Most contingencies in the Colorado contract run on two dates — object, then resolve. Inspection runs on three, and the third one is the one people misunderstand.
The three deadlines
| Deadline | Commonly used interval |
|---|---|
| Water Rights Examination Deadline | Only when water rights are conveyed. |
| Mineral Rights Examination Deadline | 15 days after contract date |
| Inspection Termination Deadline | 12 days after contract date |
| Inspection Objection Deadline | 10 days after contract date |
| Inspection Resolution Deadline | 15 days after contract date |
| Property Insurance Termination Deadline | 15 days after contract date |
| Due Diligence Documents Delivery Deadline | Only when due diligence documents are called for. |
| Due Diligence Documents Objection Deadline | Only when due diligence documents are called for. |
| Due Diligence Documents Resolution Deadline | Only when due diligence documents are called for. |
| Conditional Sale Deadline | Only when the purchase is conditional on another sale. |
| Lead-Based Paint Termination Deadline | Only for a residence built before 1978. |
Three of those rows are the inspection sequence proper:
Inspection Objection Deadline
The date by which the buyer must deliver a written objection to what the inspection found, on the Commission-approved Inspection Objection Notice (
NTC43). This is a request: it says what the buyer wants done, and it opens a negotiation.Inspection Resolution Deadline
The date by which the parties must have agreed, in writing, what happens about the objection — recorded on an Inspection Resolution (
NTC43R). It is the deadline for agreement, not for the work.Inspection Termination Deadline
A separate right on its own date. It is the route the contract provides for a buyer who does not want to negotiate the property’s condition at all, and it does not depend on having objected first.
How the sequence actually runs
Inspect with room to spare
Schedule so that the report arrives, the buyer reads it, and you have a conversation — all before the objection deadline. Working backwards from the deadline is how a buyer ends up objecting to a report they have skimmed once.
Decide what kind of objection this is
A list of defects to repair, a credit, a price reduction, or a walk. These are materially different asks with materially different odds, and the notice should reflect one decision rather than every possibility.
Deliver the objection in writing, on the form
On or before the objection deadline. A text message to the listing agent is not the contract’s mechanism.
Negotiate to a signed resolution
Whatever is agreed goes on the
NTC43R, signed by both sides, before the resolution deadline. This is where the common failure lives: an objection delivered on time, a verbal agreement two days later, and nothing signed.Verify the work before the walkthrough
Agreed repairs need receipts, invoices or a re-inspection, collected early enough to matter. Discovering at the walkthrough that the furnace was never serviced is not a negotiation position, it is a delay.
The other deadlines in the same section
The Inspection and Due Diligence block carries more than the inspection itself, and several of its rows are the ones that get forgotten because they are usually blank:
- Property Insurance Termination Deadline — the buyer needs to be able to insure the property. On a roof-damage or wildfire-risk property, this is a live deadline, not a formality.
- Due Diligence Documents delivery, objection and resolution — the same three-date pattern, for the documents a particular deal calls for.
- Water Rights and Mineral Rights Examination — which matter a great deal on some Colorado properties and not at all on others.
- Conditional Sale Deadline — only when the purchase depends on another sale closing.
- Lead-Based Paint Termination Deadline — for a residence built before 1978.
Common mistakes
- Treating the objection deadline as the date to inspect by
- Sending an objection and assuming the resolution deadline takes care of itself
- Agreeing repairs verbally and papering them after the resolution deadline
- Objecting to everything in the report, which converts a negotiation into a standoff
- Forgetting that the seller is not obliged to agree to anything in an objection
- Letting the insurance and association-document deadlines pass while the inspection has everyone’s attention
Running the sequence in Nexus
The inspection module in Nexus is built on exactly this sequence: the report files itself to the deal when it arrives in your inbox, the objection generates as a real NTC43, the resolution generates as a real NTC43R and goes out for signature in the correct order, and the repairs are tracked as items with evidence attached. The three deadlines sit on the deal’s timeline, and the client portal shows the buyer where in the sequence they are.
Questions
Deadlines move by written agreement of both parties — in Colorado, on an Agreement to Amend/Extend Contract (AE41). A seller is not obliged to agree to an extension.
No. An objection is a request. The seller may agree, counter, or decline, and what happens if nothing is agreed by the resolution deadline is set out in the contract.
It is not required. It is a right the contract gives the buyer, with deadlines attached. A buyer may waive it, and in a competitive market some do — which is a decision with real consequences and worth documenting.
The objection deadline is for asking the seller to do something. The termination deadline is a separate right on a separate date. They are not interchangeable, and which one applies to your client’s situation depends on the provisions of your contract.