How to check a contractor's license in Colorado

Who licenses what in Colorado

PPRBD says state-licensed electricians and plumbers "must register with the Department immediately", and Boulder requires electricians to register with the city. A Colorado Springs electrician should therefore show up in two places: DORA and PPRBD.

How to look a contractor up, step by step

1. Ask which license covers the job and its number. For a remodel there are usually two or three: the builder's city license plus the electrician's and plumber's state licenses.
2. Electrician or plumber: search DORA's Verify a License by name or number. Check that the person is a master (or that the firm employs one) and that the license is active. DORA's plumbing page also offers "Download a Licensee/Discipline List".
3. Boulder: use the city's Customer Self-Service portal ("Search for a licensed contractor") or download the full list from Boulder Open Data. Check the class: a Class C firm can build a house; a D-2 roofing license covers roofs, not kitchens.
4. Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak region: use PPRBD's contractor search. PPRBD covers Colorado Springs, El Paso County, Fountain, Woodland Park, Manitou Springs, Monument and four smaller towns.
5. Denver: there is no public contractor search we could find. The Accela portal lists contractor licensing only as "Apply for or renew a license or certificate". Email Contr.Licensing@denvergov.org with the license number, and use "Search permit records" on the same portal to see what the firm has filed.

What PPRBD's status words mean

PPRBD's definitions (status definitions):

• Active: can work in PPRBD's jurisdictions.
• Expired/Inactive: cannot attach to permits or obtain new ones.
• Locked: inspections on existing permits for 30 days, "but no new permits may be obtained"; usually the license-holder changed companies.
• Provisional: a limited license for up to six months while the holder proves experience.
• Suspended: temporary removal, up to six months; the contractor "must immediately stop all covered work underway".
• Revoked / Admin-Revoked: removed for an unlimited time. A license expired more than six months, or with insurance lapsed more than twelve, "will be administratively revoked" (PPRBD FAQ).

Insurance, classes and limits

Boulder and PPRBD set the same general-liability floor: $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate (Boulder; PPRBD). Boulder lets a homeowner work on their own house without a license, but only on "one such building or structure during a calendar year". Denver's residential Class C needs two years as a journeyman carpenter or foreman and ICC exam F13 (Construction Certificates). None of the three city pages, nor DORA's, describes a recovery fund for homeowners like Arizona's or Virginia's.

Penalties for unlicensed work in Colorado

For electricians, anyone who practises "without an active license issued under this article 115 is subject to penalties pursuant to section 12-20-407 (1)(a)" (C.R.S. 12-115-123), and that section makes it a class 2 misdemeanor (C.R.S. 12-20-407). Plumbers carry the same penalty (C.R.S. 12-155-122). The Electrical Board can also fine a firm that employs an unlicensed electrician: up to $1,000 for a first offence, $2,000 for a second, and up to $2,000 a day after that (C.R.S. 12-115-122). City penalties for unlicensed building work sit in each city's code; Boulder's page names suspension or revocation (BRC 4-1-10) but no fine.

What the license does not tell you

A license says the firm passed an exam and has insurance on file. It does not say whether its jobs were inspected and closed. That is the permit file.

• Boulder: our one Colorado city with a license match, against the city's own list. 67.9% of 355 electrical firms and 73.1% of 324 HVAC firms match a current Boulder license; 86.3% of roofing permits reached final, the usual job in 41 days. Boulder's list holds only licenses in force, so a firm that is missing may have let its license lapse, or may be filed under a different name.
• Denver: no license match. Denver publishes no contractor list, so we show 3,530 remodel permits from 858 firms (usual filed value $25,000) with license status blank.
• Colorado Springs: no license match yet against PPRBD or DORA. The permit record is large: 23,508 roofing permits from 709 firms, and 22,297 electrical permits from 513 firms.

Red flags on a Colorado license

• A roofer or builder who says they have a "Colorado state license". There is none for that work.
• A Boulder D-2 (roofing) or PPRBD B-D (specialty) license on a firm bidding a whole remodel.
• A PPRBD status of Locked, Suspended or Revoked, or a Boulder firm missing from the city list.
• An electrical firm whose master electrician on DORA's record works for another company.
• A Colorado Springs electrician or plumber on DORA's list but not registered with PPRBD.
• No permits in the city file for the kind of work they are quoting.

See every Boulder roofer by their permit record →