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Permit Report » Permits by City » Denver

Denver Building Permit Search & History Reports

Denver Community Planning & Development (CPD) issues all building permits within Denver city and county limits — the City and County of Denver is a consolidated municipality, so one agency covers everything. CPD's online permit portal (denvergov.org/permits) provides real-time application status, and the geospatialDENVER ArcGIS Hub publishes the Residential Construction Permits layer (ODC_DEV_RESIDENTIALCONSTPERMIT_P) with records going back to 2012. Denver's housing market has seen explosive residential construction since 2010 — ADU legalization under the 2023 ADU text amendment, the RiNo and Highland neighborhood build-outs, and the ongoing transit-oriented development around RTD light rail stations have all produced dense permit activity. The residential-construction layer covers new construction, additions, alterations, repairs, and demolition carried out by residential permits (RESCON) — searchable via our live lookup. Commercial-only permits and demolition-only tickets publish on sibling Hub layers and are out of scope here. Jefferson County, Arapahoe County, and suburban cities (Aurora, Lakewood, Westminster) are separate jurisdictions outside CPD's scope.

Live data direct from Denver Community Planning & Development (CPD) · Results in seconds

Records available

What's included in a Denver permit search.

CPD-issued residential permits from the geospatialDENVER ArcGIS Hub: new construction, additions, alterations, repairs, demolitions. Includes permit type, declared job valuation, contractor, and current status code. Live ArcGIS FeatureServer lookup available.

Source: Denver Community Planning & Development (CPD) https://www.denvergov.org/permits

  • Permit type and scope of work Full description of the work covered by each permit
  • Issue date, final date, current status Track open vs. finaled vs. expired permits
  • Contractor name & license Where recorded — required for CO permits
  • Original PDF document (Premium tier) Certified copy from Denver Community Planning & Development (CPD)
Coverage limits

What this search does not include.

Commercial-only permits (see our Denver (Commercial) lookup backed by the sibling ODC_DEV_COMMERCIALCONSTPERMIT_P layer) and standalone demolition permits (ODC_DEV_DEMOLITIONPERMIT_P); Jefferson, Arapahoe, Adams, or Douglas County (separate jurisdictions); suburban cities (Aurora, Lakewood, Westminster, Englewood); permits still in active plan review.

  • Outside Denver, CO jurisdiction Adjacent counties and municipalities use separate systems
  • Pending / in-review permits Not yet issued — not in the public records database
  • Unpermitted work Not in the records — flagged via history gaps, not direct data
  • Voided / expired (cleared) records Denver may clear old records from public view after a retention period
Common questions

Frequently asked about Denver permits.

Is Denver a city and county?
Yes — Denver is a consolidated city and county. CPD is the single permit authority for all of Denver, unlike most metros where city and county are separate jurisdictions.
How far back do Denver CPD records go?
The geospatialDENVER Residential Construction Permits layer has records from 2012 onward for residential permit types (RESCON). Pre-2012 records and standalone commercial or demolition permits live on sibling layers and may require a CPD records request.
Can unpermitted additions be detected in Denver?
Cross-reference CPD permit history with the Denver Assessor's property records. ADU conversions and basement finish work are the most common unpermitted patterns in Denver's older residential neighborhoods.
What changed with Denver ADU rules?
Denver's 2023 ADU text amendment legalized ADUs citywide in residential zones, removing the conditional use requirement. This triggered a wave of new ADU permit applications — our lookup reflects all ADU permit history.
Does Denver require contractor registration?
Yes — contractors must register with CPD. License numbers are recorded on permits and included in our results where available.

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