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Part 1
2025 was a busy year at the State Capitol for AIA Colorado. Despite a significant state budget shortfall, we tracked more legislation than usual affecting the architecture profession. We identified 26 bills of interest to our members and took positions on 12 of them, listed below.
We’re proud to report that every bill AIA Colorado supported passed, and every bill we opposed failed.
This summary will be published in two parts:
HB25-1272: Construction Defects & Middle Market Housing
Bill status: Signed into law
AIA Colorado position: Support
Colorado condominium construction has been lagging behind demand for decades, primarily due to construction defect liability risks for all parties involved in these projects. The condo projects that have come to market tend to be at the luxury end, where costlier efforts to limit liability exposure can be absorbed into the selling price. Previous reform efforts have made modest gains in balancing the rights of homeowners and construction professionals, but they haven’t resulted in a meaningful increase in new projects.
HB25-1272 takes a new approach to the problem by creating an opt-in “Multifamily Construction Incentive Program” that developers, design professionals, and builders can join together. If all parties opt in, and a construction defect occurs, they receive enhanced protections and procedures to correct the issue before resorting to litigation. In exchange for these protections, stronger warranties must be offered to homeowners, and a more robust set of third-party inspections must be performed during construction—steps that should, in theory, reduce the occurrence of defects.
Architects and engineers, in particular, benefit from an improved “certificate of review” process conducted by a peer professional. Under current Colorado law, all regulated professions benefit from a certificate process in which a qualified third party must review the claim before a lawsuit can be filed. Unfortunately, the current standard is low (the claim must simply not be obviously fraudulent) and isn’t well-suited to complex issues like construction defects. For projects in this program, the third-party architect or engineer must be able to identify a negligent act or omission tied to the design work.
It will take time for this effort to bear fruit. Developers must choose to opt in and then bring the design team on board. General contractors bidding on a project must agree to the warranty and inspection requirements. It will be years before these projects reach the market—and years again before we know whether the program’s procedures successfully prevent lawsuits (though, ideally, defects will occur less frequently). If projects don’t opt in, the program framework may need to be revised. Still, we’re optimistic that this new program will result in more condo projects being developed in Colorado.
HB25-1273: Residential Building Stair Modernization
Bill status: Signed into law
AIA Colorado position: Support
Getting a multifamily residential project to pencil out can be challenging on small or oddly shaped lots. A commonly identified barrier is the space taken up by two egress stairs and the double-loaded corridors that typically result. Designing floor plans around a single central stair creates much more efficient layouts and can also facilitate units with three or more bedrooms, which are otherwise uncommon. The obvious downside is that, in an emergency, a single exit is a single point of failure—and people’s lives are at risk. Still, multiple exits are only one of many safety strategies embedded in building codes, and in recent years, there has been a growing movement to explore how taller single-stair buildings can still be designed with safety in mind. Seattle, Washington, in particular, has for decades allowed six-story multifamily buildings with a single egress stair, compared to the three stories typically allowed by the International Building Code (IBC).
After a failed effort in 2024 and significant stakeholder outreach with fire marshals, fire chiefs, and firefighter unions, there is now an agreed-upon framework for additional safety measures that must be implemented to allow five-story single-stair residential buildings in Colorado. Of the 22 new requirements, most are applications of provisions already found in the building code. Examples include limiting these buildings to Type I, II, or IV construction; requiring full sprinkler coverage; and enforcing limited travel distances, among others. Additional requirements, such as unit count and area restrictions, are specific to this project type. Local fire departments must be consulted, as they must have an adequate aerial apparatus to reach the top story of these buildings from the exterior.
The bill requires all local jurisdictions in Colorado with populations above 100,000 to allow these taller single-stair buildings by December 1, 2027.
This bill’s passage should enable more density on smaller lots that are currently vacant or underdeveloped as low-density residential. While we have concerns that the building type limitations could make it difficult to market units in these buildings as affordable, Colorado’s housing needs span the income spectrum. We remain hopeful that developers will find ways to make taller single-stair projects viable for both for-sale and rental housing.
HB25-1093: Limitations on Local Anti-Growth Land Use Policies
Bill status: Signed into law
Colorado generally defers to local jurisdictions on policies related to housing growth. While logistical considerations still vary by locality, this bill prohibits local governments from enacting growth restrictions through simple limits on building or development permits. Previous implementations of such policies are forms of NIMBYism, are effectively discriminatory, and can cause significant issues—especially in clusters of cities where these limits are applied inconsistently at the regional level.
HB25-1169: Housing Developments on Faith and Educational Land
Bill status: Failed in Senate
Affectionately called the “Yes in God’s Backyard” (YIGBY) bill, this proposal would have allowed vacant land on church- or university-owned properties to be developed into affordable housing units. While well-intentioned, the bill included limited guardrails on density, which could have led to massive new developments on large parcels of land owned by these entities—often in areas not zoned for, or lacking the infrastructure to support, such projects. Although low-density zoning across the state is one of the factors contributing to our insufficient housing supply, this bill didn’t strike the right balance due to the way it overrode local zoning authority.
HB25-1211-Tap Fees Imposed by Special Districts
Bill status: Signed into law
Tap fees in special districts vary widely across the state and can have a substantial impact on the cost of new housing units. This bill limits what special districts can take into account when setting tap fees to specific items directly related to water use and availability. In theory, these restrictions will reduce tap fees by requiring more carefully considered predictions of water usage.
HB25-1006: School District Solar Garden Lease Term
Bill status: Signed into law
AIA Colorado position: Support
Based on future enrollment projections, it’s not uncommon for school districts to purchase land years in advance of developing a project. Similarly, districts may acquire larger parcels than are immediately necessary for various strategic reasons. Current state law prohibits school districts from leasing their unused land for terms longer than 10 years, to prevent an elected school board from making a short-sighted decision with long-term consequences.
This bill creates exceptions to the 10-year lease limit for uses such as solar fields, energy storage systems, and affordable housing. These uses are recognized as providing community benefits—but especially for solar fields, the projects often aren’t financially viable under a 10-year contract.
Even when projected enrollment growth doesn’t materialize, selling district-owned land can be short-sighted—particularly if the property lacks infrastructure, making it less suitable for private development. This bill supports Colorado’s carbon reduction goals by enabling more local renewable energy generation, and it encourages school districts to consider private partnerships to fund staff housing projects when up-front capital is unavailable.
HB25-1269: Building Decarbonization Measures
Bill status: Signed into law
AIA Colorado position: Support
In 2021, Colorado became one of the first states in the nation to create a Building Performance Standards (BPS) program, requiring certain buildings (50,000 square feet and larger) to limit their annual energy use based on Energy Use Intensity (EUI) targets set by a board created under that bill. These buildings must also benchmark their annual energy use to demonstrate compliance.
The 2021 bill established two compliance years—2026 and 2030—during which buildings that fall short of their EUI targets must make at least incremental improvements. Based on early benchmarking scores and the impact COVID-19 had on office vacancy rates, the statutory goals have proven difficult to meet, and more buildings than anticipated have applied for variances and extensions.
This bill makes several adjustments to the BPS program to allow for more realistic compliance timelines, informed by early data and feedback from large building owners. It also adds a new EUI target for 2040. Grant funding will be made available to help building owners navigate the program and bring their buildings into eventual compliance.
It’s no surprise that a bleeding-edge BPS program would require tweaks along the way. The program has created—and will continue to create—opportunities for energy-use reduction projects that require design expertise from both architects and professional engineers. There are significant potential gains to be made in reducing carbon emissions from the built environment in Colorado.
SB25-182: Embodied Carbon Reduction
Bill status: Signed into law
AIA Colorado position: Support
Colorado has an existing C-PACE financing program originally intended to cover up-front costs of energy improvement projects (in new or existing buildings) that have predictable payback periods and can be repaid over time via property tax payments. Local jurisdictions must opt in to allow this program for buildings to utilize tax payments to repay this type of loan. C-PACE financing is one piece of any project funding puzzle but can make certain improvements achievable that are often removed from a project scope due to up-front costs.
This bill simply expands the allowable C-PACE financing project types to include embodied carbon improvements.
The intent is to promote low embodied carbon materials used in more projects, also incentivizing more companies in the state to consider lowering the embodied carbon in their products and materials. The example commonly used by the bill’s sponsors was low-carbon concrete that many Colorado plants are including in their mix offerings.
SB25-142: Changes to Wildfire Resiliency Code Board
Bill status: Signed into law
This bill introduces provisions to streamline the adoption process for local jurisdictions that must use the forthcoming wildfire resiliency code for wildland/urban interface areas.
HB25-1040: Adding Nuclear Energy as a Clean Energy Resource
Bill status: Signed into law
The state will consider nuclear energy as a source of clean energy, given its lack of emissions in the context of Colorado’s aggressive carbon reduction goals in the coming decades. Nuclear energy is also perceived as being better for grid reliability than solar or wind power energy sources. This bill may or may not result in more nuclear power generation (large scale or via modular units) but opens the door for nuclear to be considered more favorably.
HB25-1096: Automated Permits for Clean Energy Technology
Bill status: Signed into law
As every architect knows, permit review times across the state have increased substantially in recent years. This bill will remove some of that strain by allowing residential solar panel projects to be reviewed and approved via automated permitting software, which has a record of success already in other states.
HB25-1113: Limit Turf in New Residential Development
Bill status: Signed into law
Following up on the 2024 bill limiting turf grass, artificial grass, or invasive species in certain types of properties and spaces not occupied by people, this year’s bill expands the scope to multi-family residential projects of 12 units or more. “Functional turf” remains allowed in spaces intended for recreational use or regular human occupation.
HB25-1267: Support for Statewide Energy Strategies
Bill status: Signed into law
This bill makes changes to rules and grant funding for electric vehicle charging stations to further promote expanding electric charging infrastructure across the state.