General Contractor in Aurora, Colorado

We are a general contractor in Aurora for commercial buildings, tenant improvements, new homes and renovations. Aurora lies east of Denver and describes itself as Colorado's third largest city, more than 165 square miles across Arapahoe, Adams and Douglas counties with more than 450 neighborhoods. I-70, I-225 and the E-470 beltway run through it, along with the RTD H and R light rail lines. A city that large is not one site condition, so we start an Aurora project by pinning down exactly where the parcel sits and what the city's own criteria require there.

Aurora's codes and design criteria

The City of Aurora Building Division reviews and permits work across the whole city, whichever county a property is in. Its adopted codes, listed on City form A245, are the 2021 International Building, Residential, Mechanical, Plumbing, Fuel Gas, Energy Conservation, Existing Building and Fire Codes with City amendments, plus the 2017 accessibility standard. For new electrical permit applications, the city moved to the 2026 National Electrical Code effective August 1, 2026.

The engineering design criteria are where Aurora differs most from its neighbors. They set a 40 pounds per square foot ground snow load, a 36 inch minimum frost depth for foundations, a 1 degree Fahrenheit winter design temperature and severe weathering, and they require ice barrier underlayment on roofs. Elevation inside the city ranges from about 5,285 feet where Sand Creek enters in the northwest to about 6,229 feet on the southern border in Douglas County.

Clay, hail and radon

The Colorado Geological Survey reports that swelling soil and rock formations underlie all of the major cities of the Front Range urban corridor, that expansive clays cause more property damage than any other natural hazard in the state, and that bentonite clays can expand up to 20 percent by volume when they get wet. That is why the foundation design for an Aurora project follows the geotechnical report rather than a standard detail.

Hail is the other recurring cost. The National Weather Service documented a supercell on June 19, 2018 that dropped hail across a heavily populated area from Greenwood Village to Englewood, Arapahoe Park and Aurora, and the storms of June 18 and 19 combined for about $276 million in damage across the metro. And the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment says about half of Colorado homes test above the EPA radon action level, with high radon found in every part of the state.

Landscaping rules for new homes

Aurora's 2022 turf and water feature ordinance, City Code Section 138-191, applies to development with site plan applications after September 30, 2022. It bans new cool-season turf such as Kentucky bluegrass and fescue in the front and side yards of new single-family homes, caps backyard turf at the lesser of 45 percent of the backyard or 500 square feet, bars turf in medians and curbside landscape, and prohibits water use in exterior ornamental water features. Multifamily and commercial projects may only use cool-season turf in active or programmed recreation areas.

Permits and inspections in Aurora

Permit applications go to the Building Division, and inspection requests can be submitted by email or through an online account at Aurora4Biz.org. On our projects, inspections are booked as part of the sequence so the next trade never covers uninspected work. Flood hazard areas are regulated under City Code Chapter 70, which the design team reviews whenever a parcel is near a drainage.

What we build in Aurora

Aurora's size brings every kind of project, from commercial construction along the I-225 and E-470 corridors to new homes and additions in its many neighborhoods. On larger work, our general contracting model puts one accountable builder in charge of the trades, the schedule and the inspections.

Aurora on the map

Nearby, we also build in Denver, Centennial, Parker and Thornton. See every Front Range service area, or request a consultation for a Aurora project.