Knowing how to prepare an ADU application keeps a Denver Metro project from stalling at the permit counter. The packet has to name the property, the ADU type, and the drawings a reviewer can check. In the City and County of Denver, a licensed contractor files that packet. Other cities in the metro area set their own rules, so confirm the jurisdiction before you gather documents.
Talk with Faros about your ADU application
What does how to prepare an ADU application cover?
How to prepare an ADU application covers the steps before anyone files: confirm the city, collect site facts, and assemble the drawings and ownership records the reviewer expects. It is not a zoning class and it is not a construction schedule.
Start with the address. Denver, Aurora, Lakewood, and other Denver Metro cities do not share one form. A packet built for the wrong city wastes the first review cycle. Write down the jurisdiction, the parcel, and whether the ADU will be detached, attached, or a conversion of existing space.
Denver’s own ADU permit page is the reference when the property is inside the City and County of Denver. Faros already explains eligibility, size, and placement in the Denver ADU requirements guide. Use that page for the rules. Use this one for the packet you hand a contractor.
Preparation is a paper and drawing job. You are building a set a reviewer can accept or mark up, not choosing finishes. Keep a one-page cover note at the front of the folder. It should list the address, the ADU type, the owner, and the contractor who will file if you already have one. That note saves a reviewer from hunting through email for the basics.
Who can file, and what should you confirm first?
Confirm the city, the lot, and who is allowed to apply before you order drawings. In Denver, homeowners cannot apply for ADU permits. A licensed contractor must build the ADU and file the permits.
Denver’s homeowner-permit path is also closed for this project. The city says a homeowner cannot obtain a permit for work in an accessory dwelling unit, even in the unit where they live. That is different from a simple interior repair on a single-family house. If someone offers to file an ADU under a homeowner permit, stop and check the city’s rule.
For a Denver single-unit zone, the owner must live in the main house when applying. Unless the main house and the ADU are being built at the same time. Have a photo ID and the ownership record ready so the name on the application matches the assessor. Outside Denver, ask that city’s building department whether the owner, a contractor, or both may submit.
Write the answer down. A verbal “the contractor handles it” is not a file. Ask which portal the city uses, whether the owner must create an account. And which signature pages the owner still has to sign even when the contractor uploads the set. Denver’s homeowner permit page is useful here only as a contrast. It tells single-family owners when they may pull their own permits, and it excludes ADUs.
If the lot is in a landmark district or another special review area, ask that question before drawings start. Extra design review can change the sheet list. This article does not try to map every overlay. It tells you to ask the city, then put the answer in the cover note.
| Check before you prepare the packet | Why it belongs in the file |
|---|---|
| City and county of the property | The form, the reviewer, and the required drawings change by jurisdiction. |
| Who may apply | Denver requires a licensed contractor for an ADU. A homeowner permit is not available. |
| Owner name on the assessor record | The application name should match the legal owner, not a nickname or a different entity. |
| ADU type | Detached, attached, garage conversion, or interior conversion changes the drawings. |
| Existing address | Denver requires a separate address for the ADU before the unit can be permitted cleanly. |
Which site facts belong in the packet?
Put the lot, the existing house, and the proposed ADU on one site sketch before anyone draws elevations. Reviewers use that sketch to see placement, access, and utilities.
Measure the lot lines you can confirm, the house footprint, and the open yard where the ADU would sit. Mark alleys, driveways, and doors that must stay usable. Denver does not allow a separate driveway for the ADU unless the new access comes from an alley. Note that limit on the sketch so the plan does not show a second curb cut by habit.
Utilities belong on the same sheet. Denver says water, electric, sewer, and other utilities should come from shared systems where that is feasible. A new Denver Water license can be required, and separate charges can apply. Call 811 before anyone digs so marked lines are not guessed on the drawing. If a structure has to come down first, Denver requires a demolition permit, and a full demolition permit must be issued before other residential construction permits.
Zoning numbers such as height, size, and setbacks live in the requirements guide, not in this checklist. Your sketch should still show the dimensions the designer used so the application is not a blank box labeled “ADU.”
Photograph what the sketch claims. A reviewer may never see those photos, but your contractor will. Shoot the alley, the existing garage, downspouts, and the yard from the house looking out. Label each photo with the direction you were facing. Photos catch a fence, a tree, or a grade change that a tape measurement missed.
Also write the project story in one paragraph the drawings can support. Say whether this is a new backyard cottage, a unit over a garage, an addition, or a conversion inside the main house. Denver describes all of those as ADU forms. Mixing two stories in the cover note, such as “conversion” on the form and “new cottage” on the site plan. Is how a complete-looking folder still reads as incomplete.
How should drawings and ownership papers be organized?
Organize the file so a reviewer can open one set and see the site, the floor plan, and the owner’s authority to build. Missing sheets are a common reason a first submittal comes back.
For a Denver project, plan on zoning, building, and sewer use and drainage permits. Trade permits for electrical, plumbing, and mechanical work are separate. Denver allows those main reviews to move together when the first upload is complete. Include the site plan, architectural drawings, and the other sheets those permit types ask for. Structural notes belong in the set when the ADU is a new structure or a conversion that changes the frame.
Ask the designer or surveyor to seal every page they are responsible for. Keep owner documents in a second folder: the assessor match, a photo ID for the legal owner. And any letter the city asks for when a trust or company holds title. Do not assume a trust, an LLC, or a corporation can use a homeowner path. Denver already bars that path for an ADU.
Name files by contents, such as site plan, floor plan, and elevations. A single PDF named “final” is harder to review than a short index. If the property is not in Denver, download that city’s residential checklist and match the folder to it instead of copying Denver’s list.
Keep versions boring. When a sheet changes, replace the old file instead of stacking “final,” “final2,” and “revised” in the same folder. Put the date in the file name. Before the contractor uploads, open every PDF once and confirm the address on the title block matches the cover note. A correct drawing with yesterday’s address is still a bad application.
Leave a gap page for items you do not have yet, and say so. If the address request is pending, the cover note should say “address requested” rather than leaving a blank. If a survey is ordered but not back, say that too. Reviewers can work with a stated gap more easily than with a silent one. Do not invent a seal, a license number, or a utility approval to fill the gap.
What is a practical order for how to prepare an ADU application?
Use a fixed order so the expensive drawings come after the property facts are settled. Skipping ahead usually means redrawing the site plan.
- Write down the city, parcel, and ADU type, then open that city’s ADU or residential permit page.
- Confirm who may apply. In Denver, line up a licensed contractor before the packet is treated as ready.
- Match the owner name to the assessor record and collect the ID the city will ask to see.
- Sketch the lot, the house, access, and utility points. Call 811 before the sketch treats any line as clear.
- Request the address step if the ADU needs its own address. Denver requires one.
- Commission the site plan, floor plan, elevations, and any structural sheets the checklist names.
- Add demolition notes if something must be removed, and flag a Denver Water question if a new water license may be needed.
- Review the full set with your contractor, then let that contractor submit zoning, building, and sewer use and drainage permits together when the city allows it.
This order is preparation, not a promise of a review timeline. Denver workloads change, and a neighboring city can use a different portal. The ADU construction guide covers what happens after the permit path is underway. This list stops at a packet the contractor can file.
Ask Faros to review your ADU packet
Which mistakes send an ADU packet back?
Most returns come from the wrong filer, a thin site plan, or a drawing set that ignores access and utilities. Fix those before the first upload.
Do not file as a homeowner in Denver. The city states that homeowners cannot apply for permits to build an ADU, and the homeowner-permit page repeats that ADU work is outside that option. Do not show a second driveway from the street. Do not leave the ADU without its own address plan.
Do not treat a requirements summary as the application. Eligibility, height, and placement still matter, and they are covered in the requirements guide. The application fails when those decisions are not drawn. Also separate this packet from a general Denver building permit requirements checklist for other home projects. An ADU has its own contractor rule.
If the project removes a garage or another structure, do not bury demolition inside the building set. Denver wants that permit, and a total demolition permit comes before the other residential construction permits. Short-term rental use is a later license question, not a substitute for the building application. Read rental rules only after the unit is actually allowed.
How does Faros help before the application is filed?
Faros helps Denver Metro owners turn site facts into a buildable ADU scope a licensed contractor can submit. The conversation starts with the lot and the packet, not with a generic remodel.
Bring the jurisdiction, photos of the yard, and any sketch you already have. Faros builds accessory dwelling units through its ADU construction services in Denver and can coordinate the hardscape around a detached unit, including walks and walls, through Denver hardscaping. If the better path is extra space inside the main house rather than a second unit, the home addition versus ADU comparison is the page to read next.
A prepared application still needs a person who can seal drawings and a contractor who can file where the city requires it. Faros does not replace the city’s review, and this article does not quote a review time or a project figure. It gives you the order of work so the first meeting is about your lot.
Bring the folder, not a stack of texts. The useful meeting covers who files, which sheets are still open, and whether the yard access matches what the sketch shows. If the property needs site work around the new unit, say that in the same meeting so walks, walls, and the cottage are not designed as separate surprises. You can also read about Faros before that conversation if you want the company background first.
Ricardo Alfaro is the author of this guide for Denver Metro homeowners who want the application step separated from the broader requirements and construction pages.
Frequently asked questions
Can I prepare an ADU application myself in Denver?
You can gather the site facts, ownership papers, and questions. In the City and County of Denver you cannot file the ADU permits yourself. A licensed contractor has to apply and build the unit.
Does one application work for every Denver Metro city?
No. Denver’s contractor rule and permit list are City and County of Denver rules. Aurora, Lakewood, and other cities publish their own checklists. Confirm the jurisdiction before you copy a Denver packet.
What drawings should I have before I call a contractor?
Have a site sketch, the ADU type, and notes on access and utilities. The formal site plan, floor plan, and elevations can be finished with the designer, but the contractor needs those facts to see whether the packet is complete.
Where do zoning and size limits fit?
They decide whether the unit can sit on the lot, and the Denver requirements guide covers them. This article assumes you will confirm those limits, then show the chosen dimensions on the drawings you submit.
What happens after the packet is accepted?
The city reviews the permits, construction follows the approved set, and a certificate of occupancy comes before anyone lives in the unit. Construction stages are covered in the ADU construction guide, not here.
