractor Lookup Tool, which searches by business name or license type. The tool says the City "cannot endorse any of these contractors", so a result shows that a license exists and nothing more.
• Before you hire, ask the Building Division whether the contractor has had any violations, as the handbook suggests.
• Get at least three separate written estimates, and find out why they differ if they vary widely.
• Make sure the contractor has obtained all necessary building permits, and be wary of any contractor who says one isn't needed.
• Put everything in a written contract, with a start date, a finish date and a penalty clause for missing it, and check whether the permit fees are included in the price.
• Never sign a contract with blank sections. The handbook wants the contract to list material warranties, describe the work in full, set out the payment schedule, and confirm that debris will be removed.
• Make a reasonable down payment and never pay for the whole job up front. Hold the final payment until you are satisfied and every inspection has passed.

Those last two lines matter more on a kitchen than most jobs, because a kitchen has a long gap between the deposit and the final inspection. The guide to what a kitchen remodel costs in Aurora puts those payments in the context of a whole budget.