Multi-family, Commercial, or Mixed-Use Pool or Spa Guide

This checklist outlines the minimum documentation necessary to allow a permit application for the construction, alteration, or repair of a pool or spa accessory to a multi-family, commercial, non-residential, or mixed-use building to be taken in for review. Applicants may be required to submit additional information as necessary to clearly demonstrate compliance with all applicable codes. Please be advised that incomplete applications, or plans that do not meet the submittal requirements will not be accepted for review.

For information on how to prepare an application for submittal, refer to the Permit Application Guide. Use this checklist for applying online through the Customer Self-Service Portal (CSS).

• Scope of Work Form
• Building Owner Authorization Form
• Stormwater & Flood Management Plant Investment Fee Calculation Form
• Technical Specifications (for lights, heater, pool cover, and pump(s), as applicable to your scope)
• Site Survey (stamped by a Colorado Licensed Land Surveyor)

• Plan drawings shall be drawn to scale, with a graphic scale bar on every page.
• A 3" x 3" square shall be provided in the lower right corner of the first sheet for the city's approval stamp.
• All sheets shall be the same size (oriented so that north is up) throughout the entire plan set and of adequate size to clearly convey all information.
• Architectural Plans (must be stamped by a licensed architect)
  • Site Plan
  • Pool / Spa Plan
• Electrical Plans
• Structural Drawings
• 2024 City of Boulder Energy Conservation Code (COBECC) (integrated into plan set)
  • Mandatory Measures Checklist (required for heated pools and spas)

The following permits, approvals, and supplemental information may be required based on the scope of the project and/or the location and development constraints of the property:

• Historic Approval (Demolition Review of buildings more than 50 years of age when the work meets the definition of demolition in B.R.C. (1981) Section 9-16 or Landmark Alteration Certificate required for exterior alterations in a Historic Preservation District or for Individual Landmarks)
• Floodplain Development Permit (required for structures located in a regulatory floodplain)
• Stream, Wetland and Water Body Permit (required for structures located in a regulatory wetland)
• Grading and Drainage Plan (required for structures located on a steep slope or area of mass movement)
• Soils Report (required for structures located in an area of a steep slope or area of mass movement)
• Wildland-Urban Interface Code compliance information (required for structures located in the urban interface zone)
• Previous Approvals (Notice of Disposition and a copy of any city-stamped approval(s) required prior to the review and approval of this application, such as a Variance, Minor Modification or Site Review)
• Separate Permit Application (required for any framed deck or pergola)
  • For decks attached to a multi-family, commercial, non-residential or mixed-use building
    • Addition and Remodel to a Multi-Family Building
    • Addition and Remodel to a Commercial or Non-Residential Building
    • Addition and Remodel to a Mixed-Use Building
  • For free-standing decks or pergolas, Accessory

• Rope and float (required in pools with varying depths)
  • At the point that the first slope break occurs, a rope and float assembly shall be installed across the width of the pool. The rope assembly shall be located not less than 1 foot and not greater than 2 feet towards the shallow side of the slope break.
• Vapor-retardant cover (required for heated pools and spas where 75 percent or less of the energy for heating is from a heat pump or an on-site renewable energy system)
• Hydrostatic relief valve (required if soils report indicates groundwater within pool extents)
• Height Information (required for above-ground pools)
• Landscape and Street Tree Plan (required where the value of work exceeds 100% of the existing structure value)

The City of Boulder will periodically adopt and amend updated versions of all Model Codes and the B.R.C. through public process. When this occurs, some of the items in this checklist may be changed or updated, and a new checklist should be obtained from the Planning and Development Services Applications and Forms Database. This checklist applies only to the requirements of the 2018 IRC as amended, Section 10-5-2 of the B.R.C., as it applies to structures covered by the scope, relevant portions of the 2024 City of Boulder Energy Conservation Code and Title 9 of the B.R.C., and is not a complete or exhaustive list of the requirements of any adopted Code, or of all elements which should be included in a plan set, nor does it contain complete information describing what your permit application must contain to demonstrate compliance with the IBC or the B.R.C. Please contact the Planning and Development Services Center for more information.