Guides · 2026-10-24 · By David Linda, Founder

Hiring an electrician or plumber in Colorado: what 94,295 state license records show

Electricians and plumbers are the two trades Colorado licenses at the state level. That makes them easier to check than roofers or general contractors, whose licenses come from cities. But a state license record has its own traps: several license types that sound alike, a renewal cycle that can make a current license look expired (or the reverse), and a roster that keeps decades of history.

We hold the full DORA State Electrical Board and State Plumbing Board roster behind our Colorado profiles: 94,295 license records, refreshed in October 2026. Here's what it shows, and what it means when you hire.

Four electrical licenses, four plumbing licenses

The state licenses people (masters, journeymen and residential licensees) and registers companies (electrical and plumbing contractors). A company needs a contractor registration and a licensed master behind it. The person in your basement needs their own license.

License type	Active records	Expired records
Journeyman electrician	12,669	20,263
Master electrician	7,449	5,840
Electrical contractor (company)	4,741	7,277
Residential wireman	2,074	4,423
Journeyman plumber	2,956	8,833
Master plumber	4,959	4,281
Plumbing contractor (company)	3,093	2,157
Residential plumber	563	2,030

Across all types, 57.9% of electrical records (37,803 of 65,254) and 59.6% of plumbing records (17,301 of 29,041) are expired. That doesn't mean most Colorado electricians are unlicensed. The roster goes back decades and keeps people who retired, moved or changed trades. Some expired records date to the 1980s. What it does mean is that a license number alone proves nothing until you see its status.

Residential wireman and residential plumber licenses are limited to residential work. If your job is commercial or mixed-use, ask the pro which license covers it. The exact scope of each license type is set in the boards' rules, so check with DORA if you're unsure.

The renewal calendar that confuses everyone

Electrical and plumbing licenses don't renew on the same schedule, and that shows up in the data:

Electrical licenses run on a three-year cycle ending September 30. DORA's Electrical Board page says licenses expired September 30, 2026 and can be renewed through November 30, 2026. In our data, 21,529 active electrical records already show the next expiry date, September 30, 2029. Another 5,402 records are still listed as active with a September 30, 2026 expiry: 2,562 journeymen, 1,013 masters, 942 electrical contractors and 885 residential wiremen. Those people are in the renewal window. If your electrician's record shows September 30, 2026, ask whether they've renewed, and ask DORA what that status means for work in the meantime. We won't guess.
Plumbing licenses run on a two-year cycle. DORA's Plumbing Board page describes a license year that runs March 1 through February 28. In our data, 11,563 of the 11,571 active plumbing records show a February 28, 2027 expiry.
Continuing education is required. Electricians need 24 hours per three-year period, according to the Electrical Board. Active residential, journeyworker and master plumbers need at least 8 hours in each year of the two-year period, according to the Plumbing Board.

Board action is rare, and not always over

Of the 94,295 records, 2,112 carry a board-action flag: 1,312 electrical and 800 plumbing. Of those, 713 electrical and 419 plumbing licenses are still active. A flag can mean anything from a fine for paperwork to a revocation, so it's a reason to read the record and its date, not a verdict. By profile, discipline shows up most often on journeyman electricians (457 profiles), electrical contractors (357) and plumbing contractors (254).

DORA publishes discipline and lets you file a complaint against a licensee from each board's page. HomeProFax shows the flag on the profile with a link to the source.

Who holds Colorado licenses

Most holders are local, but not all. Of the 94,295 records, 77,658 have a Colorado address. The next largest groups are Texas (1,857), Wyoming (1,250), California (1,101) and Utah (1,035). Traveling electricians are common on big commercial projects. For a home job, a pro based out of state isn't a red flag by itself, but ask who will supervise and who you call if something goes wrong.

The workforce is also young in license terms. Of active records, 17,297 were first issued in 2020 or later, compared with 1,687 first issued before 1990. A newer license isn't a problem. It's one more reason to ask whether a master is supervising.

The local layer on top of the state license

Most Front Range cities also want the state-licensed company registered locally before it pulls permits. Denver's CPD accepts the state license in place of its supervisor certificate but still issues a Denver license. Aurora has electricians and plumbers put their state master and contractor licenses on file instead of issuing a separate trade license. Lakewood requires the matching state licenses for its plumbing and electrical registrations. Wheat Ridge has electrical contractors register with a valid Colorado master electrician license. Longmont lists no fee for electrical contractors. And in Colorado Springs, PPRBD registers state-licensed electrical and plumbing contractors. So the right answer to "are you licensed?" is two answers: the state license, and the registration in your city.

What permits show, and where they don't

Permits are the best evidence of real, inspected work. HomeProFax has matched 61,481 Colorado permits to 1,404 profiles, from City of Boulder, Boulder County and Denver open data. Electrical and plumbing contractors account for most of them: 38,879 permits on 657 electrical contractor profiles and 13,550 on 243 plumbing contractor profiles. But coverage is narrow. Only 479 of 4,397 active electrical contractors and 181 of 2,971 active plumbing contractors with profiles have a matched permit, because most Colorado cities don't publish permit data. No permits on file usually means no coverage, not no work.

Questions for the first phone call

"Who will do the work, and what license does that person hold?" A journeyman can do the work under supervision. A residential wireman or residential plumber license is limited to residential work.
"Which master's license is the company under?" The answer should be a name you can look up.
"Will you pull the permit?" The answer should be yes for most work beyond small repairs, and the permit should be in the contractor's name.
"When does your license renew?" For electricians right now, the honest answer is either "I renewed through 2029" or "I'm renewing before November 30."

How to check an electrician or plumber

Ask for the company's contractor registration and the master's license number.
Ask whose license the permit will be pulled under.
Check that the status is active and look at the expiry date, using the calendar above.
Ask if there's ever been board action, then check it.
Confirm the company is registered with your city or building department.

Or skip the lookups and ask the pro for their verified HomeProFax report. It shows the state license records, expiry dates, any board-action flag and matched permits on one page, with sources. Browse Denver electricians, Denver plumbers, Colorado Springs electricians and Boulder plumbers.

License figures: HomeProFax data built from the DORA electrical and plumbing rosters, deduplicated by license number and type, as of October 24, 2026. Permit figures: City of Boulder, Boulder County and City and County of Denver open data matched to profiles, as of October 26, 2026. Boulder County permit data: Boulder County (Land Use / Accela), licensed under CC BY 4.0; matched to contractors and modified by HomeProFax; not endorsed by Boulder County. Renewal and CE rules: DORA board pages, checked October 24, 2026.

Common questions

Who licenses electricians and plumbers in Colorado?

The state does, through the DORA State Electrical Board and State Plumbing Board. Individuals hold master, journeyman or residential licenses, and companies register as electrical or plumbing contractors. Most cities also require local registration.

Why does my electrician’s license show a September 30, 2026 expiry?

Colorado electrical licenses expired September 30, 2026, and DORA says they can be renewed through November 30, 2026. In our data, 5,402 active records still showed the 2026 date. Ask the electrician whether they’ve renewed.

How many Colorado electrical and plumbing licenses are expired?

In our copy of the DORA roster, 57.9% of electrical records and 59.6% of plumbing records are expired. The roster keeps decades of history, so that includes people who retired or moved.

How many Colorado license records have board action?

2,112 of 94,295 records carry a board-action flag (1,312 electrical, 800 plumbing). 1,132 of those licenses are still active.

What’s the fastest way to check a Colorado electrician or plumber?

Ask for their verified HomeProFax report, which shows the state license, expiry date, any board action and matched permits with sources.

Sources

Official pages we checked for this guide. Rules change, so confirm with the agency before you rely on them.

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