STATE LICENSE
NoneSee what applies
No Colorado statute licenses concrete work. Flatwork, foundations, retaining walls and structural concrete are governed by the building code the jurisdiction adopted, the inspection sequence in that code, and whichever contractor class the permit was issued under.
The regulatory weight sits somewhere else: in the ground and in the water. Colorado's Water Quality Control Division administers the CDPS general permit for stormwater discharges associated with construction activity, COR400000, and treats sites between one and five acres that are not part of a larger common plan of development as a distinct tier eligible for an R-Factor waiver. On the credential side, Denver is the outlier that takes concrete seriously enough to certify it directly: Specialty Class D includes Concrete and Foundations — combined excavating, shoring, piles, caissons and drilled shafts with cast-in-place concrete — and a separate Concrete Reinforcing Steel Placers certificate for rebar, tensioning steel, bar supports and welded wire fabric.
The state sets the license floor; the county or city permit office controls filing, inspections, and local rules wherever the job site sits.
Concrete work sits across three authorities in Colorado and none of them is a licensing board. The city or regional building department decides whether the trade is licensed: Denver certifies it directly through Specialty Class D — Concrete and Foundations for combined excavating, shoring, piles, caissons, drilled shafts and cast-in-place concrete, Concrete Reinforcing Steel Placers for steel, plus Retaining Walls and Pre-Cast Concrete Building Units — while Pikes Peak Regional Building Department names foundation repair, masonry and retaining walls as examples inside Building Contractor D, and Aurora and Fort Collins do not license the trade at all. Layered across all of them is CDPHE's construction stormwater permit, which does not care about municipal boundaries, and CDPHE's asbestos rule, which constrains how existing slab and flooring may be broken out. And in Denver a third layer applies the moment you leave private property: right-of-way licensing for sidewalk, curb, paving, excavation and structural work, annual and separately priced.
The local offices section below names the exact permit desk for every Colorado county on file.
Each row names the issuing authority, cost, timeline, citation, and status behind the requirement — verified against the official source.
Published fees from the issuing authorities, as of September 2026. Local permit fees vary by project and jurisdiction — the basis is stated where a flat number does not exist.
Denver licenses Cement Sidewalk, Excavator, Paving, Sewer, Special, Structural and General right-of-way contractors separately from construction licenses, on an annual cycle rather than three years.
Concrete and Foundations covers placement of reinforcing steel as part of cast-in-place work, but Denver also issues a standalone Concrete Reinforcing Steel Placers certificate for crews that only set steel.
During demolition, recycling of concrete bonded or contaminated with asbestos-containing material such as floor tile or mastic is not permitted, concrete floors covered with floor tile shall be removed in large sections, and crushing or pneumatic jacking of asbestos-containing materials is prohibited.
A practical sequence for a new concrete contractor in Colorado. Actual agency processing times are noted in the ledger above.
Each item names the issuing authority, cycle, and citation.
Statutory consequences with their citations — not estimates, not “commonly cited” guesses.
There is no Colorado concrete license and therefore no state unlicensed-practice offense. Where a city certifies the trade, working without it means no permit and an ordinance violation.
Stormwater discharges associated with construction activity require authorization under the Colorado Discharge Permit System; discharging without it is a permit violation enforceable by the Water Quality Control Division.
Recycling concrete bonded or contaminated with asbestos-containing material, and crushing or pneumatic jacking of asbestos-containing materials, are prohibited during demolition.
Inside city limits, the city office listed here issues the permit; the county office serves unincorporated areas. Every office links to its official page.
Every fact in this file was checked against these official sources on September 2026.
Pending verification: The exact acreage threshold language in the current COR400000 permit text — the division's page describes the 1-to-5-acre tier and the R-Factor waiver but the full applicability clause sits in the permit and fact sheet rather than the web page · Current CDPHE construction stormwater application and annual fee amounts · Whether Aurora or Fort Collins require any separate registration for flatwork or foundation subcontractors working under a licensed prime
General information, not legal advice. Always confirm requirements, deadlines, and forms with the issuing authority before filing or contracting.
Store licenses, permits, policies, and renewal dates in one place.