Colorado Fire Damage Property Laws: Coverage Minimums and Demolition Review

The Floors Your Policy Has to Meet

Section 10-4-110.8 of the Colorado Revised Statutes sets required practices for homeowners insurers. It has been amended repeatedly, most consequentially by the Homeowners Insurance Reform Act of 2013, by HB 22-1111 after the Marshall Fire, and by the Underinsurance Act of 2023.

Four requirements do most of the work on a fire claim.

Additional living expense. Every replacement cost policy must include at least 12 months of coverage, and the insurer must offer the option to purchase 24 months. This pays the difference between your normal cost of living and what it costs to live elsewhere while the house is unusable.

Contents without an inventory. On a total loss of the contents of an owner-occupied residence documented as furnished at the time of loss, the insurer must offer a minimum of 30 percent of the contents limit without requiring a written inventory.

Extended replacement cost. Insurers must offer at least 50 percent of the dwelling limit, raised from 20 percent by the 2023 reforms. This is the cushion when rebuilding costs more than the dwelling limit, which after a wide-area loss it usually does.

Law and ordinance coverage. At least 20 percent of the dwelling limit must be offered, raised from 10 percent. This pays for bringing a rebuilt house up to current code rather than back to what stood there.

Why Does Law and Ordinance Coverage Matter So Much on an Older House?

Because a rebuild is held to current code while the original was not. Energy requirements, electrical standards, egress and structural detailing have all moved, and that gap is a real cost. Without law and ordinance coverage the policyholder funds it, which is a common reason rebuilding turns out not to be affordable.

Where a Declared Wildfire Disaster Changes the Numbers

HB 22-1111, signed in June 2022 in direct response to the Marshall Fire, added a separate set of requirements for total losses arising from a wildfire disaster declared by the governor.

In that situation, the contents minimum without a written inventory rises from 30 percent to 65 percent of the contents limit, or more by mutual agreement. And living expense coverage must run for at least 24 months, with the option to extend twice by six months each where delays are outside the policyholder's control.

Does That Apply to an Ordinary House Fire?

No. The enhanced figures attach to a total loss resulting from a wildfire disaster declared by the governor. An ordinary structure fire falls under the general requirements, where the contents floor is 30 percent and the living expense minimum is 12 months with 24 having been offered at purchase.

The Deadlines Nobody Mentions

Two timing provisions are worth knowing because they are more generous than most policyholders assume.

You have at least a full year after a total loss to submit an inventory of lost or damaged property. And you have at least 365 days after your living expense benefits are exhausted to replace property and recover depreciation by collecting full replacement value.

Insurers must also make available the methodology used to depreciate personal property, which is worth requesting where a settlement seems low and no explanation has been given.

We publish no advice on disputing a settlement or on the deadlines applicable to a particular policy. Policies contain their own suit limitation provisions, Colorado has separate statutory remedies for unreasonable delay or denial of benefits, and this is an area where a lawyer or a public adjuster earns their fee. What we will say is that a Colorado fire claim is worth reading against the statute before accepting it.

Denver's Demolition Review

Now the local layer, which applies to every primary structure in the city and County of Denver.

Applying for demolition begins with Landmark Preservation review. Upon receipt of a complete application, staff have 10 business days to determine whether the structure has potential to be a Denver landmark. To qualify, a property must be more than 30 years old or exceptionally important, be structurally intact, meet at least three of ten criteria set out in Chapter 30, section 30-3 of the Denver Revised Municipal Code, and retain integrity.

Where staff find that potential, they post a public notice on the property for 21 calendar days and publish a report explaining the basis. Where a notice of intent to file a designation application arrives by the 21st day, the posting period is extended.

Who Actually Decides Whether My Building Gets Designated?

Not the city, in the first instance. Staff identify potential and post it, but somebody from the public has to file a designation application, and those require substantial research rather than an objection. In practice most postings pass without an application. The risk is real but it is not the default outcome.

The Certificate of Demolition Eligibility

The two routes through review serve different purposes and it is worth knowing which you want.

A demolition permit is used where demolition is imminent. A Certificate of Demolition Eligibility is used where an owner is considering what to do with a property, and it also functions as a due diligence tool for a prospective buyer who may want to demolish later.

The application goes to Landmark Preservation with a modest fee, photographs of every side of each structure over one and a half storeys, and a copy of the assessor's real property record. The owner must sign it personally.

What Does the Certificate Actually Give Me?

A five year window during which Landmark Preservation would not review a demolition application on the property. That is a transferable advantage rather than a private one: a buyer holding the certificate has a shorter and more certain path than a buyer starting the process fresh, and they will pay for the difference.

We publish no current application fees or processing times for Denver demolition review. Both are set by the city and both change. Landmark Preservation publishes the current requirements and the application checklist.

Your Four Exits, Compared

Rebuild. Viable where the policy carries extended replacement cost and law and ordinance coverage. Without them the gap between the dwelling limit and the actual cost falls on you.

Repair and list. Highest gross where the structure allows it, and it avoids the demolition question entirely.

Demolish and sell the lot. Requires Landmark Preservation review first, and on a building over 30 years old that means a real, if usually brief, uncertainty.

Sell as it stands. Transfers both the rebuild funding question and the demolition question. What a buyer pays reflects which route they intend and what they have established about the second.

One City, Different Buildings

Denver is a city and county together with one set of local rules, so what changes between neighbourhoods is the housing and its age. The older stock where demolition review most often finds potential is covered under a district of Victorian and early century houses and an area of substantial older homes. Post-war and later construction behaves differently in a newer area of engineered framing and a belt of mid-century houses, while a historic neighbourhood with designated districts and an area where zoning has changed what lots support complete the set.

Beyond the city, Aurora, Lakewood, Arvada, Westminster, Thornton, Centennial, Boulder, Littleton, Englewood and Golden each run their own building departments, and several operate their own preservation review with different thresholds and timelines.

The full index is on our service area index.

State and Local Questions

How Do I Check My Policy Against These Minimums?

The declarations page shows the dwelling limit, the contents limit, the living expense term and whether extended replacement cost and law and ordinance coverage were purchased. The Division of Insurance will help if the page is unclear.

My Building Is Under 30 Years Old.

Then it is unlikely to meet the landmark criteria, and demolition review should be straightforward. Review still applies to all primary structures, but the outcome is usually quick.

Should I Get a Certificate Before Selling?

On an older house where clearing is a plausible route, it is worth considering. It removes an uncertainty a buyer would otherwise discount for, and the five year clearance goes with the property.

Primary Sources

C.R.S. §10-4-110.8 — required practices, living expense, contents and total loss provisions
Colorado HB 22-1111 (2022) — wildfire disaster total loss coverage requirements
Colorado HB 23-1174 — extended replacement cost and law and ordinance minimums
Colorado Division of Insurance — wildfire consumer advisories and regulations
Denver Revised Municipal Code Chapter 30 §30-3 — landmark designation criteria