Who licenses contractors in Colorado Springs?

The Pikes Peak Regional Building Department (PPRBD) licenses builders, remodelers, roofers and mechanical (HVAC and gas piping) contractors. Electricians and plumbers are licensed by the State through DORA and must also register with PPRBD. Colorado has no state license for general contractors or roofers.

Which PPRBD license does a roofer need?

A building contractor license. PPRBD's B-D specialty class covers work 'involving only a single trade', such as roofing or siding. A B-D roofer is not licensed for a whole-house remodel; that is B-C (home builder) or B-E (maintenance and remodeling) work.

What insurance must a Colorado Springs contractor carry?

PPRBD requires general liability of $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate for every license category in its insurance table. A license whose insurance has lapsed for more than 12 months is administratively revoked.

What does a 'Locked' PPRBD license mean?

Inspections on existing permits can go on for 30 days, but 'no new permits may be obtained'. Do not sign with a firm whose license shows Locked, Suspended, Expired or Revoked.

How do I see the permits on a Colorado Springs address?

Use PPRBD's Permit Search at pprbd.org/Search/Permit, which has an advanced tab, or its public GIS permit map. Our file holds 101,680 PPRBD permits on Colorado Springs homes from October 2023 to September 2026, grouped by firm.

Colorado Springs contractor license lookup: PPRBD and DORA

Which license each job needs in Colorado Springs

Work	License	Where to check	Colorado Springs permits (firms)
New home	PPRBD B-C Home Builder: "one- and two-family dwellings not more than three (3) stories"	PPRBD contractor search	4,274 (122)
Remodel, addition, basement finish	B-C, or B-E Maintenance and Remodeling for nonstructural interior work	PPRBD	remodel 1,639 (422), basement 602 (219)
Roofing, siding	B-D Specialty: "only a single trade"	PPRBD	roofing 23,508 (709)
Decks, fences	B-E: "structures accessory to one and two-family dwellings not intended as enclosed habitable space"	PPRBD	decks 2,531 (396)
Furnaces, AC, gas piping	PPRBD mechanical licenses H-A to H-D	PPRBD	22,485 (421)
Electrical, solar wiring	DORA electrical license, plus PPRBD registration	DORA Verify a License and PPRBD	electrical 22,297 (513), solar 3,035 (140)
Plumbing, water heaters	DORA master plumber, plus PPRBD registration	DORA and PPRBD	18,399 (375)

Class wording is from PPRBD's License/Registration Types page (read 22 October 2026). The same page says "Colorado licensed electrical contractors shall register with the Building Department", that a state master plumber registered with PPRBD "may obtain permits... without a separate license", and that a mechanical contractor's "Employees... shall also be appropriately licensed". PPRBD's FAQ puts the electrician and plumber rule bluntly: "State of Colorado licensees must register with the Department immediately" (Licensing FAQ).

Every category in PPRBD's insurance table carries general liability of $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate (Insurance Requirements). For re-roofing, the FAQ adds that the insurance certificate "must be specific in the description of operations", so ask a roofer for a certificate that names roofing.

What PPRBD's status words mean

Status	What PPRBD says
Active	"able to perform work within the jurisdictions covered by PPRBD"
Expired/Inactive	"will not be able to attach to, or obtain new permits"
Locked	inspections on open permits for 30 days, "no new permits may be obtained"
Provisional	"limited to six (6) months and subject to release by the Board of Review"
Suspended	temporary removal, up to six months; work must stop
Revoked / Admin-Revoked	"the removal of a contractor's license or registration"

Source: Status Definitions, read 22 October 2026. A license expired for more than six months, or with insurance lapsed for more than twelve, "will be administratively revoked" (PPRBD FAQ).

How to run the lookup in five minutes

Get two numbers from the quote: the PPRBD license of the firm, and the DORA license of its electrician or plumber if the job has wiring or pipes.
PPRBD: open the Contractor and Mechanic Search. Check the status is Active and the class fits: a B-D roofer bidding a kitchen is out of its class.
DORA: search the electrician or plumber on Verify a License (linked from the State Electrical Board page). Then confirm the same person shows up registered on PPRBD's search.
Track record: open the firm on our Colorado Springs roofer list, electrician list or HVAC list.

How to search Colorado Springs permit records

PPRBD's Permit Search finds permits by number or address, with an advanced tab, and its home page links a public GIS permit map. The department's main line is 719-327-2880. On a trade permit, the contractor named should be the one you hired; another name means someone else's license is on your job.

The search is organised by permit. Ours is organised by firm: every Colorado Springs permit a firm pulled in three years, on the Colorado Springs permit statistics page and the compare lists.

What 101,680 Colorado Springs permits show

Trade	Permits	Firms	Usual filed value	Usual days to final (estimate)	Firms with one permit
Roofing	23,508	709	$12,000	41	16.2%
HVAC & mechanical	22,485	421	$3,000	21	16.4%
Electrical	22,297	513	$600	26	18.7%
Plumbing	18,399	375	$1,750	19	13.3%
Solar	3,035	140	$13,600	41	26.4%
Remodel & addition	1,639	422	$14,100	96	35.8%
New homes	4,274	122	$407,676	190	45.9%

PPRBD's file records a permit's status but not the date it was finalled, so "usual days to final" is our estimate from the status and age of each permit, and we show no finished share for Colorado Springs.

Roofing is the trade to check hardest. It has the most firms, 709, and 75 roofers with five or more permits filed none in the last 12 months. Roofing permits peak in October, after the summer hail season. Basement finishes are mostly one-off work: 54.8% of basement firms pulled a single permit.

See every Colorado Springs roofer by permits and status →

Red flags in Colorado Springs

"I have a Colorado state roofing license." There is none; roofers are licensed by PPRBD.
A B-D (single trade) or B-E license on a firm bidding a structural remodel or addition.
A PPRBD status other than Active, especially Locked, which often follows a license-holder changing companies.
An electrician or plumber on DORA's list but not registered with PPRBD.
A firm that has gone quiet: 46 electrical and 23 HVAC firms with 5+ permits filed none in the last 12 months.

What this lookup does not tell you

We have not matched Colorado Springs permits to PPRBD's or DORA's license records, so our pages show no license status for Colorado Springs firms; a blank on our side is our gap, not the firm's. Our numbers stop at September 2026, and a license can lapse in a week, so run the live searches the week you sign. A license says the firm may work, not how its last job went. The statewide picture, including Denver and Boulder, is in How to check a contractor's license in Colorado.

How we know this

Permits are PPRBD building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits on homes filed under the Colorado Springs jurisdiction, 2023-10 to 2026-09, grouped into the trades above; owner-pulled permits are left out. Days to final are estimated from permit status and age, because the file carries no final date. No license status is shown. PPRBD and DORA rules are quoted from their own pages, read 22 October 2026.

Numbers come from Pikes Peak Regional Building Department permits inside Colorado Springs city limits, data through October 17, 2026. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can.

Questions

Who licenses contractors in Colorado Springs?
The Pikes Peak Regional Building Department (PPRBD) licenses builders, remodelers, roofers and mechanical (HVAC and gas piping) contractors. Electricians and plumbers are licensed by the State through DORA and must also register with PPRBD. Colorado has no state license for general contractors or roofers.
Which PPRBD license does a roofer need?
A building contractor license. PPRBD's B-D specialty class covers work 'involving only a single trade', such as roofing or siding. A B-D roofer is not licensed for a whole-house remodel; that is B-C (home builder) or B-E (maintenance and remodeling) work.
What insurance must a Colorado Springs contractor carry?
PPRBD requires general liability of $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate for every license category in its insurance table. A license whose insurance has lapsed for more than 12 months is administratively revoked.
What does a 'Locked' PPRBD license mean?
Inspections on existing permits can go on for 30 days, but 'no new permits may be obtained'. Do not sign with a firm whose license shows Locked, Suspended, Expired or Revoked.
How do I see the permits on a Colorado Springs address?
Use PPRBD's Permit Search at pprbd.org/Search/Permit, which has an advanced tab, or its public GIS permit map. Our file holds 101,680 PPRBD permits on Colorado Springs homes from October 2023 to September 2026, grouped by firm.