Denver Building Permit Timelines & Delays
Denver has been one of the slower large U.S. cities to permit. In an official San Francisco Board of Supervisors review that benchmarked peer cities, Denver's median building-permit processing time was 274 days — the next-slowest behind San Francisco.
Denver permitting, the figures
The key published figures for this jurisdiction — each cited to its official source.
What the data shows
An official San Francisco Board of Supervisors cross-city review (2024–25) measured Denver's median building-permit processing time at 274 days — behind only San Francisco (280 days).
Denver publishes current per-discipline review times on its official Average Plan Review Times dashboard; its “Estimated Days to Complete” reflects completed reviews from the last 90 days, from the average to a 90th-percentile worst case.
Most delay accumulates before technical review
The data points to the same lever everywhere: most delay accumulates before technical review, in completeness and resubmittal cycles. Permittable's Permit Review Diagnostic checks your plans against applicable codes and common reviewer issues before you submit — so your package is more likely to clear on the first pass.
Denver permitting: FAQ
How long does a building permit take in Denver?
An official San Francisco Board of Supervisors cross-city review (2024–25) put Denver's median building-permit processing time at 274 days — second-slowest behind San Francisco. For current, per-discipline estimates, Denver publishes an official Average Plan Review Times dashboard.
Where can I see current Denver permit review times?
Denver's Community Planning & Development department maintains an official Average Plan Review Times dashboard. Its “Estimated Days to Complete” is based on completed reviews from the last 90 days, shown from the average to a 90th-percentile worst case.
Sources
All figures on this page are drawn from Average Plan Review Times — City and County of Denver — Community Planning & Development. Official plan-review-times dashboard. “Estimated Days to Complete” is calculated from completed reviews in the last 90 days, shown from the average customer time to a 90th-percentile worst case. www.denvergov.org/Government/Agencies-Departments-Offices/Agencies-Departments-Offices-Directory/Community-Planning-and-Development/Plan-Review-Permits-and-Inspections/Average-Plan-Review-Times. Specific tables, reports, and pages are cited inline with each figure above.
The 274-day median comes from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors' Budget & Legislative Analyst cross-city review (2024–25), which benchmarked Denver — not from a Denver-published report. For current, per-discipline figures, use Denver's official Average Plan Review Times dashboard. Methodologies differ across these sources, so compare with care.