Building Permit Fee Limits

Senate Bill 08-117 (SB 08-117) went into effect on May 20, 2008. The law clarifies and caps the maximum amount counties and municipalities can charge in permit fees to individuals who install solar energy generation devices on their residential and nonresidential property. According to this law:

• A county may not charge more than the system's actual costs or $500 for residential applications or $1000 for nonresidential applications.
• A municipality may not charge more than the system's actual costs or $500 for residential applications or $1000 for nonresidential applications.

SB 08-117 applies to residential and nonresidential applications for non-utility scale solar energy devices. Residential systems under 10 kilowatts and commercial and industrial systems under 25 kilowatts are generally considered non-utility scale. By capping the total amount counties and municipalities can charge in permit fees for solar, the fees are predictable and uniform across the state.

Before SB 08-117, counties and municipalities were able to individually set permit fees for solar energy device installation. This resulted in large discrepancies between different counties and municipalities as well as inconsistencies between one application and another. The lack of uniformity made it difficult for Colorado residents to predict the permit costs of their solar energy devices. SB 08-117 applies state-wide and supercedes any home-rule municipality or county charter to the contrary.