Last updated 2026-08-20
TL;DR
Paid well construction and pump installation in Colorado require a license from the Board of Examiners at the Division of Water Resources. Expect two years of experience and a Board exam under C.R.S. 37-91-106. Every new well still needs its own State Engineer or Ground Water Commission permit. License fees change, so confirm current amounts with DWR. Owner-builders get a narrow exemption that is not a business license.
Do you need a license for well driller in Colorado?
Yes. Construct water wells or install pumping equipment for pay in Colorado, and you need a license from the Board of Examiners of Water Well Construction and Pump Installation Contractors. A landowner can build a well on their own land for their own use without that contractor license. The well still needs a permit.
That is the whole split. The license is about who may do the work for other people. The permit is about whether that hole may exist and how the water may be used. Mix those two papers up and you file the wrong thing.
C.R.S. Title 37, Article 91 is the contractor statute. People still talk like this is a county card or an NGWA wallet card. It is neither. The Board sits inside the Colorado Division of Water Resources, under the State Engineer. [1][2][3]
Swing wrenches as an employee of a licensed contractor and you do not hold the license yourself. The licensed contractor is on the hook for the hole, the grout, and the report. Helpers are normal. Unlicensed contracting is not.
I would not test the owner-builder line if you are advertising, bidding, or drilling for neighbors. That is how complaint files start. Colorado also expects the work itself to follow 2 CCR 402-2, even when an owner is legally allowed to build their own well. [8]
Work across state lines? Do not assume a western card ports over. Arizona and Texas run their own boards and their own paper. Read well driller license in Arizona and well driller license in Texas before you move a rig.
Who issues a Colorado well contractor license?
The Board of Examiners of Water Well Construction and Pump Installation Contractors issues the license. Staff support sits at the Colorado Division of Water Resources. You apply to that Board, not to a county clerk and not to DORA. [2]
Board pages, meeting packets, and exam notices live on the DWR site. Dates move. Confirm the next exam and the current application packet with the Board before you study the wrong outline. [1][2]
This Board writes and enforces 2 CCR 402-2 with the State Engineer. It can deny, suspend, or revoke a license. It is a working board, not a branding program. [8]
Call them. Email them. Use their forms. If a website sells you a Colorado well driller certificate that is not this Board, walk away.
What license types does Colorado actually sell?
Colorado licenses water well construction contractors and pump installation contractors. Plenty of people hold both. The construction license is the one people mean when they say well driller Colorado. [1][3]
Pump work is its own trade on paper. Pulling a submersible and setting a pitless adapter is not automatically covered just because you can turn a rotary table. Sell both trades, and you get both classes or confirm in writing that your card covers the job you bid.
Cistern installation and monitoring or observation holes sit in the same rulebook (2 CCR 402-2). Do not assume a well construction license is a blank check for every hole type. Read the class the Board printed on your card, then read the rule. [8]
Restricted authorizations sometimes show up in Board practice. I will not inventory them here because application forms change. Ask the Board what class matches the work you actually sell.
A license is statewide. You still obey local road, floodplain, and environmental permits when you move a rig onto a site.
What experience and exam does the Colorado board require?
Two years of qualifying experience in the work you want licensed, a passing Board exam score, and a complete application. The Board decides if your experience counts. Confirm the current exam outline with DWR before you study. [4]
C.R.S. 37-91-106 requires two years of experience before you sit for a Colorado well construction or pump installation contractor exam. That number is the statutory floor, not a rumor. [4]
Work under a licensed contractor if you can. Keep dates, rig types, methods, and well permit numbers. "I helped my uncle one summer" is not a file. A stack of GWS-45 reports with your name in the crew box is a file. [11]
The exam covers Article 91, 2 CCR 402-2, and field judgment. Grout intervals, annular seals, disinfection, contamination setbacks, and report duties show up because that is what the Board actually polices. Study the Colorado rule, not a random national quiz pack. [8]
Got your years from another state? Bring that state's license record and well logs. The Board may accept them. Reciprocity is not a right.
I would spend nights in 2 CCR 402-2 and Title 37 before I bought another short course. The rule is free. The retake calendar is not.
How much does a well driller license cost in Colorado?
There is no honest frozen dollar figure I can print for the license itself. C.R.S. 37-91-107 authorizes the Board to collect application, license, exam, renewal, and rig registration fees. Those amounts change. Confirm them on the current DWR contractor page before you write a check. [5][1]
The license fee is the small bill.
People type "how much does well driller cost in Colorado" and mean three different piles of money. Pile one is Board fees (confirm live). Pile two is what a landowner pays to have a hole built (no official state price list). Pile three is what it costs you to enter the trade.
Pile three dwarfs the card. A used rotary spread can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. A new one costs more. Add a support truck, tooling, yard, and insurance. I would not finance a new rig before the Board says you passed.
Bond or insurance conditions, if the Board currently requires them, belong on the live application. I am not going to invent a surety number. If last year's packet asked for proof of coverage, this year's packet might too. Read it.
Meant the bid a homeowner sees? That is a later section. Geology and depth run that number, not Article 91.
How long does a well driller license take in Colorado?
Count the two-year experience clock first. After that, time is exam date plus Board action. Nobody should promise you a two-week card. DWR does not publish a guaranteed processing clock I can cite, and I will not fake one. [2][4]
Board meetings and exam sittings happen on a calendar the Board controls. Miss a packet deadline and you slide to the next date. That is the real timeline, and it is why phone calls beat forum guesses.
Already have the years? Call the Board, get the current application, and ask when the next exam is. Ask what they want for experience proof. Then build the packet they described, not the packet you wish they wanted.
Building the business around the license (entity, yard, rig, insurance) is a separate clock. The paper path for that side is how to start well driller in Colorado.
Starting from zero field time? The honest answer is years. The statute made it that way on purpose. [4]
Is a well permit the same thing as your contractor license?
No. A Colorado contractor license does not replace the well permit the State Engineer requires before you drill. The license says you may do the work. The permit says that well may be constructed and used. You usually need both. [9][10]
C.R.S. 37-90-137 is the core permit statute outside designated groundwater basins. That section says "no new wells shall be constructed" in those areas unless the user obtains a State Engineer permit. The 1965 permit rule still structures the paper. [10]
Inside designated basins, the Colorado Ground Water Commission path applies. That is a different desk and a different set of forms. [13]
Denver Basin, over-appropriated corridors, and exempt domestic uses each have their own permit flavors. Read the permit before you mobilize. If the permit limits the well to household use or a stated production cap, that is not a suggestion. Drill the permitted aquifer, not the one that was easier to hit.
File the right application. DWR keeps current well permit applications and forms on its permitting page. [11]
After the well exists, you file the construction report. A common form is the GWS-45 Well Construction and Test Report. Missing that report is how clean field work still turns into a Board letter. [11]
Look up old permits and who drilled them in DWR's Well Permit Search. It is the public record. Use it before you bid a replacement well. [14]
| Paper | Who issues or takes it | When you need it |
|---|---|---|
| Contractor license | Board of Examiners at DWR | Before you construct wells or install pumps for others |
| Well permit | State Engineer or Ground Water Commission | Before that specific well is constructed |
| GWS-45 construction report | You file it with DWR | After you build the well |
What construction rules and reports does Colorado check?
2 CCR 402-2 is the rulebook Colorado uses to judge casing, grout, disinfection, and completion. Follow it on every hole. File the construction report. Grout and annular seals are where most complaint files start. [8]
The official title is Rules and Regulations for Water Well Construction, Pump Installation, Cistern Installation, and Monitoring and Observation Hole/Well Construction. Print it. Mark it. Keep it in the truck. The Board can come after your license for sloppy work more than for working without a card. [8]
C.R.S. 37-91-102 describes a well as an excavation "drilled, cored, bored, washed, fractured, driven, dug, jetted, or otherwise constructed" when the intended use is ground water. Poke holes for water and you are probably inside the statute. [3]
Reports are part of the job. GWS-45 covers construction and testing. Pump installation has its own report track on the DWR forms page. Late paper is still a violation of how this state runs the trade. [11]
Grout logs matter because the annular seal is what keeps surface water out of the aquifer. If you want a paper kit that lines up board rules and grout-log sheets in one binder, WellDrillerPath sells a $179 one-time Well Board + Grout-Log Kit at /start. You do not need it to comply. Plenty of contractors just print 2 CCR 402-2 and the DWR forms.
CSU Extension fact sheet 6.700 is written for homeowners, but it is a clean explanation of why construction quality shows up later in the glass. Hand it to customers who think grout is optional. [12]
Can you drill your own well in Colorado without a license?
Yes, with limits. C.R.S. 37-91-110 creates exemptions, including work a person does on their own property for their own use. That exemption does not erase the well permit. It does not erase 2 CCR 402-2. It does not let you drill for other people. [6][8][9]
Advertise owner-builder specials or trade wells for favors, and you are asking for an investigation. The exemption is personal use on your land. It is not a starter business model.
I would still hire a licensed contractor for grout and logging unless you already know annular seals. A bad seal on your own place is your drinking water.
EPA's private well pages are blunt about contamination risk after poor construction. Read them before you decide a weekend with a rented machine is cheaper. [15]
What happens if you drill wells in Colorado without a license?
You can face Board action and a statutory violation if you contract without a license. C.R.S. 37-91-111 is the violations section. I am not going to recap criminal classes because the General Assembly amends penalty language. Read the current section and talk to a Colorado lawyer if you already have a problem. [7]
The practical hit is stop-work, rejected well reports, permit trouble, and a public complaint file. Neighbors and county staff know how to find the Board. Customers can search who drilled nearby wells. [14]
Unlicensed work also blows up insurance claims. That part is not in Article 91. It still ruins people.
Already in a hole on this? Stop mobilizing. Call the Board. Do not keep drilling while you sort it out.
How much does it cost to hire a well driller in Colorado?
Colorado does not publish an official price list for drilling a domestic well. Anyone giving you a single statewide number is guessing. Depth, geology, casing, access, grout, and pump equipment drive the bid. [12]
Shallow alluvial wells along river valleys are a different job than a Denver Basin well that has to reach a permitted aquifer. A mountain hole in fractured rock is another job again. The Colorado Geological Survey groundwater pages are a decent geology primer before you bid or hire. [16]
Get two or three written bids from currently licensed contractors. Ask what is included. Grout, test pumping, pitless adapter, disinfection, report filing, and mobilization are the line items people forget to compare. The cheap bid that skips grout is not cheap.
CSU Extension 6.700 walks homeowners through private wells without pretending there is one price. Start there if you are the landowner. [12]
If you are the contractor, price mobilization honestly. Mountain sites, snow, and gated driveways eat days. I would rather lose a bid than eat a second mobilization I did not write down.
California's contractor paper is a different machine if you also bid there. See well driller license in California.
What else do you need to operate besides the license?
A contractor license is not a business. File the entity you actually want with the Colorado Secretary of State if you are not a sole proprietor working under your own name. Get workers' compensation if you have employees. That desk is the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, not the Board.
Each well still needs its permit path, either the State Engineer or the Ground Water Commission. [9][13]
Register rigs if the Board's current packet still requires rig registration under the Article 91 fee statute. Confirm. Do not assume last year's form. [5]
Local grading, floodplain, and highway access permits show up on real jobs. County environmental health may want a septic setback letter before you pick a wellhead.
Water quality testing after construction is a customer conversation. DWR licenses construction. EPA's private well guidance is the federal overview of why you test after the grout sets. [15]
I would not skip general liability just because the Board packet is silent this year. One bent mast or one contaminated well costs more than the premium.
For the full startup sequence, use how to start well driller in Colorado. Work south of the line too? how to start well driller in Arizona and how to start well driller in Texas cover those paper paths.
How do you renew a Colorado well contractor license?
Renewal is mandatory if you want to keep selling the work. The Board sets the renewal cycle, late fees, and any continuing education. Those details move. Confirm the current renewal window and CE hours with DWR. I will not invent an hour count. [1][2][5]
File construction reports on time during the year. A clean report history is worth more than a last-minute class.
Let the license lapse, and do not keep drilling while you sort it out. Reinstatement, if the Board even offers it the way you hope, is still a Board decision.
WellDrillerPath is an independent publisher, not a law firm and not a service company. If you want the kit that organizes board paper and grout logs, it is $179 one time at /start. The statutes and 2 CCR 402-2 are still the controlling documents.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need a license for well driller in Colorado?
Yes, if you construct water wells or install pumping equipment for other people. The Board of Examiners at the Division of Water Resources issues that license under C.R.S. Title 37, Article 91. Employees can work under a licensed contractor. Landowners have a narrow exemption for a well on their own land for their own use, and that well still needs a permit.
How much does well driller cost in Colorado?
Board application, exam, license, renewal, and rig fees change. Confirm live amounts with DWR under C.R.S. 37-91-107. Colorado has no official statewide price for hiring a driller. Depth, geology, casing, grout, and access set the bid. The rig and insurance dwarf the license fee if you are entering the trade.
How long does well driller take in Colorado?
Plan on two years of qualifying experience under C.R.S. 37-91-106, then the Board exam and a Board decision. Exam dates and packet deadlines move. DWR does not publish a guaranteed processing clock. If you are starting from zero field time, the honest answer is years, not weeks.
Can I drill a well on my own land without a contractor license?
Often yes, under the C.R.S. 37-91-110 owner exemption, if the well is on land you own and the water is for your own use. You still need the well permit and you still follow 2 CCR 402-2. The exemption is not permission to drill for neighbors, trade labor, or advertise.
Is a well permit the same as a well driller license in Colorado?
No. The contractor license says who may construct wells or install pumps for others. The well permit says that specific well may be built and used. C.R.S. 37-90-137 requires a State Engineer permit for new wells outside designated basins. Designated basins go through the Ground Water Commission.
What exam do you take for a Colorado well contractor license?
The Board of Examiners gives its own exam after it accepts your experience. Study C.R.S. Title 37, Article 91 and 2 CCR 402-2, including grout, casing, disinfection, and reporting. Confirm the current outline and sitting dates with DWR. A national quiz pack is a weak substitute for the Colorado rule.
How do I check if a well driller is licensed in Colorado?
Ask the Board of Examiners through the Division of Water Resources for the current licensed contractor list or a license lookup. You can also read who constructed nearby wells in DWR's Well Permit Search. Match the name on the bid to the name on the license. A business card is not proof.
Do I need a Colorado license if I am already licensed in another state?
Yes, if you will construct wells or install pumps for others inside Colorado. Out-of-state experience may help you qualify under C.R.S. 37-91-106, but it does not replace the Colorado card. Bring license records and well logs. Reciprocity is not automatic. Confirm with the Board before you mobilize.
What is 2 CCR 402-2?
It is Colorado's well construction rule. The full title covers water well construction, pump installation, cistern installation, and monitoring and observation holes. The Board uses it to judge casing, grout, disinfection, abandonment, and completion. Print the current version from the Secretary of State's CCR site and keep it in the truck.
Does a pump installer need a separate Colorado license?
Yes. Colorado licenses pump installation contractors separately from water well construction contractors. Many people hold both. Setting pumps, pitless units, and related equipment is not automatically covered by a drilling card. Read the class on your license and confirm with the Board before you bid pump-only work.
What form do I file after I construct a well in Colorado?
The common construction filing is the GWS-45 Well Construction and Test Report, submitted to the Division of Water Resources. Pump installation has its own report on the DWR forms page. File what the current permit and rules require. Late or missing reports are a regular way to get a Board letter.
How often do you renew a Colorado well contractor license?
On the cycle the Board currently sets, with whatever late fees and continuing education it currently requires. Those details change. Confirm the window and any CE hours with DWR before your card expires. Do not keep contracting on a lapsed license while you wait on a form.
Can helpers work on a Colorado well without their own license?
Yes. Employees can work under a licensed water well construction or pump installation contractor. The licensed contractor stays responsible for the hole, the grout, and the reports. Helpers are not a loophole for a second unlicensed company to bid work under someone else's card.
What is a designated groundwater basin in Colorado?
It is a basin the Colorado Ground Water Commission administers, with a different well-permit path than the State Engineer process under C.R.S. 37-90-137. If the site sits in a designated basin, do not file the wrong permit. Confirm basin status on DWR's Commission pages before you move the rig.
Sources
- Colorado Division of Water Resources, Well Construction and Pump Installation: DWR and the Board of Examiners license and regulate water well construction and pump installation contractors in Colorado.
- Colorado DWR, Board of Examiners of Water Well Construction and Pump Installation Contractors: The Board of Examiners issues contractor licenses, sets exam and meeting calendars, and takes disciplinary action.
- Colorado General Assembly, Colorado Revised Statutes 2024 Title 37 (Article 91): C.R.S. Title 37, Article 91 requires licensing for water well construction and pump installation contractors and defines a well to include excavations drilled, cored, bored, washed, fractured, driven, dug, or jetted for ground water.
- Colorado Revised Statutes Title 37, Article 91 qualifications (37-91-106) in 2024 Title 37: C.R.S. 37-91-106 requires two years of experience before an applicant qualifies for the well construction or pump installation contractor exam.
- Colorado Revised Statutes Title 37, Article 91 fees (37-91-107) in 2024 Title 37: C.R.S. 37-91-107 authorizes the Board to collect application, license, exam, renewal, and rig registration fees (dollar amounts are set and updated by the Board).
- Colorado Revised Statutes Title 37, Article 91 exemptions (37-91-110) in 2024 Title 37: C.R.S. 37-91-110 creates licensing exemptions, including work a person performs on their own property for their own use.
- Colorado Revised Statutes Title 37, Article 91 violations (37-91-111) in 2024 Title 37: C.R.S. 37-91-111 sets statutory violations for contracting without a required well construction or pump installation license.
- Colorado Secretary of State, 2 CCR 402-2 Well Construction Rules: 2 CCR 402-2 is the official rulebook for water well construction, pump installation, cistern installation, and monitoring and observation hole construction.
- Colorado Division of Water Resources, Well Permitting: A well permit is required before constructing a new well or using ground water, separate from the contractor license.
- Colorado Revised Statutes Title 37, well permits outside designated basins (37-90-137) in 2024 Title 37: C.R.S. 37-90-137 states that no new wells shall be constructed outside designated groundwater basins unless the user obtains a State Engineer permit (rule in force since May 17, 1965).
- Colorado DWR, Well Permit Applications and Forms: DWR publishes current well permit applications and post-construction filings, including the GWS-45 Well Construction and Test Report.
- Colorado State University Extension, Private Wells for Home Use 6.700: CSU Extension fact sheet 6.700 explains private well construction quality and homeowner well issues without a statewide official price list.
- Colorado Division of Water Resources, Colorado Ground Water Commission: Wells inside designated groundwater basins follow the Colorado Ground Water Commission permit path rather than only the State Engineer 37-90-137 path.
- Colorado DWR, Well Permit Search: DWR's Well Permit Search is the public tool for looking up well permits and construction records, including who constructed a well.
- U.S. EPA, Private Drinking Water Wells: EPA private-well guidance documents contamination risk tied to well construction and the need for testing after a well is built.
- Colorado Geological Survey, Groundwater: Colorado well depth and cost vary with setting, from shallow alluvial aquifers to deeper bedrock and Denver Basin units described by CGS.