Colorado § 31-15-601 - Building and fire regulations - emission performance standards required - reporting.

§ 31-15-601. Building and fire regulations - emission performance standards required - reporting.

(1) The governing bodies of municipalities have the following powers in relation to building and fire regulations:

(a) To regulate the construction, repairs, and use of vaults, cisterns, areas, hydrants, pumps, sewers, and gutters;

(b) To regulate partition fences and party walls;

(c) To prescribe the thickness and strength of, and the manner of constructing, stone, brick, and other buildings and to prescribe the construction of fire escapes therein;

(d) To prescribe the limits within which wooden buildings shall not be erected, or moved into from outside said limits or placed in or repaired without permission, to direct that any buildings within the fire limits, when the same have been damaged by fire, decay, or otherwise to the extent of fifty percent of the value, be torn down or removed, and to prescribe the manner of ascertaining such damage;

(e) (I) To prevent the dangerous construction and condition of chimneys, fireplaces, hearths, stoves, stovepipes, ovens, and apparatus used in and about any factory and to cause the same to be removed or placed in a safe condition when considered dangerous;

(II) To regulate and prevent the carrying on of manufacturing which causes and promotes fires;

(III) To prevent the deposit of ashes in unsafe places and to cause all such buildings and enclosures as may be in a dangerous state to be put in a safe condition;

(f) To provide for the inspection of steam boilers;

(g) To compel the owners and occupants of houses and other buildings to have scuttles on the roof and stairs or ladders leading to the same and to compel the owners of all buildings over two stories in height to provide fire escapes;

(h) To regulate the size, number, and manner of the construction of the doors and stairways of theaters, tenement houses, audience rooms, and all buildings used for the gathering of a large number of people, to provide convenient, safe, and speedy exits in case of fire;

(i) To compel the owners of all lots with a building fronting on the street to provide a number on said building;

(j) To regulate or prevent the storage and transportation of gunpowder, tar, pitch, resin, coal oil, benzine, turpentine, hemp, cotton, gasoline, nitroglycerine, petroleum, or any of the products thereof, and other combustible or explosive material within the municipal limits and to prescribe the limits within which any such regulations shall apply; to regulate the use of lights in garages, shops, and other places; to regulate or prevent the storage of gunpowder and other high explosives within the municipal limits or within one mile of the outer boundaries thereof; and to regulate and restrain the use of fireworks, firecrackers, torpedoes, roman candles, skyrockets, and other pyrotechnic displays;

(j.5) To regulate fires consistent with the provisions of section 31-15-401 (1)(q);

(k) To regulate and prohibit the keeping of any lumberyard and the placing, piling, or selling of any lumber, timber, wood, or other combustible material within the fire limits of the municipality and to regulate the storage of any combustible material at any place within the limits of the municipality;

(l) To erect engine houses and provide fire engines, hose, hose carts, hooks and ladders, and other implements for the extinguishing of fires and provide for the use and management of the same by volunteer fire companies or otherwise; to determine the powers and duties of the members of the fire department in taking charge of property to the extent necessary to bring under control and extinguish any fire; to preserve and protect property not destroyed by fire; and to restrain persons from interfering with the discharge of the duties of the members of the fire department in connection with the fighting of any fire;

(m) (I) To adopt an ordinance, in consultation with the local board of health, local public health agencies, and any water and wastewater service providers serving the municipality, regarding the use of graywater, as defined in section 25-8-103 (8.3), in compliance with any regulation adopted pursuant to section 25-8-205 (1)(g), and to enforce compliance with the governing body's ordinance. The governing body of a municipality:

(A) May adopt an ordinance prohibiting the installation of graywater treatment works, as defined in section 25-8-103 (8.4), and the use of all graywater or prohibiting one or more categories of graywater use that the water quality control commission establishes in rules adopted pursuant to section 25-8-205 (1)(g); and

(B) Pursuant to section 25-8-205.4 (2)(b), shall notify the division of administration within the department of public health and environment of any ordinance adopted pursuant to subsection (1)(m)(I)(A) of this section. A governing body of a municipality that sends notice pursuant to this subsection (1)(m)(I)(B) may subsequently authorize the installation of graywater treatment works and the use of graywater or authorize categories of graywater use previously prohibited at any time by adopting an ordinance. A governing body of a municipality that subsequently authorizes the use of graywater shall promptly notify the division of administration within the department of public health and environment of the subsequent authorization.

(II) A municipal governing body that has not prohibited all graywater use pursuant to subsection (1)(m)(I) of this section is encouraged to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the local board of health, local public health agencies, and any water and wastewater service providers serving the municipality concerning graywater usage and the proper installation and operation of graywater treatment works, as defined in section 25-8-103 (8.4).

(2) By the date established in section 25-7-407, C.R.S., every governing body of a municipality which has enacted a building code, and thereafter every governing body which enacts a building code, shall enact a building code provision to regulate the construction and installation of fireplaces in order to minimize emission levels. Such building code provision shall contain standards which shall be the same as or stricter than the approved emission performance standards for fireplaces established by the air quality control commission in the department of public health and environment pursuant to section 25-7-407, C.R.S.

(3) By January 1, 2020, every governing body of a municipality which has enacted a building code and an energy code shall report the current version of their municipality's building and energy codes to the Colorado energy office. Thereafter, every governing body of a municipality is encouraged to report any change in their municipality's building and energy code to the Colorado energy office within a month of changing their municipality's building and energy codes.

Source: L. 75: Entire title R&RE, p. 1111, § 1, effective July 1. L. 84: (2) added, p. 782, § 3, effective April 12. L. 87: (2) amended, p. 1144, § 9, effective June 16. L. 94: (2) amended, p. 2802, § 564, effective July 1. L. 2002, 3rd Ex. Sess.: (1)(j) amended and (1)(j.5) added, p. 38, § 5, effective July 17. L. 2005: (2) amended, p. 774, § 59, effective June 1. L. 2013: (1)(m) added, (HB 13-1044), ch. 228, p. 1089, § 5, effective May 15. L. 2019: (3) added, (HB 19-1260), ch. 357, p. 3285, § 3, effective August 2. L. 2024: (1)(m) amended, (HB 24-1362), ch. 277, p. 1841, § 3, effective January 1, 2026.

Editor's note: The provisions of this section are similar to provisions of several former sections as they existed prior to 1975. For a detailed comparison, see the comparative tables located in the back of the index.

Cross references: For the legislative declaration in the 2013 act adding subsection (1)(m), see section 1 of chapter 228, Session Laws of Colorado 2013.