Basement finishing permits in Colorado Springs: the PPRBD steps and what inspectors check

You need a permit, and you need it before work starts. The Pikes Peak Regional Building Department (PPRBD) requires a plan review and permit for every basement finish.¹ You or your contractor submit a floor plan drawn to 1/4 inch = 1 foot scale, and most plans are reviewed with the permit issued the same day.¹ Inspectors then check the work against the code items in PPRBD's handout, such as egress, ceiling heights, alarms and wiring, and they can only check what they can see.¹

TL;DR

• One regional office, PPRBD, permits basement finishes in Colorado Springs, Monument, Fountain and unincorporated El Paso County.
• A clean floor plan is the fastest route to a permit. Label every room, show egress and measure the lowest ceiling point before you submit.
• Closets decide bedrooms. PPRBD treats any room over 70 square feet with a closet deeper than 16 inches as a bedroom, and each bedroom needs an egress window.¹
• Hang drywall only after the rough-in inspection passes. Covered work may have to come open for an inspector.¹
• PPRBD's handout doesn't list fees, and each trade with work needs its own permit, so get the fee from your plans reviewer or contractor.¹

Who issues basement finish permits in Colorado Springs?

The Pikes Peak Regional Building Department (PPRBD) issues basement finish permits in Colorado Springs. It is a regional department, so the same office also covers Monument, Fountain and unincorporated El Paso County. A licensed general contractor or the homeowner doing the work can pull the permit.¹

Rentals follow a stricter rule. If the home is a rental, a licensed general contractor must pull the permit and answers for all work passing inspection, including work by subcontractors.¹ In a home that isn't a rental, you can do all the work yourself. You can also hire licensed subcontractors for the electrical, mechanical or plumbing portions.¹

Whoever pulls the permit owns it. That person requests each inspection and makes the corrections needed to pass.¹ If your contractor pulls it, the paperwork and the fixes sit with them.

Homeowners planning basement remodeling in Monument or basement remodeling in Fountain go through the same PPRBD process. Denver runs its own permitting through the city's e-permits system.² For what changes across the Front Range, such as swelling soil and radon, see our guide to finishing a basement in Colorado. For local pricing and contractor matching around the Springs, see the Colorado Springs basement remodeling hub.

Can I finish my basement without a permit?

No. A basement finish in the PPRBD area needs a plan review and permit before work starts.¹ A homeowner doing the work pulls the permit just as a contractor would.¹ A basement already finished without a permit can still be permitted after the fact. Walls may need to come open for inspection.¹

PPRBD's handout sets three conditions for a basement finished without a permit:¹

• A plan covering the building, mechanical, plumbing and electrical work.
• Access for inspections, which may mean removing finishes.
• The homeowner or contractor removes those finishes and puts them back once the work passes.

Even then, PPRBD inspects only the work it can see. Its handout says inspections of finished basements are limited to the exposed areas, so it can't validate that all the work complies with code.¹

Unpermitted work can also come up when you sell or file an insurance claim. Ask your insurer and your real estate agent how it applies to your house.

How do you get a basement finish permit from PPRBD?

Getting a PPRBD basement finish permit takes six steps: plan the rooms against code, draw a scaled floor plan, clear any septic or second-kitchen approvals, submit for plan review, pull the trade permits and pass the inspections.

1. Plan the rooms against the code

Measure the lowest duct, beam and pipe before you draw a wall. PPRBD requires 7 feet from finished floor to ceiling, 6 feet 8 inches in bath, toilet and laundry rooms, and 6 feet 4 inches under beams, ducts and pipes.¹ Decide now which rooms will be bedrooms, since each one needs an egress window.¹ If an existing condition such as a low soffit can't meet a code provision, the plans reviewer can usually tell you whether you need a variance.¹

2. Draw the floor plan

The homeowner, a designer or an architect draws the plan at 1/4 inch = 1 foot scale with the property address on it.¹ PPRBD's sample plan asks you to specify the use of all rooms and spaces. It also marks the egress well, the furnace and water heater, the louvered door or grills for combustion air and the bath fan vent.¹ Note the furnace efficiency on the plan, because PPRBD requires it.¹ Leave the wiring off. The handout says not to provide electrical plans for review.¹

3. Clear septic and second-kitchen approvals

Two cases need sign-off from outside PPRBD. If the home has a septic system and you're adding a bedroom, you need Health Department documentation that the system is sized for it.¹ If you're adding a second kitchen or kitchenette with a permanent 220v or gas cooktop, stove or range, the Zoning Authority must approve it. Depending on location and zoning, a second kitchen may be prohibited.¹ Start both early, before you submit the plan.

4. Submit for plan review

Submit the plan to PPRBD for review. PPRBD says most basement finish plans are reviewed with a permit issued the same day.¹ Treat that as the best case. A plan missing information can come back for changes, so leave some slack in your schedule.

5. Pull the trade permits

Once the plan is approved, PPRBD issues the permits. Separate construction, electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits are required for each trade that has work.¹ A bathroom, wet bar sink or laundry hookup is plumbing work, and extending ductwork is mechanical work, so each adds that trade's permit.

6. Book and pass the inspections

The permit holder requests each inspection and makes any corrections needed to pass.¹ Hang drywall only after the rough-in inspection passes, because inspections need access to the work.¹ The final inspection closes out the permit.

What do PPRBD inspectors check in a basement finish?

PPRBD's basement finish handout lists the code items a basement finish must meet: exits and egress, ceiling heights, bedroom rules, floating walls, fireblocking, gas appliance air, bath ventilation, alarms and wiring.¹ The handout is dated August 14, 2024. Its electrical sheet warns that not all requirements are shown, so confirm current rules with PPRBD.¹

The handout doesn't name an edition of the International Residential Code (IRC).¹ Local adoption and amendments change over time, so ask your plans reviewer which edition applies when you submit.

Bedrooms and egress windows

PPRBD's bedroom test turns on the closet. A room larger than 70 square feet with a closet deeper than 16 inches counts as a bedroom.¹ Each bedroom needs an egress window to the outside.¹ An egress window is an opening big enough for a person to climb out through in a fire. The basement as a whole also needs two exits: access to a 36 inch door, plus one egress window or door.¹

A basement without a conforming window needs a new opening cut into the foundation, plus a well that meets the size and ladder rules in the table. Ask for the window, well and foundation cut as their own line in your written quote. Our guide to whether a basement bedroom needs an egress window covers the options.

Floating walls and fireblocking

Non-bearing basement walls must float.¹ A floating wall leaves a gap between two plates so the slab can move without pushing on the framing. PPRBD's detail fixes the base plate to the slab with 3 inch concrete nails or Ramset studs. A second plate sits above it with at least a 1 1/2 inch gap for slab movement. The plates are joined by 60d nails at 32 inches on center, driven through 3/8 inch holes drilled in the upper plate.¹

The reason is the ground under the slab. The Colorado Geological Survey calls swelling soil a common and sometimes serious problem in Colorado that can cause severe damage to houses.³

Fireblocking goes in vertically at the ceiling and floor levels and horizontally at intervals of no more than 10 feet.¹

Furnace, water heater and dryer air

Gas furnaces and water heaters can't sit in a bedroom, bathroom or closet, or draw combustion air from one.¹ Non-direct-vent gas appliances need combustion air from a space of 50 cubic feet per 1,000 BTU.¹

If you enclose them in a mechanical room, use a fully louvered door or two wall grills. Size each grill at 1 square inch of net free area per 1,000 BTU/hr of total appliance input, or 100 square inches, whichever is greater.¹ Set the upper grill within 12 inches of the ceiling and the lower one within 12 inches of the floor.¹ Dryers need a room with make-up air, and PPRBD's sample plan calls for 100 square inches of it.¹

Wiring

PPRBD doesn't review electrical plans, so the wiring is checked on site while it's still exposed.¹ The handout's electrical reference sheet lists these points:¹

• No more than 500 square feet per 15 amp circuit, or 640 square feet per 20 amp circuit.¹
• A receptacle for any wall space 2 feet or wider, no more than 6 feet from a doorway and no more than 12 feet apart along the baseboard.¹
• A hallway outlet if the hall is 10 feet or longer.¹
• A separate 20 amp circuit for the bathroom vanity receptacle.¹
• A fan-rated box for ceiling fans, with at least 7 feet of clearance off the floor.¹
• AFCI protection in family rooms, bedrooms, recreation rooms, closets, hallways, laundry areas and similar spaces.
• Tamper-resistant, GFCI-protected receptacles throughout.

The sheet says installation must comply with the currently adopted National Electrical Code (NEC).¹ Hire a licensed electrician for new circuits unless you plan to pull the electrical permit and do the work yourself.

In what order do PPRBD basement inspections happen?

PPRBD's handout doesn't set out an inspection sequence, so ask your plans reviewer which inspections your permits call for. The permit holder requests each inspection and makes any corrections needed to pass.¹

Plan on at least two stages: a rough-in inspection while the framing, wiring, plumbing and ductwork are still exposed, and a final inspection when the space is done. At the final, expect the inspector to confirm the work matches the approved plan, including the smoke and carbon monoxide alarm locations in the table above.

PPRBD's rule for unpermitted basements shows what covered work costs you. Inspections need access to the work, finishes may have to come off, and the homeowner or contractor removes and replaces them.¹ Keep the walls open until rough-in passes.

How much does a basement finish permit cost in Colorado Springs?

PPRBD's basement finish handout doesn't list permit fees, so get the figure from PPRBD's plans reviewer or your contractor before you budget. Every trade with work needs its own permit, so a basement with a bathroom pulls more permits than an open rec room.¹ Ask your contractor to list permit and plan review fees as a separate line in the quote.

A Colorado comparison shows the scale. Denver charges by project valuation: $220 for the first $25,000 plus $8 for each additional $1,000 up to $50,000, with a plan review fee of 50% of the permit fee.⁴ For a Denver job valued at $50,000, that works out to a $420 permit fee plus $210 for plan review, or about $630 before any trade permits. PPRBD's schedule is its own, so treat the Denver figure as a sense of size only.

For the project itself, a typical 1,000 square foot basement finish in Colorado Springs runs $30,000 to $75,000. See basement remodeling costs in Colorado Springs for what moves that number.

What should you ask your contractor about the permit?

Ask whose name goes on the permit and who books each inspection. Under PPRBD's rules, the permit holder requests inspections and fixes anything that fails.¹ Denver's permitting office gives advice that holds here too: have the contractor pull the permit in its own name, because the permit holder is legally responsible for the job meeting code.⁵ If a contractor says a basement finish doesn't need a permit, hire someone else. In the PPRBD area, every basement finish needs one.¹

A good quote answers these before framing starts:

• Whose name is on the permit? For a rental, it must be a licensed general contractor.¹
• Who draws the 1/4 inch scale plan, and does it label the use of every room?
• Which rooms count as bedrooms under PPRBD's closet rule, and where are their egress windows?
• What is the lowest finished ceiling point under ducts and beams?
• Is the home on septic, or does the plan add a kitchenette with a 220v or gas range?
• Are permit and plan review fees a separate line item?
• Has the basement been tested for radon?
• Will drywall wait until the rough-in inspection passes?

Basement Remodeling Co. sends your request to one vetted, licensed basement contractor for your area. You get a free on-site estimate and a written, itemized quote, and your contractor pulls the permit and books the inspections. Homeowners in Falcon can start on the Falcon basement remodeling page. When your plan is taking shape, get a written quote for finishing your basement in Colorado Springs.