Frequently Asked Questions

A Street Occupancy Permit is a permit issued by Right of Way Services that is needed any time that you are doing work in or occupying the Right Of Way.

A Street Cut Permit is a permit issued by Right of Way Services that is needed if you are cutting, sawing into, coring, boring or disturbing in any way the surface of the City & County of Denver Right Of Way that will require patching or replacement of the surface. The surface will need to be replaced to Denver Design Standards for the safety of our citizens and visitors.

A Street Cut Permit is usually issued as part of a Street Occupancy Permit.

A Right of Way Construction Permit is a permit issued by Right of Way Services that is needed if you are adding or replacing the sidewalk, curb & gutter, pedestrian ramps, concrete paving, asphalt paving, tree wells, test holes or drain chases.

See information on the Street Occupancy web site

For a ROW Construction Permit, a completed worksheet along with a completed Street Occupancy Permit Application and Traffic Control Plan needs to be submitted to pwpermits@denvergov.org.

Any time that you are occupying or working in the Right of Way, you need a Right Of Way Permit.

Right of Way means any Street, Alley, Sidewalk or tree lawn area in the City & County of Denver that Denver is responsible for maintaining and usually is where the utilities are located.

TCP means Traffic Control Plan. A TCP is required for EVERY closure on a Right of Way.

As a service to our contractors and general public we have provided pre-approved TCP’s for residential areas on our Right of Way Street Occupancy web page (see list of Traffic Control Plans).

Typically you WILL need to close down the sidewalk if you are doing work in the street but it will depend on the work being done. Closing of the sidewalk is done for safety reasons for pedestrians.

Sidewalk closures are REQUIRED for work such as cranes and boom trucks, concrete pumpers and excavations. Often, equipment & material staging is needed for the tree lawn or sidewalk area.

Just like each project is different, each closure is different. We have provided a Microsoft Excel fee calculation spreadsheet on our Right of Way Street Occupancy page.

Refer to the Construction Inspector Area Map on the Right of Way Services site(PDF, 4MB).

This details the ROW Inspectors, sewer inspectors and supervisors for the various areas or districts, including their contact numbers.

Contact ROWE / Parking Dispatch by phone at 720-913-1600.

Normal construction hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. but may vary by area and project scope.

Call 311 to file a noise complaint. Department of Environmental Health Inspectors are responsible for responding to noise complaints. 

More information about the Noise Program at DEH

Right-of way street cut, street occupancy and ROW construction permits must be submitted online through E-Permits. Payment can be made online.

Other permits may have phone or online payment options; see the entrance requirements for details.

For a ROW Street Occupancy / Cut you will need to submit:

• ROW Permit Application
• TCP

For a Construction Permit in the ROW, in addition to the previous requirements you must also submit:

• Worksheet: ROW Construction Permit

To reserve meters you need to submit a Parking Meter Application. 

All forms are available on the Right of Way Street Occupancy page.

For any other Right of Way Permit types, please see the PW Permits page for instructions.

Please contact your ROW Inspector and they can issue a change order.

See the Construction Inspector Area Map(PDF, 1MB) to contact the inspector for your area.

Please resubmit another application with the associated Traffic Control Plan to pwpermits@denvergov.org. Once a permit is paid for we cannot modify it. A new permit will need to be issued.

For ROW Street Occupancy permits: A response is sent to state that we received your application and note who it has been assigned to. You can expect to hear back from the permit counter or inspector.

For Dumpster requests, meter requests, Block parties and similar requests: these are assigned to the next available permit tech. The permit tech will contact you if there are any questions or when it is ready for payment.

We easily get over 100 requests a day. If the format of the subject line of your email is completed properly, it can save review time for our intake personnel.

Subject line format

• NAME or COMPANY NAME / ADDRESS OF THE WORK LOCATION / TYPE OF PERMIT REQUESTED / PERMIT REQUESTED START DATE 

• Example: XYZ Company, 123 5th Ave, Alley closure, 10/1/2020

You can also speed up your request by having the dates and times of your permit completed on the application and by attaching the Traffic Control Plan to the email.

Normal minimum review time for Street Occupancy Permits is 5 days. For expedited permits we may be able move you up in line for a fee, typically $500.

In most cases, the plumbing inspector will leave a copy of the report on site. Email a request to pwermits@denvergov.org with your name, address of the request, permit number and any other identifying information we may need to locate your inspection.

For larger requests, you can submit an Open Records Request. 

Open Records Request Process - information from the Denver Office of the Clerk and Recorder

The dumpster or container company is responsible for pulling permits since they have the equipment to move and service them. The national companies do not know Denver’s permitting requirements.

If a dumpster or container company has told you that you need to pull a permit yourself, you will need to speak with their local representative.

YES. If there are parking meters at your location you will need to complete a Parking Meter Request Form and email it to pwpermits@denvergov.org.

If there are no parking meters involved you will need to complete a ROW Street Occupancy Request Form and email it to pwpermits@denvergov.org.

For Local / Residential streets, permits can also be obtained by walking into the permit counter at:

• 2000 W 3rd Ave Denver, CO 80223
• Phone: 303-446-3759