What ordinances and regulations is your business subject to? Read about the different ordinances that impact Denver businesses. Stay up to date with what requirements your business must meet to comply with Denver's laws.
As of July 1, 2021, Denver requires a ten cent fee on all single-use bags given to customers. Stores are responsible for giving six cents of each bag fee collected to the city. These funds help to defray costs of this program to the City and County of Denver. Businesses will submit payment each quarter. Stores may keep four cents of each disposable bag fee. The store can use these funds to:
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Denver’s Single-Use Accessory Restriction Ordinance went into effect January 2022. Restaurants may only provide single-use condiments and service ware upon request. The hope is that this will reduce the amount of waste that comes with food service in Denver.
To make this ordinance easy to put in place, Denver has created printable materials. You can use these to educate both your customers and staff. Materials are available in Vietnamese, Spanish, and English.
On November 8, 2022, 70% of Denver voters approved the Waste No More ballot initiative. All Denver commercial and multifamily buildings must now offer recycling and composting. This includes:
The city formed a task force to:
It included:
The Waste No More Implementation Task Force met six times over six months. The Task Force submitted a draft proposal of its recommendations for updates to the ordinance. These updates would make it more enforceable.
The Denver Energy Code establishes electrification requirements for existing commercial and multifamily buildings. These requirements are triggered when replacing gas-fired space and water heating equipment. This happens:
These electrification requirements will change the way you apply for building permits. It also changes the types of equipment you can install when you replace your space and water heating systems. The first set of changes went into effect on March 1, 2023.
Requirements will phase in over time, through updates to the Denver Building Code.
Denver requires all buildings 25,000 sq. ft. and larger to:
AND
Existing buildings have been subject to annual benchmarking since 2016. In 2022, Denver established energy performance requirements based on the building's primary use. Buildings must achieve these performance requirements by 2030. Buildings will have to meet two interim performance targets in 2024 and 2027. These interim performance targets will help you reach your final performance target.
Denver requires all commercial and multifamily buildings 5,000-24,999 sq. ft. and larger to do one of two things:
OR
Building owners do not have to do both options, only one is required for compliance. Buildings of this size do not need to submit annual benchmarking reports.
The State of Colorado passed the Plastic Pollution Reduction Act in 2021. Both parts of this act when into effect on January 1, 2024.
Recycled paper bags are the only disposable bags stores may give to customers. These bags are subject to the 10 cent disposable bag fee.
Food retailers may no longer give out to-go containers made from expanded polystyrene (Styrofoam). These retailers may use any polystyrene materials they purchased before January 1, 2024 until they run out.