Hiring a contractor in Colorado
Only specific trades are licensed. This state licenses individual trades such as electrical, plumbing and HVAC, but issues no general contractor or remodeler licence. Anyone can call themselves a general contractor here. Licensing for the rest happens at city level, if at all.
Who licenses
Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA), Division of Professions and Occupations (DPO), State Electrical Board and State Plumbing Board. Data published via the Colorado I
What to do before you hire in Colorado
- There is no general contractor licence to ask for here, so the licence question moves to the specific trades. Anyone doing electrical, plumbing or HVAC work should still hold a state licence for that trade.
- Ask for proof of liability insurance and workers' compensation in writing. With no licensing board standing behind the work, insurance is most of your protection.
- Your city may register contractors even though the state does not. See below.
- Get the full scope and price in writing before any money changes hands, and never pay the full amount up front.
What the big cities in Colorado do
Where the state does not license, the city sometimes does. We checked each of these directly.
| City | Registers contractors? | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| Aurora | Yes | AURORA IS A STRONG YES, AND ONE OF THE BEST MUNICIPAL SOURCES WE WILL FIND IN CO. It carries trade, which is the field most cities lack. |
| Colorado Springs | Yes | HEADLINE: this is one of the better municipal sources you will find, and it carries the trade field that usually kills these datasets. But the city of Colorado Springs is not the licensing body, and there is no open-data file. |
| Denver | Yes | WHAT DENVER DOES: Denver licenses contractors itself, at the company level, through CPD. This is a real licence, not a courtesy registration, and it is required to pull a permit in the city. |
Sourced from Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA), Division of Professions and Occupations (DPO), State Electrical Board and State Plumbing Board. Data published via the Colorado I and checked by downloading the state's own published file. Licensing rules change; verify with the authority before you hire.