Denver contractor license lookup: city licenses, state trade licenses and the permits

Which license each job needs in Denver

Denver's Contractor Licensing page: the City "issues contractor licenses and certificates to individuals and companies who perform various types of construction and trade work in Denver", and "Denver does not accept or reciprocate contractor licenses and/or certificates from other counties or states." The license rests on a person: "Obtaining a supervisor certificate or employing someone who holds a supervisor certificate is the first step", and "A Colorado electrical or plumbing license will substitute for a supervisor certificate." Plumbing contractors must renew their state cards with DORA "before you can renew your Denver plumbing contractor license" (read 22 October 2026).

For houses, the certificate is Residential Contractor Class C: "To erect, add to, alter, or repair one- and two-family dwellings, U Occupancy buildings and attached single-unit dwellings (IRC townhouses)", with two years of field work as a journeyman carpenter or construction foreman (Construction Certificates). The usual Denver addition permit carries $110,000 and the usual new home $275,110, so the license class matters on most jobs here.

How to run the lookup in five minutes

1. Ask for the Denver license number and the name of the supervisor certificate holder. For electrical or plumbing work, also ask for the Colorado license number.
2. Denver: open the City's Verify a Contractor's License page. The search loads inside the page; if it does not, email Contr.Licensing@denvergov.org or call (720) 865-2770.
3. Electrician or plumber: search DORA's Verify a License by name or number and check the license is active and at master level, or that the firm employs a master.
4. Permits: look the firm or your address up on the City's ePermit portal (below).
5. Track record: open the firm on our Denver remodeler list, addition list or new-home builder list.

How to search Denver permit records

The City's ePermit portal lists, under Development, "Search permit records" alongside applying, paying and scheduling inspections; contractor licensing on the same portal is only "Apply for or renew a license or certificate" (read 22 October 2026). Search by address to see what was permitted on a house, and check that the contractor named on each permit is the one you are talking to.

The portal is organised by record. Ours is organised by firm: each firm's Denver permits, its usual job value and how recently it filed, on the Denver permit statistics page and the compare lists.

What 10,375 Denver permits show

Denver's remodel market is spread thin: 42.9% of remodel firms filed a single permit in three years, and the five busiest held 13.5% of the work. Repair is the opposite: the busiest single firm filed 32.6% of foundation and structural permits. Denver records final dates for repair and demolition only, and 63.2% of repair permits a year or more old were finaled, the usual one in 93 days.

See every Denver remodeler by permits filed →

Red flags in Denver

• A license from another county or state offered in place of a Denver one. Denver does not reciprocate.
• A request that you pull the permit. The City's hiring tips say to avoid contractors "who want you to secure permits in your name", because "The permit holder is legally responsible for the completion of the job to building code standards."
• Cash only, or full payment up front. The same page says "Never pay cash" and not to make final payment "until building inspections have been approved."
• An electrician or plumber with no Colorado license number.
• A firm that has gone quiet: 32 home builders and 25 remodelers with 5+ permits filed none in the last 12 months of our data.

What this lookup does not tell you

Denver does not publish electrical, plumbing, HVAC or roofing permits, so our Denver pages cover building trades only. Denver's license search works one name at a time and publishes no bulk list, so we show no license status for Denver firms; a blank there says nothing about the firm. For most trades the City stopped recording final dates after 2020, so we cannot say whether those permits were finished. Our data stops at September 2026. Colorado's other city schemes, and DORA's rules, are in How to check a contractor's license in Colorado.