Colorado Roofing Contractors: Special Message from the City of Arvada

To all roofing contractors

As a result of the recent hail storm in portions of Arvada there are many new contractors and companies preparing to do roofing and business in Arvada. As some of the initial permit applications are being submitted it has become apparent that the roof construction valuations are inconsistent from one roofing company to the next. In many cases the contract costs that are being declared are not in line with industry standards. As part of the permitting process the building inspection division is responsible for verifying that the contract amounts are accurate and in line with those standards. It is the responsibility of the contractor to declare an accurate amount. In determining that amount, it should be noted that the City of Arvada does not require the costs of the tear-off be included in the declared contract value. The amount of the job that you declare when making application for a building permit is the contract amount less the cost of the tear-off. In order to insure that the permit fees are calculated properly, starting on 8/15/2009 all contractors will need to bring in a copy of the actual contract when applying for the roofing permit. That contract should show the costs of materials and your labor less the tear-off.

The current disaster has made our staff work very hard to keep up with the called inspections and the processing of the permits. We will be doing our best to make sure we process the permits and do the inspections as soon as we can. Inspections will be done in the order they are called in and presently we are keeping up. Based on past hail storms and the anticipated increase of permits we might fall behind so please only call inspections once. To call for the inspection you must use the inspection line or internet to make the request (http://www.arvadabuild.org/ or 720-898-7630). That same website allows you the contractor to look up the results of the inspection. You must have the permit number. The system works very well and was put in place to assist the contractors and homeowners so please take the time to become familiar with it and use it in lieu of calling building inspection staff.

To make sure we stay on top of the disaster we will be sending out lists of permits that remain open well past the time of completion. These lists will be run on a regular basis and additional permits will not be issued to contractors that fail to call in inspections or make the required corrections to close out these permits. We will be checking past permit status when you come in to get permits and if you have many permits that are not completed we will hold permits until at such time as you can get the past permits completed. We are doing this to make sure all contractors complete work and keep homeowners from
having problems in the future. Any roof that is found to be leaking after completion will loose the status of approved or finaled until the roof is repaired.

The City of Arvada Inspectors will be canvassing the storm areas and if your roof is loaded but no permit has been pulled we will issue a stop work order. If your crew is working and the permit is not posted a stop work order will also be issued. We are doing this to make sure everyone has a permit and that all the contractors are obtaining the required permits. Inspectors will be working on the weekends to verify the same.

The City of Arvada thanks you for your cooperation. If you have questions please call. 720-898-7620