| IBC — International Building Code | 2021 IBC, First Printing October 2020 — BUT NOT AS A GENERAL STATEWIDE BUILDING CODE. COLORADO HAS NO STATEWIDE BUILDING CODE FOR PRIVATE CONSTRUCTION. This adoption reaches ONLY buildings under the oversight of the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control (DFPC). Everywhere else in Colorado the governing building code is whatever the county or municipality has adopted, if it has adopted one at all. | 8 CCR 1507-101 s 3.2.1 (Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control, "Building and Fire Code Adoption and Certification of Inspectors for Fire & Life Safety Programs Administered by the State of Colorado"), rules eff. 08/14/2025; authority C.R.S. 24-33.5-1203.5, 24-33.5-1211, 24-33.5-1212.5, 24-33.5-1213.3, 24-33.5-1213.5, 22-32-124, 23-71-122, 44-30-515, 24-33.5-2003, 24-33.5-2004(7), 24-4-103. NO GENERAL STATEWIDE BUILDING CODE EXISTS: local adoption is permissive under C.R.S. 30-28-211 (counties) and C.R.S. 31-15-602 (municipalities), both as amended by HB22-1362 (2022). · source ↗ |
| IECC — International Energy Conservation Code | Colorado Model Low Energy and Carbon Code (MLECC), based on the 2024 IECC — the Phase 2 statutory minimum in force since 2026-07-01. NOT a statewide mandate and NOT a bare IECC year. Colorado has no general statewide building code. The energy-code duty is CONDITIONAL: it binds a county or municipality ONLY WHEN that jurisdiction adopts or updates a building code, and it does not reach a jurisdiction with no building code at all. Phase 1 (adoptions/updates on or after 2023-07-01 and before 2026-07-01) required energy performance equivalent to or better than the 2021 IECC plus the Colorado Model Electric Ready and Solar Ready Code. Phase 2 (adoptions/updates on or after 2026-07-01) requires energy and carbon performance equivalent to or better than the MLECC. Separately, STATE AGENCIES for state-owned buildings: 2021 IECC + Electric/Solar Ready by 2025-01-01, MLECC by 2030-01-01, C.R.S. 24-30-1303(1)(ff). | C.R.S. 30-28-211(3.5) (counties) and C.R.S. 31-15-602(3.5) (municipalities), both created by HB22-1362 (2022), "Concerning the Reduction of Building Greenhouse Gas Emissions", signed 2022-06-21; model codes developed by the Colorado Energy Code Board under C.R.S. 24-38.5-401(5)(a) and (6)(a); state-owned buildings at C.R.S. 24-30-1303(1)(ff)(A) and (B); rural relief under HB23-1085 · source ↗ |
| IFC — | 2021 IFC, First Printing October 2020 (DFPC-jurisdiction buildings only; NO general statewide fire code). Colorado has no fire code of general application. The 2021 IFC binds only buildings under the oversight of the Colorado Department of Public Safety, Division of Fire Prevention and Control. Outside that jurisdiction the governing fire code is whatever the county, municipality or fire protection district adopted locally. | 8 CCR 1507-101 s 3.2.1 (Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control, "Building and Fire Code Adoption and Certification of Inspectors for Fire & Life Safety Programs"); authority C.R.S. 44-30-515 and C.R.S. Title 24 Article 33.5 Part 12. Rules 1.1, Art. 2, 3.2, 3.2.1, 3.2.4.1, 3.3, 3.4.2 and Arts. 4-7 effective 2025-08-14. Separately, wildland-urban interface construction: 8 CCR 1507-39, authority C.R.S. 24-33.5-1236 and 24-33.5-1237(2). · source ↗ |
| IFGC — International Fuel Gas Code | 2021 IFGC, promulgated by the International Code Council — ADOPTED IN PART ONLY, as the "Colorado Fuel Gas Code", by the Colorado State Plumbing Board. THIS IS A STATEWIDE ADOPTION, unlike Colorado's building codes: Colorado has NO general statewide building code, but fuel gas and plumbing work IS governed statewide through the Plumbing Board's licensing rules. SCOPE OF THE ADOPTION IS AN ENUMERATED SLICE, NOT THE WHOLE BOOK: IFGC Chapter 1 Sections 101, 102, 105 and 107 only; Chapters 2-8 SAVE AND EXCEPT Sections 412 and 413; Appendices A-C. Everything else in the 2021 IFGC — including the rest of Chapter 1 and Sections 412 and 413 — is NOT law in Colorado. The Colorado Fuel Gas Code is COMPLETED by a second instrument layer in the same rule: IRC 2021 Chapter 1 Sections R101 and R102; Chapter 2; Chapter 24 Sections G2411-G2422, and G2401.1 through Table G2428.3(4), and G2448. NOT the 2024 IFGC. | 3 CCR 720-1, Rule 1.2(B) COLORADO FUEL GAS CODE (Colorado State Plumbing Board, Department of Regulatory Agencies, Division of Professions and Occupations). ADOPTING TEXT READ FIRST-HAND AND QUOTED VERBATIM: "The Board hereby adopts and incorporates by reference, with certain additions, revisions, and deletions, the following chapters, sections, and appendices of the International Fuel Gas Code (\"IFGC\") and the IRC." — then, VERBATIM: "Chapter 1 Section 101, 102, 105, 107, Chapters 2-8 save and except Sections 412 and 413, Appendices A-C of the IFGC, 2021 edition" and "Chapter 1, Section R101, R102; Chapter 2; Chapter 24, Sections G2411-G2422, and G2401.1-Table G2428.3(4) and G2448 of the IRC, 2021 edition". AUTHORITY, VERBATIM FROM THE SAME RULE: "The Board adopts the following Rules pursuant to the authority granted to the Colorado State Plumbing Board by sections 12-155-105(1)(e) and 12-155-106(1) and (5), C.R.S." Rule 1.2(C) names where certified copies may be inspected: the Board office at the DORA Welcome Center, 1560 Broadway, Civic Center Plaza, Denver CO 80202, "and at any state publications depository library". NO GENERAL STATEWIDE BUILDING CODE EXISTS IN COLORADO (local adoption is permissive under C.R.S. 30-28-211 and 31-15-602), BUT THIS FUEL GAS ADOPTION IS STATEWIDE THROUGH THE PLUMBING BOARD'S LICENSING JURISDICTION. · source ↗ |
| IMC — International Mechanical Code | 2021 IMC (DFPC-jurisdiction buildings only; NO general statewide adoption) | 8 CCR 1507-101 s 3.2.1; authority C.R.S. 24-33.5-1203.5, 24-33.5-1212.5, 24-33.5-1213.3, 22-32-124, 23-71-122, 44-30-515 · source ↗ |
| IPC — International Plumbing Code | 2021 IPC | 3 CCR 720-1, Rule 1.2 STANDARDS (Colorado Plumbing Code); authority C.R.S. 12-155-105(1)(e) and 12-155-106(1) and (5) · source ↗ |
| IRC — International Residential Code | 2021 IRC — but NOT as a general statewide code. Colorado has NO general statewide building code; counties and municipalities adopt their own. The 2021 IRC is adopted statewide by TWO SEPARATE STATE AGENCIES for their own jurisdictions: (1) Division of Fire Prevention and Control, 8 CCR 1507-101 s 3.2.1 (public schools, health facilities, limited gaming, waste tire facilities and other DFPC-oversight buildings), eff. 2025-08-14; and (2) Division of Housing, 8 CCR 1302-14 s 2.2 (factory-built residential structures and tiny homes, and hotels/motels/multi-family in those areas of the State where no standards exist). BOTH INDEPENDENTLY NAME THE 2021 EDITION. Outside those two jurisdictions the governing residential code is whatever the local jurisdiction adopted. | 8 CCR 1507-101 s 3.2.1 (Division of Fire Prevention and Control), eff. 2025-08-14, auth. C.R.S. 44-30-515, 24-4-103, 24-33.5-2003 and 2008, and C.R.S. Title 24 Art. 33.5 Pt. 12; AND 8 CCR 1302-14 s 2.2 (Division of Housing), auth. C.R.S. 24-32-3302 through 24-32-3327. NO general statewide building code exists in Colorado; outside these two agency jurisdictions residential codes are adopted locally. · source ↗ |
| NEC — National Electrical Code (NFPA 70) | 2026 NEC (NFPA 70) — the Colorado State Electrical Board moved to the 2026 edition by permanent rule ADOPTED 2026-05-27 and EFFECTIVE 2026-07-15, amending 3 CCR 710-1 Rule 1.5 INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE. THIS ROW PREVIOUSLY READ "2023" AND THAT IS NOW ONE CYCLE STALE. FULL COLORADO NEC LINEAGE ESTABLISHED TODAY, ALL THREE LINKS FROM STATE SOURCES: 2020 NEC, adopted at Rule 1.2 with the codified text "The Board hereby adopts the National Fire Protection Association standard number 70, hereafter known as the National Electrical Code, 2020 Edition, and as may be amended by the Board.", Rule 1.2 eff. 2020-07-15; THEN 2023 NEC, effective 2023-08-01; THEN 2026 NEC, effective 2026-07-15. UNLIKE COLORADO'S BUILDING CODES THIS IS A TRUE STATEWIDE MINIMUM: there is no general statewide building code in Colorado, but the Electrical Board sets a statewide electrical minimum under C.R.S. 12-115-107(2)(a), and a municipality may enforce only standards AT OR ABOVE it. | 3 CCR 710-1, Rule 1.5 INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE (Colorado State Electrical Board, Department of Regulatory Agencies, Division of Professions and Occupations); authority C.R.S. 12-115-107(2)(a). The 2026-edition amendment is Colorado Secretary of State eDocket filing tracking number 2026-00171, a PERMANENT RULE adopted 2026-05-27, effective 2026-07-15, whose subject the SOS docket states as modifying "Rule 1.5 – INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE" to implement the current 2026 National Electrical Code. PRECEDING LINKS IN THE CHAIN: the 2023 NEC adoption was announced by the Board's own DORA bulletin of 2023-07-28, "State Electrical Board Adopts 2023 National Electrical Code", which states "This becomes effective August 1, 2023."; before that, the codified rule at ruleVersionId 9814 carried the 2020 NEC at Rule 1.2 with the express limit "This Rule does not include later amendments to or editions of the National Electrical Code, 2020 Edition." *** verified_at IS DELIBERATELY LEFT NULL: I READ THE SOS DOCKET RECORD AND THE BOARD'S OWN BULLETIN, BUT NOT THE CODIFIED TEXT OF RULE 1.5 ITSELF. See amendments for why, and for the exact route a follow-up run should take. · source ↗ |