Doing your own Arapahoe home project still means permit paperwork

Picking up the tools yourself does not move a home project out of the permit office’s view. In unincorporated Arapahoe County, a residential permit still applies, and the requirements depend on the specific kind of permit the project needs rather than one blanket rule.

There is an extra step when the homeowner does the work directly instead of hiring a licensed contractor. The county asks for a signed certificate for owner-generated permits. It is the county’s way of recording that the owner is taking responsibility for the job. The ordinary plan review and inspection steps still apply when the work requires a permit.

The project type controls the rest of the paperwork. Decks, remodels, basements, additions, roofs, electrical work, and mechanical work each carry their own requirements, so the answer for a deck may not be the answer for rewiring a room. Match the project to its requirements before ordering materials. If the home sits inside a city such as Aurora, use the city permit office instead of the county.