Inspection Deadlines.
Colorado’s purchase contract gives buyers a short window to inspect, object and negotiate — and the dates are unforgiving. Here’s how the three inspection deadlines work, how to schedule around Denver-metro and foothills lead times so the report arrives with room to think, and what happens when a deadline passes. Always confirm the dates in your own contract with your agent.
The three inspection deadlines
Colorado’s standard Contract to Buy and Sell Real Estate (Residential) lists every date in Section 3. Three of them belong to the inspection.
✓ Inspection Termination Deadline
The date by which you can walk away over any inspection concern — in the contract’s words, in your “sole subjective discretion” — with your earnest money returned. It is your cleanest exit.
✓ Inspection Objection Deadline
The date by which you deliver a written list of the conditions you want the seller to correct, credit or otherwise address. Delivering an objection ends your right to use the termination deadline.
✓ Inspection Resolution Deadline
The date by which you and the seller must sign a written agreement resolving the objection. If nothing is signed and you haven’t withdrawn the objection in writing, the contract terminates on this date.
✓ Related dates
The Seller’s Property Disclosure deadline, the Due Diligence Documents deadlines, and separate objection deadlines for title, survey, insurance and HOA documents each run on their own schedule.
✓ When a day ends
A deadline runs to 11:59 p.m. Mountain Time unless the contract names an earlier time of day. Extending a deadline that lands on a weekend or holiday is a checkbox in the contract — not automatic.
✓ Counting days
Days count from the day after the contract is fully signed (mutual execution, or “MEC”). Confirm the calendar with your agent rather than backing into it yourself.
Scheduling the inspection so the report has time to breathe
A typical Front Range contract sets the objection deadline about 7–10 days after MEC. Every one of those days is spoken for.
✓ Book the day you go under contract
Good inspectors and specialists fill up, especially in spring and after hailstorms. Call before the ink is dry.
✓ Inspect in the first half of the window
Aim for the inspection within 3–4 days of MEC so you have several days to read the report, get bids and decide — not hours.
✓ Stack the specialists
Sewer scope, radon test (it runs 48 hours), septic and well tests, roof, chimney and structural opinions all need lead time. Order them with the inspection, not after it.
✓ Bids take days
If the report turns up a roof, foundation or sewer issue, you’ll want a contractor’s number before you write an objection. Leave time for someone to come look.
✓ Foothills logistics
Mountain properties add drive time, weather, and county steps like septic use permits and well tests. Ask for a longer inspection window when you write the offer.
✓ Read the report the same day
Our reports lead with the significant findings. Read them that evening and call with questions while the house is fresh in your mind.
What an inspection objection typically asks for
The objection is a negotiation document, not a punch list. Keep it focused on what matters.
✓ Safety and structure first
Electrical hazards, gas leaks, structural movement, roof and water intrusion, sewer and septic failures — the items a seller expects to address and a lender may require.
✓ Repair, credit or price
You can ask the seller to repair before closing, give a credit at closing, reduce the price, or a mix. Lenders cap seller credits, so ask your lender first.
✓ Be specific and cite the report
Name the condition, reference the report item, and say what resolves it — a licensed roofer’s repair with a receipt, for example, rather than “fix the roof.”
✓ Skip the nitpicks
A list of forty cosmetic items invites a “no.” Three well-supported significant items usually gets a “yes.”
✓ Back big asks with bids
A contractor’s estimate attached to the objection turns an argument into arithmetic.
✓ Remember the clock
The resolution deadline is often only a few days after the objection. Send it early enough to leave a round or two of back-and-forth.
What happens when a deadline passes
The contract is explicit, and the consequences run in both directions.
✓ Miss the termination deadline
You lose the right to walk away over inspection findings with your earnest money intact — unless you had already sent an objection and the resolution fails.
✓ Miss the objection deadline
You accept the property’s condition as it is. Later discoveries are yours to fix.
✓ No resolution by the resolution deadline
The contract terminates automatically and the earnest money is returned — unless you withdraw the objection in writing before the deadline, which keeps the deal alive on the seller’s terms.
✓ Late notices don’t count
A notice to terminate received after the deadline is ineffective. Delivery method and time-stamp matter; use your agent’s system.
✓ Extensions are possible
Both parties can sign an amendment moving a deadline. Sellers often agree when the request is early and specific — not the night before.
✓ Earnest money
After a valid termination the earnest money comes back, but you remain responsible for paying your inspectors and for any damage your inspections caused.
The Seller’s Property Disclosure and due diligence documents
✓ What the SPD is
The seller’s written statement of what they actually know about the property — roof age, water source, past leaks, hail or other casualty damage, insurance claims and more. It is knowledge, not a guarantee.
✓ Read it before the inspection
A disclosed roof claim, basement leak or septic repair tells us where to slow down.
✓ Compare it to what we find
Where the house and the disclosure disagree, that’s a question for the seller — and sometimes an objection item.
✓ Ask for the paper
Roof invoices, engineer letters, soils reports, septic permits, well records and warranties. The contract lets you request due diligence documents; use it.
✓ Water source
Colorado’s contract requires the seller to identify the water source — well, district or city. A well adds a testing step to your schedule.
✓ Colorado doesn’t license home inspectors
Credentials, sample reports and insurance are yours to check. Radon testers, by contrast, must be state-licensed.
Common questions
How many days do I get for an inspection in Colorado?
Whatever your contract says — there is no statutory period. On the Front Range, buyers commonly negotiate an Inspection Objection Deadline around 7 to 10 days after the contract is signed, with the Resolution Deadline a few days after that. In a competitive offer buyers sometimes shorten it. If you are buying a mountain property with a well and septic, ask for more time up front rather than hoping for an extension.
What’s the difference between the Inspection Objection and Inspection Termination deadlines?
Termination is your right to walk away over any inspection concern with earnest money returned, no negotiation needed. Objection is a written request for repairs or credits that opens a negotiation. Once you send an objection you give up the termination route, so buyers with serious concerns and no interest in negotiating usually terminate instead. Your agent will help you choose; the contract also lets both sides mutually cancel at any time.
What happens if the seller doesn’t respond to my inspection objection?
If no written resolution is signed by the Inspection Resolution Deadline, the contract terminates on that date and your earnest money is returned — unless you withdraw the objection in writing before the deadline to keep the deal alive. Silence from the seller therefore ends the contract, which is why agents watch this date closely and why you should send the objection early.
Can I get my earnest money back if I terminate after the inspection?
Yes, if you deliver a proper written Notice to Terminate on or before the applicable deadline. The earnest money is returned, subject to your obligation to pay for your inspections and repair any damage they caused. A notice received after the deadline is ineffective, so use your agent’s delivery system and keep the time-stamp.
Should I ask for repairs or a credit?
Credits let you control the work and the contractor and avoid rushed seller repairs; repairs shift the cost and hassle to the seller and keep your cash at closing. Lenders cap seller credits — commonly a percentage of the price that varies with your down payment — so ask your lender before you write the objection. Many buyers pair a credit for cosmetic items with seller-completed repairs for the safety items a lender or insurer will require anyway.
This guide is for general education. It reflects what we look for during a home inspection, not a substitute for a licensed professional. If you have a specific concern, please contact your real estate agent or a Colorado real estate attorney — and of course, we’re always happy to take a look during an inspection.
More from our guides
Home Maintenance, Season by Season
A spring-through-winter checklist tuned for Front Range homes.
Read →
Radon in Colorado
Why half of Colorado homes test high, county-by-county numbers, and what testing and mitigation really cost — with sources.
Read →
Plumbing
Plumbing issues are some of the most common — and most expensive — problems we find. Here’s what we actually look at during an inspection, what tends to go wrong, and what you can stay ahead of yourself.
Read →Under contract and on the clock? Get the inspection scheduled first.
We’ll give your home a thorough, plain-English inspection and flag anything worth a closer look.