Category: Advocacy

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:

• In Part 1, we took a deep dive into the most impactful bills related to housing and sustainability/resiliency.
• In Part 2, we cover professional liability, building codes, project funding, and legislation affecting the construction trades.

SB25-157: Deceptive Trade Practice Significant Impact Standard

Bill status: Failed in Senate
AIA Colorado position: Oppose

Summary

Colorado’s consumer protection statute includes dozens of individual sections in addition to its general provisions. As a result, it’s difficult to make sweeping changes, even when they mean well, without unintended consequences. This bill could have made it easier to make a deceptive trade practice claim alongside a construction defect claim, which could open up defendants to trebel damages. A scary prospect given the dollar amounts that may be necessary to correct an issue. This situation is very different than the scale of harm for a typical consumer protection lawsuit. Appropriate damages that can be awarded exist in this act and bills targeting other sections of statute shouldn’t take precedence. Architects were one of many interest groups affected that believed this bill was too broad in its attempt to increase consumer protections and the bill failed on the senate floor.

Impact

AIA Colorado opposed this bill because consumer protection claims shouldn’t be used as a vehicle to increase judgements for construction defect lawsuits. Some trial lawyers already try to tack on consumer protection claims as a scare tactic and this bill would make this more common despite such claims not having merit. The existing Construction Defect Action Reform Act (CDARA), while not perfect, is a comprehensive statute design specifically for lawsuits against architects and other construction professionals.

SB25-185: Claims Against Construction Professionals

Bill status: Failed in House
AIA Colorado position: Oppose

Summary

Never has a bill so concise had so many negative implications for the architecture profession. SB25-185 simply stated that “Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, a construction professional owes an independent tort duty to an original residential home purchaser and a subsequent residential home purchaser“. This single sentence would have effectively removed our ability to negotiate liability-related provisions in contracts with other construction professionals.

When a homeowner suffers from a construction defect and pursues a lawsuit to correct the issue, the Economic Loss Doctrine dictates that the proper course of action is to file a contract claim against the seller of the home. This doctrine is intended to guide parties in disputes with purely monetary losses (such as paying to have a defect corrected). Terms in the sales contract are relevant to how liability issues are handled. The world of construction is a complex web of contracts, so there may be multiple suits filed down the contract line depending on what party is at fault. A homeowner could sue a homebuilder, who would then sue an architect to be made whole if the architect was at fault and was hired by the homebuilder.

To the benefit of homeowners in general, courts have ruled that subsequent buyers, who only had a contract with the original homeowner, don’t have to file contract claims. They can file tort claims against construction professionals directly since suing the previous homeowner is an overly burdensome means to get to the party who caused the defect. We’ve been operating under this guidance for decades in Colorado.

This bill would have allowed original homeowners to sue anyone directly with a tort claim.

This effort specifically tried to reverse a recent court case decision (Appleby vs Dossey Sudik) where a structural engineer limited their liability to an agreed-upon dollar amount with the architect, who was under contract with a general contractor on a for-sale residential project. The original homeowners had a structural defect and tried to sue the structural engineer directly via tort claim because a contract claim would not have covered the repair costs. However, the courts (up to the Colorado Supreme Court) all agreed that the homeowners could only file contract claims, starting with the seller of their home. 

While that might sound unfair to homeowners at first pass, the intent of contract liability provisions is that both parties agree to them. If one side reduces their liability risk, then the other side opts in to taking on that liability themselves. This isn’t always about dollar amounts. Dispute resolution processes (arbitration and mediation) are also common contract clauses that this bill would have undermined. Architects are hired long before a housing unit goes to market. We’re not privy to the terms of a final sales agreement to the homeowner. As such, we can only properly negotiate contracts with the clients who hire us. We rely on contract claims to provide guardrails on who can sue who and when it’s appropriate to do so.We believe that courts ruled correctly in favor of requiring contract claims in construction defect lawsuits so that negotiated liability-related provisions are respected by all parties and taken into consideration in court proceedings.

Impact

It took a lot of work to explain how bad this bill was to legislators given how little detail there was in the bill text itself. Thankfully, we were ultimately successful in defeating it despite the bill having bipartisan support. If it had passed, architects and professional engineers (who were great allies in our lobbying effort!) would have had more lawsuit exposure in for-sale residential projects resulting in greater insurance costs and risk. This would drive firms out of this market and/or raise costs to cover the new risk.

HB25-1261: Consumers Construction Defect Action

Bill status: Pulled by sponsor in House committee hearing
AIA Colorado position: Oppose

Summary

This bill is a long list of changes intended to benefit homeowners who file construction defect lawsuits against construction professionals, many of which are similar or returning provisions from last year’s failed HB24-1230. AIA Colorado opposed this bill not just because every section was bad for architects, but also because of the heavy-handed approach taken that would have raised costs for architects with no litigation history. The most significant changes included:

• Changing the statute of repose for filing lawsuits against construction professionals from 6 years to 10.
• Letting homeowners wait until they know the cause of a defect before informing construction professionals of an issue. Unlike current law that requires disclosures upon the manifestation of a potential defect, this makes it impossible for well-meaning construction professionals to offer to correct an issue or even try to determine if they do or do not have any culpability.
• Awarding prejudgment interest on a successful claim against a construction professional at 6% from the date the defective work was finished on top of damages resulting from the defect. Professional liability insurance won’t cover this interest.

Impact

In Colorado, there are already no real penalties against lawyers who threaten every construction professional involved in a project with a lawsuit. This bill only would have made this practice more egregious. Additionally, prejudgment interest would result in a strong disincentive for a defendant to argue their case in court because judgements will automatically be higher, and the longer a case takes to resolve (which we have no control over, the higher the interest total would be. 

While there’s potentially room for improvement for homeowners trying to deal with a construction defect, solutions need to respect construction professionals’ right to plead our defense in court without additional penalties for doing so. Solutions also need to be careful they don’t raise insurance or out-of-pocket costs for all architects who do residential projects even when we’re not the party at fault in most construction defect cases.

HB25-1093: Limitations on Local Anti-Growth Land Use Policies

Bill status: Signed into law

Overview

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.

HB25-1030: Accessibility Standards in Building Codes

Bill status: Signed into law
AIA Colorado position: Amend/Support

Summary

As a home rule state, building codes are adopted and enforced at the local level. However, there is precedent for energy codes that require local jurisdictions to adopt certain versions of a code when they do any code update cycle. This makes it easier to promote adoption of newer codes even if a local jurisdiction can decide on their own schedule.

This bill promotes adoption of newer accessibility code provisions in the same way as existing energy adoption requirements. The primary difference is that this bill focuses on chapter 11 of the IBC instead of an entire publication. Either of the two most recent versions of this IBC chapter are allowed to be adopted. AIA Colorado successfully proposed a number of friendly amendments to this bill to offer clarity on how this process would work.

Impact

Even if a local jurisdiction does not want to be on the newest version of the IBC, this bill ensures better accessibility for building occupants, even if it’s slightly more complicated for architects to mix and match versions of the same code. Because the baseline in this bill is to use the 2021 IBC version, smaller rural communities are the most likely not to already be in compliance. An added benefit for architects is that a local jurisdiction may decide it’s easier to simply adopt an IBC version that meets this bill’s requirements. This could get more of the state on more modern codes.

SB25-002: Regional Building Codes for Factory-Built Structures

Bill status: Signed into law
AIA Colorado position: Amend/Support

Summary

Factory-built structures and building components are being promoted in Colorado to lower construction costs and therefore housing prices in particular. To facilitate broader adoption and investment of this construction practice, the state wants to simplify the application of building codes and inspections when construction occurs in a different jurisdiction (or state) than where the project site is located.

This bill empowers the state to determine standard off-site inspection practices and create regions with a unified set of building codes that must be designed and built to for off-site construction. AIA Colorado, amongst many other stakeholders, noted that as introduced, the bill didn’t have clear language to ensure the strictest code provisions in a region would apply in this context. With four climate regions in the state and significant variance in other site conditions such as wind loads, it’s important to ensure appropriate safety and building performance code provisions govern any given project.

Impact

With broader adoption of off-site construction, this bill will help architects, contractors, an local building departments navigate otherwise overlapping or conflicting building code requirements in projects that where construction occurs wholly or partially outside the local project site.

SB25-039: Agricultural Buildings Exempt from Energy Use Requirements

Bill status: Signed into law

Overview

Under current law, owners of certain large buildings  are required to annually collect and report each covered building’s energy use to the Colorado energy office. This bill clarifies that agricultural buildings were never intended to be included in the state’s Building Performance Standards program for benchmarking and annual energy use limitations.

HB25-1061: Community Schoolyards Grant Program

Bill status: Signed into law
AIA Colorado position: Support

Summary

This bill creates a grant program that can support planning, design, or construction grants for schoolyard projects that benefit and are accessible to the broader community beyond use by students during school hours. Suggested uses include natural landscapes or playgrounds, recreational spaces, sustainability/resilience projects, and hands-on learning spaces in underserved and underfunded schools and communities.

Impact

This community schoolyard grant fund has limited money available given Colorado’s budget challenges this year but can still make school outdoor space projects viable that might not otherwise have funding. Architects doing school projects are urged to speak with their clients to determine if part of the project scope may be qualified for this type of grant.

SB25-081: Treasurer’s Office

Bill status: Signed into law
AIA Colorado position: Support

Summary

This bill creates a program, with a board led by the state treasurer and including the state architect, to provide financing to eligible projects. These include various infrastructure and affordable/accessible housing projects. This program is funded using state treasury money as collateral for more favorable rates than other project funding sources. Given the unique nature of this funding, projects have to be individually evaluated and subject to available money.

Impact

Given the substantial 2025 state budget deficit, legislators tried many different creative ways to find money not available in the general fund this year. This bill focuses on making certain capital construction projects a reality that are ready to begin but where supplemental funding is necessary for related infrastructure work.

HB25-1245: Heating Ventilation & Air Conditioning Improvement Projects in Schools

Bill status: Signed into law

Overview

Schools that accept funding from the “Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act cash fund” for HVAC improvements must now meet certain performance, quality, and contractor qualification standards for the project.

SB25-006: Investment Authority of State Treasurer for Affordable Housing

Bill status: Signed into law

Overview

The state treasurer may invest up to $50 million of state money in bonds with below-market interest rates if the proceeds are used for the creation or financing of new affordable, income-restricted for-sale housing that otherwise would not be made available.

AIA Colorado is a member of Building Jobs 4 Colorado (BJ4C), a coalition of construction trade groups that work with industry stakeholders to preserve and build construction and design jobs in Colorado. There are numerous bills each year that BJ4C takes positions on in addition to our own efforts.

HB25-1286: Protecting Workers from Extreme Temperatures

Bill status: Failed in House committee hearing
AIA Colorado position: BJ4C coalition opposed

Summary

Climate change is resulting in more common extreme temperature days in Colorado. There is no worker protection consistency across industries with outdoor workers and this bill would have given protection to works for both heat- and cold-related temperatures. Protection would have included risk mitigation measures, rest break details, and injury/illness prevention plans. The construction industry was generally opposed to this bill as there are already robust measures in place in accordance with national OSHA requirements. 

Impact

If this bill would have passed, it could have significantly reduced productivity on construction sites during the hottest and coldest parts of the year. Opponents successfully argued that the proposed protections would have gone well beyond what is required to protect worker safety. As temperatures continue to rise however, this issue isn’t going away. For the construction industry though, there are numerous examples of extreme weather procedures already in place in many southern states that we can emulate.

HB25-1300: Workers’ Compensation Benefits Proof of Entitlement

Bill status: Signed into law
AIA Colorado position: BJ4C coalition opposed

Summary

This bill makes a significant change to Colorado’s existing worker’s compensation benefits act by allowing injured workers to see their own physicians. Previously, employers were allowed to only approve a limited number of physicians that could be seen as part of a worker’s comp claim except in emergencies.

Impact

Opponents claimed that it benefits workers to see a physician who has experience both with workplace injuries and navigating typical billing procedures for worker’s comp claims that are typically the responsibility of an employer. There is also fear that less experienced physicians will keep workers from returning to their jobs longer out of an abundance of caution. It remains to be seen if these concerns prove true and if there will be impacts to construction costs or schedules.

HB25-1001: Enforcement Wage Hour Laws

Bill status: Signed into law

Overview

After last year’s attempt at addressing wage theft was vetoed, proponents for reform came back with a more narrowly focused bill. Protections for workers have been strengthened, but there is an orderly process in determining the parties responsible for making workers whole. This is important in construction with multiple layers of contracts between various parties. We will hopefully see fewer wage theft issues on projects that could result in cost overruns or slowdowns.

SB25-005: Worker Protection Collective Bargaining

Bill status: Vetoed by Governor

Overview

Colorado is unique in requiring two elections to form a union and this bill would have removed the second election. It would have likely resulted in more union construction labor in the state. Proponents may this bill back either next year if a compromise can be identified or in 2027 when Colorado has a new governor that may be more union-friendly.

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:

• In Part 1, we’ll take a deep dive into the most impactful bills related to housing and sustainability/resiliency.
• Part 2 covers professional liability, building codes, project funding, and legislation affecting the construction trades.

HB25-1272: Construction Defects & Middle Market Housing

Bill status: Signed into law
AIA Colorado position: Support

Summary

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.

Impact

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

Summary

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.

Impact

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

Overview

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

Overview

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

Overview

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

Summary

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.

Impact

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

Summary

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.

Impact

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

Summary

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.

Impact

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

Overview

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

Overview

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

Overview

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

Overview

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

Overview

This bill makes changes to rules and grant funding for electric vehicle charging stations to further promote expanding electric charging infrastructure across the state.

AIA Colorado is proud to stand up for the profession as your legislative champion. This year was one of our most successful sessions ever. We took a position on 12 bills and each one got the result we lobbied for! We’ll publish our full report next month, but here are the major highlights from the 2025 legislative session.

We supported 9 bills this year, all of which have been signed into law or are awaiting the governor’s signature. We opposed 3 bills this year that would have increased architects’ liability risks and successfully defeated them all.

HB25-1272: Construction Defects & Middle Market Housing creates a new program to promote more housing and condominium projects in particular. Projects that opt into the program will have a mix of incentives and requirements to improve construction quality and promote construction defect solutions before resorting to lawsuits. 

Read more about this bill here.

HB25-1273: Residential Building Stair Modernization creates a set of code requirements that large cities will be required to adopt to allow five-story single-stair residential buildings. This space-saving measure will create opportunities for more density on smaller lots and the new code requirements offset the potential reduction in safety for only having one exit stair.

Read more about House Bill 1273 in the Colorado Sun.

SB25-185: Claims Against Construction Professionals would have allowed more tort claims in residential project construction defect lawsuits to be filed instead of contract claims that respect terms negotiated between construction professional parties. We defeated this bill but if it had passed, architects and engineers would have had more lawsuit exposure in for-sale residential projects resulting in greater insurance costs and risk. This would drive firms out of this market and/or raise costs to cover the new risk.

Rea more about Senate Bill 185 here.

To achieve these extraordinary results takes a team effort. Your membership lets us stand up a robust advocacy infrastructure of full-time staff, experienced lobbyist, enhanced bill tracking systems, an Architects’ Day at the Capitol, committee testimony from affected professionals and a dedicated group of Government Affairs Committee volunteers. We hope you feel part of this success and will join us in thanking the Representatives, Senators and Governor who were on our side.

Mike Waldinger, Hon. AIA, CEO, AIA Colorado

AIA Colorado Advocates in Washington, D.C.

In February, an AIA Colorado delegation attended the AIA Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C., where we met with the offices of Colorado’s Senators and Congressional representatives to advocate for key legislative priorities:

• Reinstating the R&D Tax Credit: restoring this valuable tax credit with its original one-year amortization and allowing firms to retroactively claim it back to 2022, when it was unexpectedly paused.
• Renewing and expanding the 179D tax deduction: increasing the $5/sf. tax credit for architects designing and remodeling energy-efficient commercial buildings.
• Renewing the 1099 20% pass-through deduction, which many architecture firms rely on.
• Tax credits for historic buildings.
• Protecting design freedom for federal buildings: ensuring that architects can continue designing in appropriate styles, as outlined by the GSA. The AIA successfully opposed an attempt during the first Trump administration to mandate Classical architecture as the only acceptable style for federal buildings, but this issue is likely to resurface.

Our advocacy efforts ensure that architects have a voice in shaping Federal policies important to the architecture profession and built environment.

Our Commitment to Core Values

AIA is a non-partisan organization, deeply committed to the values that define our profession and our work. We do not align with any political party, however we actively advocate for principles that shape a better built environment and a stronger architectural community.

At this moment, some federal policies challenge these fundamental values, and we remain steadfast in defending them:

• Celebrating the benefits of a diverse, equitable and inclusive professional membership.
• Addressing the climate crisis by recognizing the critical role buildings play in both contributing to and mitigating climate change, supporting sound science, and leading the charge to create more sustainable and resilient buildings and communities.
• Advocating for housing for all as we believe that quality housing is a fundamental human right.
• Honorable, thoughtful, and fair business and governance practices.

As architects, we are not only designers—we are leaders, problem-solvers, and advocates for a more sustainable, equitable, and just future.

Contribute to ARCPac

All of these priorities are built upon a foundation of good public policy. As the collective voice of our profession, AIA actively engages in civic discourse, advocating for architects through legislation and building codes at the local, state, and national levels.

Our state level advocacy efforts are amplified by ARCPac, which enables us to support state legislators who are allies of the architecture profession. It is the fuel that powers our advocacy work. 100% of your AIA Colorado Board has already contributed, and we invite you to join us in building on the impact too. 

Make your contribution today to help us advance policies that support.

We are all busy balancing careers, health, family, and friends. Sometimes it seems like there’s no extra bandwidth available to tackle big and often controversial societal issues. But as architects, we are leaders in the civic realm. We’re problem solvers,  trained to come up with solutions and advocate for them effectively. 

Individually, we influence our projects and our firms by setting good examples. Together, we have the power to create real, lasting change.

Scott Rodwin

President, AIA Colorado

The following are a few highlights and takeaways from the AIA Colorado delegation:

“We just wrapped up an incredible three days in DC at the AIA Leadership Summit with my fellow AIA Colorado members and leaders from across the country! I’m proud of what our group has accomplished—engaging in breakout sessions, gaining leadership insights from inspiring keynote speakers, and advocating for our profession on Capitol Hill. Sharing our personal experiences on the impact of federal policy with congressmen, house representatives, and industry advocates during Hill Day was truly impactful. Grateful for the opportunity to learn, connect, and help shape the future of our profession.

My key takeaways from the summit:

• Complaining is not a strategy. Taking action on the things you can control is.
• There is power in numbers. Showing up is an act of advocacy too.
• Psychological safety is essential for improving performance in any working environment.”

– Huili Feng, AIA, North Director

“The leadership summit was personally inspiring, for I was able to see how our local and state leaders are coming together on a national, even global, level, to collaboratively effect change. We are all working together as one to be stewards to our communities and our profession, and individually with our distinct perspectives and capabilities, given the opportunity to tell our stories and have them hold value in conversations with one another. I was able to see a vast array of what my future could hold in the examples of others, and the compassion for others held within our civic minded efforts. The conference reminded me that we can make a difference, when faced with challenges and opposition, and we have an opportunity to rewrite what the future can look like – it will be done as a community, continuing to respect and listen to one another, sharing and offering resources, fostering creativity and well-being, and holding room at the table. 

I’m grateful for the opportunity to join you all at the leadership summit, and as a member of AIA Colorado, extremely proud of our leadership for 2025. I cannot say enough good things about each of you, and how well you unite as a team!”

 – Brittany Goldsmith, Assoc. AIA

“As I reflect on the trip, I am immensely gratified by our group because each of you embody the best attributes of leadership.

Whether that is presenting a breakout session, sharing your personal examples of federal policy impact, interacting with other attendees or simply being a positive and sincere professional.

I don’t know if you noticed but AIA Colorado attracts national leadership, board candidates and other component leaders. People want to know what we are up to and how we are doing it.

Let’s keep having fun, enjoying our work and making a difference!”

 – Mike Waldinger, Hon. AIA, AIA Colorado CEO

Building upon our success last year in support of our practice act renewal, AIA Colorado returned to the state capitol this year to meet with legislative allies and share our expertise on policy issues important to the architecture profession. We had a group of twenty members across four different committees to talk about construction defect lawsuit reform and to advocate for taller single-stair multifamily residential buildings in Colorado. Improving access to housing in Colorado is a high priority for both the legislature and the governor.

Our biggest advocacy effort this year is working to address construction defect lawsuits that have held back condominium development in Colorado for more than a decade. Too many architects have been named in these lawsuits when there was no design error and this is especially common when homeowner associations bring suit on behalf of every unit owner in a community. The result has been that our liability insurance rates have skyrocketed and condo development is at a standstill. Our goal with a reform bill this year isn’t to take away a homeowners rights to seek legal remedy, but to promote better construction practices and create incentives for owners to allow builders to correct issues without lawsuits being necessary.

The other bill we’re closely tracking is the adoption of taller single-stair residential buildings (now being called “smart stair” buildings) so that we can increase unit density on smaller lot sizes. Providing two exits is standard for buildings taller than 3 stories, but the resulting double-loaded corridors make egress a significant percentage of floor plans. Increasing the height of a single-stair building to five stories would allow more density and better accommodate units with more bedrooms. AIA Colorado is working closely with legislators to evaluate appropriate safety measures that don’t put building occupants at greater risk in an emergency.

Staff Advocacy Engagement Director Nikolaus Remus, AIA, and our lobbyist Jerry Johnson, work year-round building and maintaining relationships with both Democratic and Republican legislators across the state. As a result of these efforts, we were able to confirm 18 legislator meetings ahead of the event representing our strongest allies and legislators with constituents in attendance. As is often the case during the annual legislative session, we had some curve balls thrown at us on legislator availability at the last minute.

First, we learned that the senate was going to spend the entire day debating this year’s big gun bill. Not ideal, but we figured we could pull members off the floor for brief meetings, plus a majority of our meetings were scheduled with representatives. Until we found out that the house was going to spend the morning on resolutions recognizing veterans. Which turned out to be an even bigger hurdle, as no legislator wants to be off the floor for too long during these tributes. Then the senators all went over to the house chambers for the tributes as well.

Thankfully we started before the house began its day. House Speaker Julie McCluskie helped us present our 2024 Outstanding New Legislator award to Rep. William Lindstedt, who carried our licensure bill last year.

We were able to catch a handful off legislators off the floor and Senate President James Coleman made time to meet with us to close out the morning. While it wasn’t how we planned the day, we still had productive discussions and were able to teach members about how things work at the capitol.

Not every AIA Colorado member can take time out of their busy week to participate in our advocacy efforts, but a critical component is to help friends of the architecture profession get elected and re-elected. Please support our efforts by making a contribution to ARCpac, so that AIA Colorado members can continue our campaign support. Individuals and firms can make a contribution of up to $725 every election cycle (which just began in December) but any amount is greatly appreciated.

ARCpac and ARCsdc accept contributions from AIA members and use these funds to support state legislative race candidates who support the architecture profession. Issues affecting the architects at the capitol are non-partisan and we have allies on both sides of the aisle. Below are the candidates supported in 2024.

With the successful effort to renew our practice act in 2024, we’ve greatly expanded the list of contribution recipients this year to include legislators who stepped up to support our bill in committee hearings and who signed on as co-sponsors of this legislation.

Denver Section area candidates:

• Javier Mabrey (D) HD-01
• Meg Froelich (D) HD-03
• Cecilia Espinoza (D) HD-04
• Alex Valdez (D) HD-05
• Sean Camacho (D) HD-06
• Lindsay Gilcrhist (D) HD-08
• Emily Sirota (D) HD-09 
• Monica Duran (D) HD-23
• Lisa Feret (D) HD-24
• Brianna Titone (D) HD-27
• Sheila Lieder (D) HD-28
• Shannon Bird (D) HD-29, AIA Colorado Legislative Champion
• Rebekah Stewart (D) HD-30
• William Lindstedt (D) HD-33, AIA Colorado Legislative Champion
• Jenny Willford (D) HD-34, AIA Colorado Legislative Champion
• Michael Carter (D) HD-36
• Chad Clifford (D) HD-37
• Gretchen Rydin (D) HD-38
• Naquetta Ricks (D) HD-40
• Iman Jodeh (D) HD-41
• Robert Marshall (D) HD-43
• Max Brooks (R) HD-45
• Lisa Frizell (R) SD-2
• Dafna Michaelson Jenet (D) SD-21
• Idris Keith (D) SD-28
• Janet Buckner (D) SD-29
• Chris Hansen (D) SD-31, AIA Colorado Legislative Champion
• James Coleman (D) SD-33, AIA Colorado Legislative Champion

North Section Area Candidates:

• Junie Joseph (D) HD-10
• Kyle Brown (D) HD-12
• Dan Woog (R) HD-19
• Carlos Barron (R) HD-48
• Lesley Smith (D) HD-49
• Yara Zokaie (D) HD-52
• Dusty Johnson (R) HD-63
• Cathy Kipp (D) SD-14, AIA Colorado Legislative Champion
• Sonya Jaquez Lewis (D) SD-17
• Judy Amabile (D) SD-18

South Section Area Candidates:

• Stephanie Vigil (D) HD-16
• Regina English (D) HD-17
• Tisha Mauro (D) HD-46
• Cleave Simpson (R) SD-06, AIA Colorado Legislative Champion
• Larry Liston (R) SD-10
• Marc Snyder (D) SD-18

West Section Area Candidates:

• Julie McCluskie (D) HD-13
• Meghan Lukens (D) HD-26
• Elizabeth Velasco (D) HD-57
• Katie Stewart (D) HD-59
• Dylan Roberts (D) SD-08, AIA Colorado Legislative Champion

If you’d like to learn more about any of these contributions, please contact Advocacy Engagement Director Nikolaus Remus, AIA.