Protection of Building Employees

C.R.S. tit. 8, art. 14
in effect

C.R.S. § 8-14-101 Protection of building employees

8-14-101. Protection of building employees. A person employing or directing another to perform labor of any kind in the erection, repairing, altering, or painting of a house, building, or structure shall not furnish or erect for the performance of such labor scaffolding, hoists, stays, ladders, or other mechanical contrivances which are unsafe, unsuitable, or improper and which are not constructed, placed, and operated to give proper protection to life and limb of a person so employed or engaged. Scaffolding or staging swung or suspended from an overhead support more than twenty feet from the ground or floor shall have a safety rail of wood, properly bolted, secured, and braced, rising at least thirty-four inches above the floor or main portions of the scaffolding or staging and extending along the entire length of the outside and the ends thereof and properly attached thereto, and such scaffolding or staging shall be so fastened to prevent the same from swaying from the building or structure.

C.R.S. § 8-14-102 Scaffolding - complaints - duty of building inspector

8-14-102. Scaffolding - complaints - duty of building inspector. (1) Whenever complaint is made to the building inspector of any town or city wherein work is being done that the scaffolding or the slings, hangers, blocks, pulleys, stays, braces, ladders, or ropes of any swinging or stationary scaffolding used in the construction, alteration, repairing, painting, cleaning, or pointing of buildings within the limits of such city are unsafe or liable to prove dangerous to the life or limb of any person, the building inspector shall immediately cause an inspection to be made of the scaffolding or the slings, hangers, blocks, pulleys, stays, braces, ladders, irons, or other parts connected therewith. If, after examination, the scaffolding or any of the parts are found to be dangerous to life or limb, the building inspector shall prohibit the use thereof and require the same to be altered and reconstructed to avoid such danger. The building inspector making the examination shall attach a certificate to the scaffolding or the slings, hangers, irons, ropes, or other parts thereof examined by him stating that he has made an examination and that he has found it safe or unsafe, as the case may be. If he declares it unsafe, he shall notify the person responsible for its erection of the fact at once, in writing, and warn him against the use thereof. Such notice may be served personally upon the person responsible for its erection or by affixing it conspicuously to the scaffolding or the part thereof declared to be unsafe. After the notice has been so served or affixed, the person responsible therefor shall immediately remove the scaffolding or part thereof or alter or strengthen it in such manner as to render it safe, in the discretion of the officer who has examined it. (2) The building inspector, whose duty it is to examine or test any scaffolding or part thereof as required by this section, shall have free access at all reasonable hours to any building or premises containing scaffolding or where it is in use. All swinging or stationary scaffolding shall be so constructed as to bear four times the maximum weight required to be dependent therefrom or placed thereon when in use, and not more than four men shall be allowed on any swinging scaffolding at one time.

C.R.S. § 8-14-103 Flooring - hoisting of materials - regulations

8-14-103. Flooring - hoisting of materials - regulations. (1) All contractors and owners, when constructing buildings in cities where the plans and specifications require the floors to be arched between the beams thereof or where the floors or filling in between the floors are of fireproof material or brick work, shall complete the flooring or filling in as the building progresses to not less than within three tiers of beams below that on which the iron work is being erected. If the plans and the specifications of the buildings do not require filling in between the beams of floors with brick or fireproof material, all contractors for carpenter work in the course of construction shall lay the underflooring thereof on each story as the building progresses to not less than within two stories below the one to which the building has been erected. (2) Where double floors are not to be used, the contractor shall keep the floor planked over not less than two stories below the story where the work is being performed. If the floor beams are of iron or steel, the contractor for the iron or steel work of building in course of construction, or the owners of such building, shall thoroughly plank over the entire tier of iron or steel beams on which the structural iron or steel work is being erected except such spaces as may be reasonably required for the proper construction of such iron or steel work and for the raising or lowering of materials to be used in the construction of the building or such spaces as may be designated by the plans and specifications for stairways and elevator shafts. If elevators, elevating machines, or hod-hoisting apparatus are used within a building in the course of construction for the purpose of lifting materials to be used in the construction, the contractors or owners shall cause the shafts or openings in each floor to be enclosed or fenced in on all sides by a barrier at least eight feet in height; except on two sides, which may be used for taking off and putting on materials, and those sides shall be guarded by an adjustable barrier not less than three nor more than four feet from the floor and not less than two feet from the edge of the shaft or opening. If a building in course of construction is five stories or more in height, no lumber or timber needed for such construction shall be hoisted or lifted on the outside of the building.

C.R.S. § 8-14-104 Building inspector to enforce - prosecutions

8-14-104. Building inspector to enforce - prosecutions. The building inspector shall enforce all the provisions of this article. He shall investigate complaints made to him of violations of such provisions, and, if he finds that such complaints are well-founded, he shall issue an order directed to the person or corporation complained of requiring such person or corporation to comply with those provisions. If such order is disregarded, the building inspector shall present to the district attorney of the proper county all the facts ascertained by him in regard to the alleged violation and all other papers, documents, or evidence pertaining thereto which he has in his possession. The district attorney to whom such presentation is made shall proceed at once to prosecute the person or corporation for the violations complained of.

C.R.S. § 8-14-105 Penalty for violation

8-14-105. Penalty for violation. Any person, corporation, company, or association who violates any of the provisions of this article is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined in a sum of not less than fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars for each offense.
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-08.docxFetched: 10/6/2026