Data through April 2026 · updated 20 Oct 2026
The usual Boulder County (unincorporated) permit takes 70 days from issue to the county's final inspection or closeout, across all 10 kinds of work on file (7,668 permits, May 2023 through April 2026). The usual heating & cooling permit, the biggest trade here, takes 50 days. Electrical is quickest at 28 days; addition the slowest at 279 days. This is the turnaround to finish the work and close the permit, not the wait for approval. Records run through April 2026; the county's file has nothing newer.
“How long does a permit take?” can mean two waits. This page measures the second one.
Getting the permit (not measured): application → issue, the wait for the county to approve it. Boulder County's file we read does not carry a usable application date, so we don't guess at it. Ask the permit office for its current review times.
Finishing the work (measured here): issue → completion. The day the county issued the permit to the day it recorded a final inspection or closeout. That is the contractor's part: doing the work and getting it signed off.
What “finished” means in Boulder County (unincorporated): For contractors with at least 8 permits a year or more old, the share the County marked complete or closed.
Speed: How long their permits take from issue to the completion date the County records, compared with other Boulder County contractors in the trade. Shown for firms with 10+ permits.
Usual is the middle permit: half finish sooner, half later. Finished is the share of permits a year or more old that the county closed out.
| Trade | Permits | Usual days to finish | Finished | Firms with 10+ permits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heating & Cooling | 1,917 | 50 | 66.4% | 37 |
| Roofing | 1,524 | 50 | 82.6% | 29 |
| Solar & Battery | 982 | 88 | 87.6% | 17 |
| Windows & Doors | 838 | 91 | 76.5% | 14 |
| Electrical | 723 | 28 | 81.5% | 15 |
| Plumbing & Water Heater | 628 | 76 | 55.1% | 16 |
| Remodel & Repair | 446 | 190 | 87.4% | 4 |
| Generator | 293 | 35 | 98.9% | 3 |
| Addition | 185 | 279 | 76.1% | 2 |
| Siding | 132 | 148 | 75.2% | 4 |
Each trade on its own, from issue to the county's sign-off. The spread between the quickest and slowest quarter of firms is the part you can choose.
The usual heating & cooling permit in Boulder County (unincorporated) takes 50 days from issue to the county's final inspection or closeout (1,917 permits, May 2023 through April 2026). 66.4% of heating & cooling permits a year or more old have been closed out. The quickest quarter of firms usually finish in 0.9 months, the slowest quarter in 1.6 months. The wait for approval before issue is not in Boulder County's file.
23 firms with enough permits to measure, each firm's usual months to finish, weighted by its permits. Compare Boulder County (unincorporated) heating & cooling contractors →
The usual roofing permit in Boulder County (unincorporated) takes 50 days from issue to the county's final inspection or closeout (1,524 permits, May 2023 through April 2026). 82.6% of roofing permits a year or more old have been closed out. The quickest quarter of firms usually finish in 0.9 months, the slowest quarter in 1.9 months. The wait for approval before issue is not in Boulder County's file.
26 firms with enough permits to measure, each firm's usual months to finish, weighted by its permits. Compare Boulder County (unincorporated) roofing contractors →
The usual solar & battery permit in Boulder County (unincorporated) takes 88 days from issue to the county's final inspection or closeout (982 permits, May 2023 through April 2026). 87.6% of solar & battery permits a year or more old have been closed out. The quickest quarter of firms usually finish in 2.2 months, the slowest quarter in 3.4 months. The wait for approval before issue is not in Boulder County's file.
16 firms with enough permits to measure, each firm's usual months to finish, weighted by its permits. Compare Boulder County (unincorporated) solar & battery contractors →
The usual windows & doors permit in Boulder County (unincorporated) takes 91 days from issue to the county's final inspection or closeout (838 permits, May 2023 through April 2026). 76.5% of windows & doors permits a year or more old have been closed out. The quickest quarter of firms usually finish in 1.9 months, the slowest quarter in 3.1 months. The wait for approval before issue is not in Boulder County's file.
13 firms with enough permits to measure, each firm's usual months to finish, weighted by its permits. Compare Boulder County (unincorporated) windows & doors contractors →
The usual electrical permit in Boulder County (unincorporated) takes 28 days from issue to the county's final inspection or closeout (723 permits, May 2023 through April 2026). 81.5% of electrical permits a year or more old have been closed out. The quickest quarter of firms usually finish in 0.6 months, the slowest quarter in 1.6 months. The wait for approval before issue is not in Boulder County's file.
14 firms with enough permits to measure, each firm's usual months to finish, weighted by its permits. Compare Boulder County (unincorporated) electrical contractors →
The usual plumbing & water heater permit in Boulder County (unincorporated) takes 76 days from issue to the county's final inspection or closeout (628 permits, May 2023 through April 2026). 55.1% of plumbing & water heater permits a year or more old have been closed out. The quickest quarter of firms usually finish in 1.3 months, the slowest quarter in 3.8 months. The wait for approval before issue is not in Boulder County's file.
12 firms with enough permits to measure, each firm's usual months to finish, weighted by its permits. Compare Boulder County (unincorporated) plumbing & water heater contractors →
The usual remodel & repair permit in Boulder County (unincorporated) takes 190 days from issue to the county's final inspection or closeout (446 permits, May 2023 through April 2026). 87.4% of remodel & repair permits a year or more old have been closed out. The quickest quarter of firms usually finish in 4.4 months, the slowest quarter in 7.2 months. The wait for approval before issue is not in Boulder County's file.
4 firms with enough permits to measure, each firm's usual months to finish, weighted by its permits. Compare Boulder County (unincorporated) remodel & repair contractors →
The usual generator permit in Boulder County (unincorporated) takes 35 days from issue to the county's final inspection or closeout (293 permits, May 2023 through April 2026). 98.9% of generator permits a year or more old have been closed out. The quickest quarter of firms usually finish in 0.8 months, the slowest quarter in 1.3 months. The wait for approval before issue is not in Boulder County's file.
3 firms with enough permits to measure, each firm's usual months to finish, weighted by its permits. Compare Boulder County (unincorporated) generator contractors →
The usual addition permit in Boulder County (unincorporated) takes 279 days from issue to the county's final inspection or closeout (185 permits, May 2023 through April 2026). 76.1% of addition permits a year or more old have been closed out. The wait for approval before issue is not in Boulder County's file.
The usual siding permit in Boulder County (unincorporated) takes 148 days from issue to the county's final inspection or closeout (132 permits, May 2023 through April 2026). 75.2% of siding permits a year or more old have been closed out. The quickest quarter of firms usually finish in 2.3 months, the slowest quarter in 13.5 months. The wait for approval before issue is not in Boulder County's file.
4 firms with enough permits to measure, each firm's usual months to finish, weighted by its permits. Compare Boulder County (unincorporated) siding contractors →
From our cross-city data studies: the same measure, read the same way, for every city we cover.
How long permits take for other places in Denver and Boulder. Each permit office keeps its own file, so the numbers are not added together.
Denver, COBoulder, COAdams County, COAurora, COCentennial, COThornton, COLongmont, CO
Source: Boulder County Community Planning & Permitting building permits on homes in unincorporated Boulder County (the County's Accela permit layer, which stopped taking new applications on May 4, 2026, so the data ends with April 2026; the City of Boulder and the other cities issue their own permits), with issue dates and declared job values from the Boulder County Assessor's permit file. The window is May 2023 through April 2026; a permit filed after that isn't here yet.
A filed value is what the contractor wrote on the permit when they applied. It is not a quote and not the final bill.
Counts are permits, not jobs: one job can need several permits, and one permit can cover several visits.
Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can. How the records work in Boulder County (unincorporated) → · Sources and definitions for every city →
Free to reuse with attribution (CC BY 4.0). Please credit Contractor Records and link to this page. Suggested citation:
Contractor Records, "How long do permits take in Boulder County (unincorporated), CO?", https://contractorrecords.com/boulder-county/how-long-does-a-permit-take, data through April 2026, from Boulder County building-permit records.Link to a table: By trade · Each kind of permit.
Download the tables (CSV): Days to finish by trade.
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