General Contractor in Golden

We are a general contractor in Golden, Colorado, building custom homes, additions, historic renovations and commercial space. Golden lies along Clear Creek at the base of the Front Range, just north of I-70 and west of Denver, between Lookout Mountain and North and South Table Mountain. Founded in 1859 during the Pike's Peak gold rush and the territorial capital from 1862 to 1867, it is now the Jefferson County seat and home to the Colorado School of Mines. It also has some of the most demanding building criteria on the Front Range.

Mountain-front structural loads

The City of Golden Building Division issues permits through its online portal under the 2024 International Building, Residential, Energy Conservation, Fire, Fuel Gas, Existing Building, Mechanical and Plumbing Codes and the 2023 National Electrical Code, with selected appendices including IRC Appendix BE for radon control and IBC Appendix G for flood-resistant construction. Its structural criteria are where Golden separates from the plains cities.

A 69 psf snow load is more than double what several metro suburbs use. Roof framing, beam sizes and the cost of a large glazed opening all move with it, so we price Golden structures to the city's numbers from the first estimate rather than adjusting a plains-city design later.

Golden's own wildfire code

Golden adopted the Golden Wildfire Resiliency Code, Ordinance No. 2290, codified as Golden Municipal Code Chapter 15.80, and began enforcing it on June 10, 2026. It applies to new construction, significant additions, repairs and remodels on properties in the designated Wildland-Urban Interface areas on the Official Golden Wildfire Map, with Class I and Class II hardening standards.

Cloudbursts and Clear Creek

Golden's flooding most often comes from cloudburst storms between May and September. Sources include Clear Creek, Cressman Gulch, Tucker Gulch, Kenney Run, Lena Gulch, Arapahoe Gulch, Deadman Gulch and irrigation ditches, and the city records historic floods on Clear Creek in 1888, Tucker Gulch in 1965 and Arapahoe Gulch in 2004. A Floodplain Development Permit from the Engineering Division is required for work in the floodplain. New residential buildings and additions in the 100-year floodplain must sit at least one foot above the 100-year water surface elevation, and substantial improvements over 50 percent of market value must meet current floodplain standards.

Three historic districts

Golden has three locally designated historic districts, 8th and 9th Street, 12th Street and East Street, plus individually designated sites. Most exterior alterations there need a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Historic Preservation Board, which follows the City of Golden Historic District Design Guidelines. Demolition in a district, of a designated structure, or of a nonresidential structure over 50 years old needs a COA-Demolition, with a $500 fee. Our renovation work on older Golden buildings starts with that certificate.

Licenses, use tax and jurisdiction

Every contractor working on a permitted project in Golden needs a Golden contractor license, and all licensed contractors must be identified on the permit before it is issued, so subcontractors are lined up earlier here than in many cities. Projects requiring a building permit are also subject to Golden's building use tax, prepaid as part of the permit fee. Properties just outside city limits fall to the Jefferson County Building Safety Division instead.

For custom homes in the foothills and additions and new houses in town, the Colorado Geological Survey's warning about swelling soil and rock under every Front Range city still applies, and radon control is built into Golden's adopted residential code.

Golden on the map

Nearby, we also build in Lakewood, Arvada, Boulder and Denver. See every Front Range service area, or request a consultation for a Golden project.