Colorado rules for your website, business phone and email

What does Colorado add to the federal rules?

The TCPA and CAN-SPAM apply in Colorado as they do everywhere, so read the TCPA guide and the call recording guide first. Colorado law then speaks specifically about a service company's website, phone line, texts, payments and customer data, as of October 2026. Where Colorado is silent, we say so in one line and move on. General information only, not legal advice; confirm with the agency or a Colorado attorney.

Plumbing contractors must show two numbers online

Colorado is unusual because its plumbing statute reaches the website. Under C.R.S. 12-155-125, on and after July 1, 2025, a plumbing contractor must display its registration information on its vehicles, billing materials, bid sheets and website. The information is the contractor's own Colorado registration number and the license number of the contractor's responsible master plumber, as the Board describes it. The State Plumbing Board's news page adds practical guidance: show the numbers prominently on the homepage (the Board says they should also appear on the Contact Us and About Us pages), near the contact details on billing materials, and in any website advertising, including social media. For a general contractor's bid form given to the public, the numbers go at the top of its first page or on a cover sheet you submit. Numbers belong in at least two places on a vehicle, in lettering at least two inches tall, and the vehicle rule covers personal vehicles used for the business for any length of time. The Board also says to update every display within 90 days of a change to either number, and that noncompliance can bring discipline up to revocation. Some of this placement detail is Board guidance, so read the current rules before you print.

We did not find a matching display rule for electricians or for general contractors at the state level. The Division of Professions and Occupations licenses electricians and plumbers, and Colorado leaves general building licensing to cities and counties. If you work in a city that requires a contractor license, that city's rules on advertising and numbers apply on top. Our Colorado contractor license guide lists what the state licenses.

Recording calls in Colorado

C.R.S. 18-9-303 makes wiretapping a class 2 misdemeanor. It targets a person who is not a sender or intended receiver and who records or overhears a communication without the consent of either a sender or a receiver. Because you are a party to your own customer calls, Colorado treats you as able to record them. The risk usually comes from outside the state. A customer calling from an all-party state may be protected by that state's law, and the call may be judged under the stricter rule. A short notice at the start of the call, whether a person or an AI receptionist answers, settles the question. Our guide to AI receptionists for contractors explains what to ask a provider about recording and storage.

The Colorado No-Call List Act covers texts

This is the most useful Colorado rule for marketing. The Colorado No-Call List Act (C.R.S. 6-1-901 and following) defines "telephone solicitation" in section 6-1-903 to include voice, fax, graphic imaging or data communications, expressly including text messages, sent over a phone line or wireless phone to encourage buying or renting property, goods or services. The definition excludes messages sent:

• With the subscriber's prior express invitation or permission.
• By or for a business with an established business relationship, meaning a voluntary two-way communication based on an application, purchase, ongoing contract or commercial transaction, not terminated by either side, that exists now or existed within the previous 18 months.
• Within 30 days after the subscriber contacts a business about a potential purchase, or until the subscriber asks for no more.

Section 6-1-904 bars solicitations to residential and wireless subscribers who have put their number on the Colorado no-call list. It requires you to update your copy of the list within 30 days after each calendar quarter begins, and it bars knowingly blocking caller ID. Anyone who makes such solicitations to Colorado subscribers must register under section 6-1-905. The fee follows a sliding scale with a $500 annual maximum, and businesses with fewer than five employees pay nothing. A violation is a deceptive trade practice enforceable by the state, and section 6-1-906 gives a defense if you had written practices and procedures to prevent prohibited calls before the violation. State actions cannot be brought for fewer than three violations per month.

For a contractor the practical result is simple. Texting a customer who asked for a quote, or who hired you in the past year and a half, falls inside the exclusions. Texting a purchased list of Colorado numbers does not, and it may also require registration. Pair this with your federal opt-out wording and A2P registration, covered in our texting compliance mistakes guide.

Roofing contracts, deductibles and what you can advertise

Colorado regulates residential roofing contracts directly, and the rules reach your website copy. Under C.R.S. 6-22-103, before any roofing work a contractor must give the owner a written contract signed by both sides. It must state the scope of services and materials, approximate service dates, approximate costs based on damage known at signing, the contractor's physical address, email and phone, the surety and liability insurer if applicable, and a cancellation and refund policy that includes a rescission clause allowing a full deposit refund within 72 hours. A statement in bold on the face of the contract must say that the contractor will hold the owner's payments in trust until materials are delivered to the site or a majority of the work is done.

When the job is paid from an insurance claim, section 6-22-104 lets the owner rescind within 72 hours after receiving written notice that the insurer denied the claim in whole or in part, and the contractor must return payments within ten days, keeping only what covers work actually done in a workmanlike manner. Section 6-22-105 bars a roofer from paying, waiving or rebating any part of the owner's deductible, and bars advertising or promising to. Remedies in that section include the insurer declining to consider your estimate and a damages lawsuit by the owner or insurer. It also says a roofer may not claim to be, or act as, a public insurance adjuster. In plain terms, "we cover your deductible" cannot appear on a landing page, a Google ad or a text template. Our roofing license requirements guide pairs with this section.

Sales tax on services is limited, but bundling matters

The Colorado Department of Revenue's Sales Tax Guide says the tax generally does not apply to sales of services, except those specifically taxed by law (telephone service is one), and the state rate is 2.9 percent. It also warns that a bundled sale of goods and a service can make the entire price taxable unless certain conditions are met. Contractors are pointed to the Department's publication FYI Sales 6. Some home-rule cities collect their own sales tax and keep their own license, so a job inside one of those cities may involve a city filing as well as a state one. State-administered local rates are listed in publication DR 1002. Our sales tax on services guide has the general framework. On an invoice, separate labor from materials clearly and keep the tax line labeled.

Card surcharges are allowed, with a cap and a notice

C.R.S. 5-2-212 lets a seller add a surcharge to credit and charge card payments, with a ceiling the seller chooses from two options: an amount not exceeding 2 percent of the total cost of the transaction, or an amount not exceeding the merchant discount fee the seller actually incurs. No surcharge may apply to cash, checks, debit cards (with or without a PIN) or gift card redemptions. The seller must post signage, or for online sales display a notice before the customer completes the purchase, in the statutory wording that begins "To cover the cost of processing a credit or charge card transaction." For a contractor with an online payment page, that notice needs to sit on the checkout step. Check your card processor's own surcharge rules too, because they are contractual limits on top of the state cap. See online payments for contractors.

Colorado Privacy Act thresholds

The Colorado Privacy Act (C.R.S. 6-1-1304) applies to a controller doing business in Colorado, or targeting Colorado residents, that controls or processes personal data of 100,000 or more consumers in a calendar year, or that earns revenue or a price discount from selling personal data and handles data on 25,000 or more consumers. There is no minimum company revenue or employee count. Employment records are excluded. A single-metro service company with a CRM of a few thousand customers sits well below both tests. The law still shows what regulators care about: do not sell your customer list, and keep the data you collect to what you need.

What this means for your setup

• Website: plumbers add both numbers to the homepage and contact page; roofers drop any deductible language; every site publishes a privacy page that matches what the quote form collects.
• Business phone line: play a recording notice if you record; keep a do-not-call list and honor opt-outs.
• AI receptionist: have it state that calls are recorded or transcribed and never promise a price or a deductible waiver.
• Email and texts: text people with an existing relationship, confirm each opt-in in writing, and register if you solicit cold.

Our website and phone system builds follow these rules, and so should anyone you hire. Confirm any item with the agency named in the sources below before you rely on it.

Frequently asked questions