Multifamily and Commercial buildings 5,000-50,000 square feet are required to report annually.  Each building will receive one 12-month grace period for their first reporting year. No subsequent grace periods will be granted.

Commercial buildings above 50,000 square feet may be covered by Colorado HB 21- 1286 (C.R.S. 25-7-142).  Reports will still be submitted through the link on this page, however compliance and exemptions will be determined separately by the State of Colorado Energy Office. 

Commercial and Multifamily covered buildings are defined by ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager.  Row homes, townhomes, industrial, and agricultural facilities are eligible for an exemption.  Find more information on exemptions below. 

Before submitting your REPORT to the City  

• Enter all energy, water, and space use information in Portfolio Manager. Data should be entered from January 1 - December 31 for the calendar year being reported for each covered building.  
• Ensure that you run Portfolio Manager's tool to check for possible data errors prior to submittal to ensure that you have no errors in your data submission. The Data Quality Checker time frame should align with the calendar year being reported.  

The Ordinance includes waivers to the requirements based on capabilities of Portfolio Manager and unique building characteristics. Covered building owners who do not submit a report are required to apply for one of the following waivers: 

• Building is a “public building” as defined by C.R.S. 25-7-142. 
• Building meets the criteria for a waiver from benchmarking or reporting deadlines under C.R.S. 25-7-142 (5)
• Building with average physical occupancy of less than sixty (60) percent
• Building used for industrial or agricultural processes 
• Building with confidential business practice 
• Building with unique circumstances, if approved by the City Manager’s Office

To apply for a waiver, please fill out the Waiver Request Form. 

Building owners are required to report if the  building footprint is  equal to or greater than 5,000 SF.  Building owner includes any person or entity including common interest ownership groups that have a legal or equitable interest in real property and the associated asset features of the building(s) located on the parcel.  Review Fort Collins Building Scenarios to learn if you are required to report.

View BEWS Building Scenarios

The Building Energy and Water Scoring program is enforceable under Sec 12-207 of the Fort Collins Municipal Code (including a $3,000 fine for each year of noncompliance), and the failure to comply in any calendar year shall constitute a single violation in that calendar year. Fort Collins staff will send out a Notice of Need to Comply letter followed by a Notice of Violation to any building owner of a covered building who does not comply within 30 days following June 1 of each year, and citations will be issued June 1 of the year following the required reporting year.

Note that Fort Collins staff is available to provide technical assistance and resources to any building owner to help them comply with the ordinance. Contact Buildingscoring@fcgov.com or call 970-416-2733 for additional questions.