Questions to ask before you hire a painter in Denver

1. Colorado doesn’t license painters — so what does your company hold, and is any part of my job work that needs a Denver contractor license?

Why it matters: Colorado’s Division of Professions and Occupations licenses electricians, plumbers, and a short list of other occupational trades, and painting isn’t on its occupational professions list (Colorado DPO: Occupational professions list). The Attorney General’s Stop Fraud Colorado site says electrical and plumbing licenses are regulated by the state, and to check with your city or county that a general contractor is licensed to work in your area (Stop Fraud Colorado: Contractor fraud). In Denver, the building code says contractor licenses are required for any work requiring a permit (2025 Denver Building Code §121.2 (PDF)), and the same code exempts painting, papering, tiling, floor coverings, cabinets, and similar decoration items from permits (§130.3, item 9). Reading those two sections together, a job that is only painting generally doesn’t need a Denver contractor license — that’s our inference from the code, not a statement Denver makes about painters, so ask Denver Community Planning and Development if you’re unsure.

The answer changes if the job grows. Siding replacement, new or repaired stucco, window replacement, and exterior structural repairs appear on Denver’s list of exterior permit work that needs landmark review (Denver: Do I need landmark review?), and Denver’s contractor licenses require the company to hold, or employ someone who holds, a supervisor certificate (Denver: Contractor licenses). If any of that is in your scope, look up the company on Denver’s Contractor License Search. Either way, make sure the business name on the estimate, the insurance certificates, and the contract is the same legal entity, and if you live in a suburb, check your own city or county rules — Denver’s code covers the City and County of Denver only.

2. Do you carry workers’ compensation, or have you filed a rejection of coverage — and can I verify it with the state myself?

Why it matters: Colorado’s Department of Labor and Employment says any business with one or more employees working in Colorado must carry workers’ compensation insurance at all times, whether employees are part-time, full-time, or family members, and that anyone who gets paid for their services is presumed to be an employee (CDLE: Workers’ compensation insurance requirements). Businesses, including independent contractors, must either have insurance or file a rejection of coverage with the state, and CDLE warns that a certificate of insurance shows past coverage but doesn’t always confirm current status; its Division of Workers’ Compensation offers one database to verify active coverage and another to check rejections of coverage (CDLE: Verify workers’ comp compliance).

Colorado’s workers’ compensation law generally makes a property owner who contracts out work a statutory employer, but it carves out the owner or occupant of a residence that is a “qualified residence” under the federal tax code who contracts out work on it, unless the worker is otherwise the owner’s own employee (C.R.S. 8-41-402). If you’re hiring a painter for a rental or other property that isn’t your qualified residence, that carve-out may not apply — ask your insurance agent or an attorney. Either way, ask for liability and workers’ compensation certificates sent directly from the painter’s insurance agent, check the state databases, and ask who will actually be on your ladders and whose policy covers them. Stop Fraud Colorado’s advice is simply to hire licensed, insured contractors with a good reputation (Stop Fraud Colorado: Contractor fraud).

3. Was my home built before 1978, and if so, is your firm EPA lead-safe certified, and when will you give me the lead pamphlet?

Why it matters: The federal Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) rule requires firms to be EPA-certified, and workers trained in lead-safe practices, when paid work in pre-1978 homes disturbs more than six square feet of painted surface per room inside or more than 20 square feet outside; window replacement is also covered (EPA: RRP rule frequently asked questions; EPA: Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program). Colorado is not on EPA’s list of states authorized to run their own RRP program, so firms working in Colorado apply to EPA for firm certification (EPA: RRP firm certification (authorized-state list)); you can look one up with EPA’s certified-firm search. Federal rules prohibit open-flame burning or torching of painted surfaces and high-speed sanding, grinding, planing, needle guns, or abrasive blasting unless the machine has a shroud or containment and a HEPA vacuum attachment, and allow heat guns only below 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit (40 CFR §745.85).

Colorado adds a pre-renovation education rule. Air Quality Control Regulation 19, Part B applies to paid renovations of pre-1978 housing, except minor repair and maintenance that disturbs 2 square feet or less of painted surface per room inside or 20 square feet or less outside, and requires the renovator, no more than 60 days before starting, to give the owner EPA’s lead pamphlet and get a written acknowledgment (or a certificate of mailing at least 7 days before the work); if the owner doesn’t live there, an adult occupant gets a copy too (Colorado AQCC Regulation 19, Part B (PDF); EPA: Renovate Right pamphlet). Colorado’s interior threshold for the pamphlet is lower than the federal six-square-foot trigger for certification. Note a source mismatch: the health department’s web summary says the pamphlet must be given “at least seven days before” renovations that disturb 2 square feet or more (CDPHE: Lead-based paint, renovation, and abatement permit), while the regulation text reads as above; ask your painter to follow the stricter reading. Permanent lead removal — abatement — is a different job that Colorado says must be done by state-certified firms and individuals under a state permit (CDPHE: Abatement permit; CDPHE: Lead abatement professionals), so ask which credential applies if anyone proposes “removing the lead.”

4. How will you prep, contain, and clean up old paint, and where will the chips and debris go?

Why it matters: Most paint failure starts with poor prep, and on older homes, prep is where lead dust comes from. Get the method in writing for each surface — washing, hand-scraping, wet-sanding, chemical stripping, or HEPA-shrouded power tools — plus how ground, plants, and neighboring windows will be protected. Colorado’s health department says remodeling and repair on pre-1978 homes can create lead-bearing waste such as paint chips, drop cloths, stripper sludge, wastewater, and filters; smaller debris should be sealed in heavy-duty garbage bags, larger debris wrapped in two layers of 6-mil plastic and taped, and liquid stripper waste solidified with an absorbent before disposal (CDPHE: Household lead-bearing waste). CDPHE says household lead-bearing waste is exempt from hazardous-waste rules and may go in the trash whether generated by the homeowner or the contractor (CDPHE: Household lead-bearing waste), but Denver asks residents not to pour hazardous products down drains or storm sewers or leave them at the curb or in the alley (Denver: Hazardous waste). Put containment, daily cleanup, and debris handling into the scope. If your home is a landmark or in a historic district, Denver’s design guidelines call for the gentlest cleaning method that works and only limited paint removal where appropriate (Design Guidelines for Denver Landmark Structures & Districts, §§2.2.6, 2.3.2 (PDF)).

5. Does any part of my job need a Denver permit?

Why it matters: Painting itself doesn’t: the Denver building code lists painting, papering, tiling, floor coverings, countertops, carpeting, and similar decoration items among work exempt from permits, and also exempts repairs that don’t remove or cut structural beams or load-bearing supports or change required exits; exempt work must still follow the code and other City laws (2025 Denver Building Code §130.3 (PDF)). Denver’s residential code deletes its own administrative sections and applies the commercial code’s Sections 103 through 142 instead, so the same permit and license rules govern houses (Denver Residential Code §§R103–R114 (PDF)). Denver’s list doesn’t limit the painting exemption to interior work.

Watch the add-ons. Denver’s landmark guidance treats replacing siding or windows, new or repaired stucco, and exterior structural repairs as permit work; Denver handles roofing and siding through its quick-permit system, and roofing or siding on individual landmarks or in historic districts must be approved by Landmark Preservation first (Denver: Quick Permits; Denver: Do I need landmark review?). Permit work also needs a Denver-licensed contractor (see question 1). Stop Fraud Colorado lists refusing to pull required local permits as a warning sign (Stop Fraud Colorado: Contractor fraud). Ask the painter to state in writing whether any permit is needed and who will get it.

6. Is my house a Denver landmark or in a historic district — and do you know Denver’s guidance on painting brick and stone?

Why it matters: Denver says landmark review is required for exterior work on individual landmarks and in historic districts that needs a building, zoning, curb cut, or encroachment permit, and its list of work that doesn’t need landmark review includes exterior painting, window repairs including painting, and masonry repointing or patching of less than 10% of a wall surface; new or repaired stucco, siding replacement of 10% or more of a wall, and alterations to exterior walls do need review (Denver: Do I need landmark review?). So you can generally repaint a landmark house in the color you choose without review.

There is a catch, and the sources don’t fully line up. Denver’s design guidelines for landmarks and historic districts, effective March 2026, say not to paint or stucco masonry walls that were not coated historically because it can seal in moisture and cause extensive damage over time, to consider removing paint only if it won’t damage the original finish, and to keep wood and exposed metal painted (Design Guidelines for Denver Landmark Structures & Districts, §§2.2.6, 2.2.8, 2.2.9 (PDF)). Because exterior painting is on the no-review list, it isn’t clear how that masonry guideline is applied to a paint-only job — that’s our reading, not something Denver states. Before anyone paints unpainted brick or stone on a landmark or historic-district property, ask Denver Landmark Preservation in writing and keep the answer. Painting previously unpainted masonry is hard to undo on any house.

7. Exactly which products will you use — brand, product line, sheen, primer, and number of coats — and how do they hold up in Denver sun?

Why it matters: “Good paint” isn’t a specification. Colorado’s Regulation 21 caps the VOC content of architectural coatings manufactured on or after May 1, 2020, and applies to anyone who applies or solicits the application of those coatings in the 8-hour ozone control area, which includes the City and County of Denver, and on a state-only basis elsewhere in Colorado. A painter may not thin a coating so it exceeds the limit, containers of coatings and of thinning and cleanup solvents must be kept closed when not in use, and manufacturers must print a thinning recommendation and the VOC content on the container (Colorado AQCC Regulation 21, Part B §§I–III and definitions (PDF)). Federal VOC standards apply nationwide as well (40 CFR Part 59, Subpart D). Ask for the manufacturer, product line, sheen, color, primer, and coat count for each surface, plus the product data sheet — a painter who won’t name the product or plans to thin it past the label is a red flag.

EPA notes that UV intensity increases with elevation above sea level (EPA: Learn about the UV Index), and Denver sits high. Ask which exterior products and colors the painter recommends for strong sun on south- and west-facing walls, how they handle chalking and fading, and what the manufacturer’s label says about minimum temperature and drying conditions — then build weather days into the schedule for cold nights, spring snow, and summer storms. Get in writing who buys the paint and whether it’s in the price.

8. Can I get a written, itemized bid from a site visit, and what do you want up front?

Why it matters: Colorado’s Attorney General advises getting bids from at least three contractors before spending any significant money on home repair, checking each one with groups like the Better Business Bureau, and insisting on a written contract that spells out a firm start date, the quality and type of all materials, and a firm completion date, with partial payments as specific work is completed to your satisfaction (Colorado Attorney General: Preventing home repair and roofing scams (PDF)). Stop Fraud Colorado lists asking for more than 10% of costs up front, requiring payment in cash, gift cards, or cryptocurrency, offering free or low-cost work, high-pressure tactics, and steering you to a lender they refer as signs of possible contractor fraud (Stop Fraud Colorado: Contractor fraud). An itemized bid should list each room or exterior side, what will be washed, scraped, patched, caulked, and primed, which wood repairs are included and how extra rot is priced, the products and coats, protection, and cleanup.

9. You came to my door — do you have a Denver peddler license, and what are my cancellation rights?

Why it matters: Denver defines peddling to include selling or canvassing door to door, and its peddler licensees get a license and a photo ID card that must be worn on the outside of their clothing while peddling and shown on demand to any customer or potential customer (Denver: Peddler license; Denver: Peddler guidelines). Stop Fraud Colorado lists going door to door looking for customers, especially after a hailstorm, as a common sign of contractor scams (Stop Fraud Colorado: Contractor fraud), and the Attorney General says never to let an uninvited contractor inspect your home (Colorado Attorney General consumer alert (PDF)).

The FTC’s Cooling-Off Rule requires sellers in covered sales made at your home to give you a written notice that you may cancel within three business days (16 CFR §429.1). Colorado’s own home-solicitation rule covers a consumer credit sale — for example, a financed contract — that a seller personally solicits and you agree to at a residence (C.R.S. 5-3-401): you can cancel until midnight of the third business day after signing by written notice to the seller’s address in the agreement (C.R.S. 5-3-402), and if the seller doesn’t give you a compliant written agreement and statement of rights, you can cancel by any means until it does, for up to three years (C.R.S. 5-3-403). Whether a cash painting contract signed at home falls under Colorado’s rule is a question for an attorney; the federal rule may still apply. Make sure the contract names the products, sheens, and colors, the prep and lead-safe steps, cleanup, start and finish dates, and that every change is priced and signed before the work happens.

10. How will payments be scheduled, and will you give me lien waivers from you, your crew, and your paint supplier?

Why it matters: Under Colorado’s mechanic’s lien law, a lien claimant must serve a notice of intent on the owner and the prime contractor at least ten days before filing a lien statement (C.R.S. 38-22-109(3)), and most claimants must record within four months after their last labor or materials (C.R.S. 38-22-109(5)). For an existing single-family home, or an owner-occupied single-family home, you have an affirmative defense to a lien if you have paid enough to satisfy your contract, including change orders, to the contractor for payment to subcontractors and suppliers (C.R.S. 38-22-102(3.5)); a lien waiver must state that debts owed to third parties have been or will be timely paid (C.R.S. 38-22-119); and money paid to a contractor is held in trust for the subcontractors and suppliers on your job (C.R.S. 38-22-127). Colorado also has the agency that issues a residential building permit mail the owner a notice about lien rights and suggesting lien waivers or joint checks (C.R.S. 38-22-105.5) — but since painting needs no Denver permit, you likely won’t get that notice on a paint-only job (our inference), so ask for waivers yourself. Pay the company named in the contract by check or card, tie payments to finished stages, and don’t make the final payment until the walk-through punch list is done.

11. What does your warranty cover, and who handles touch-up paint and leftovers?

Why it matters: Peeling, blistering, and failed caulk usually trace back to prep or product, so get the workmanship warranty in writing — what it covers, how long it lasts, and how to make a claim — along with any manufacturer warranty, a finish schedule listing every color, sheen, and brand, and a labeled can of each color for touch-ups.

Colorado has had a PaintCare program since July 2015; its drop-off sites take house paint, primers, stains, sealers, and clear coatings from households, businesses, and others at no charge at drop-off, and PaintCare currently offers a limited-time free pickup for households in the Denver area with more than ten gallons of leftover paint (PaintCare: Colorado program). Denver’s paint-recycling page adds that leaking, unlabeled, and empty containers aren’t accepted and that paint thinners, solvents, and aerosol spray paint aren’t PaintCare products (Denver: Free paint recycling). For thinners, strippers, and spray paint, Denver’s Household Hazardous Waste At-Your-Door program lists them as accepted items for Denver residents (Denver: Household Hazardous Waste At-Your-Door), but the City’s main hazardous-waste page says Denver has reached capacity on these collection services and expects to restore them by early 2027 (Denver: Hazardous waste) — the At-Your-Door page doesn’t mention that, so check before you count on it. Your contract should say the painter removes unusable paint, solvents, and debris and disposes of them lawfully — not in your cart, the alley, or a storm drain.