Policy

Occupancy and use of a structure within the City of Boulder requires a Certificate of Occupancy issued by the Chief Building Official. Projects must obtain all final inspections, be in compliance with all city regulations and development approvals, and have final approvals for all other requirements (e.g. landscape, row, health) prior to requesting a final building inspection for the permit. Only projects passing all final inspections shall receive a Certificate of Occupancy from the Chief Building Official.

The City of Boulder, at its sole discretion, may consider a request for and issue a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy. Only projects meeting the following criteria in a clear, concise manner shall be considered for a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy:

  • The project does not fall under the jurisdiction of the International Residential Code.
  • The project has no pending compliance or enforcement matters, outstanding revisions in review, or outstanding fees. All review teams have authorized issuance of either a Certificate of Occupancy or a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy.
  • The building and surrounding property is compliant with all life/safety and property protection standards of the City. This includes the completion of site work, utility improvements, storm water measures, sidewalks, curb and gutter and pavement.
  • The applicant is prohibited from completing the project by unavoidable circumstances. An example of an acceptable circumstance is when an applicant cannot implement final landscaping due to seasonal conditions.
  • The OWNER has completed a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy Request form.
  • The OWNER has posted any or all required landscape escrow financial guarantee.

A Temporary Certificate of Occupancy shall not be issued for ordinary circumstances or practical complexities associated with construction, such as:

  • Delays caused by normal logistics such as weather, labor, holidays, financing, legal, permitting, inspections, revision reviews by both client/contractor and the City of Boulder, or similar predictable or unpredictable complexity.
  • Missed deadlines.
  • A client who relies on contractual dates that are not met.

A Temporary Certificate of Occupancy shall not be issued unless all life/safety and property protection standards of the City have been met.

Temporary Certificates of Occupancy are only valid for a limited time period, as shall be stated on the Certificate. TCOs shall not be extended. The City of Boulder reserves its right to administer and enforce this policy to the extent permitted by law.

Upon complete submission of a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy Request, the review may take up to 10 business days.

Requirements

The below requirements must be met in order to be eligible for a temporary CO:

  • All final inspections have been approved with the exception of Final Building and a TCO walk-through has
    been performed with a city inspector.
  • Utility as-builts have been submitted and approved, if applicable.
  • Required Engineering documents have been submitted and approved.
  • Grading is complete.
  • Site has been stabilized.
  • Fire suppression/alarm system is completed, inspected and approved.
  • The areas of occupancy and all ingress/egress components comply with the applicable codes and will be free of construction debris, materials, equipment and construction personnel and physically separated from areas still in construction for the duration of the temporary occupancy.
  • Landscape financial guarantee has been submitted, if applicable.
  • All outstanding fees including capital facility impact fees and plant investment fees have been paid in full with the exception of the TCO fee.
  • A signed Temporary CO Request Form has been uploaded to the permit in the Customer Self-Service portal.