Tusayan building permits

Verified

Department contacts, adopted codes, permit types, fees, and gotchas for Tusayan, Arizona.

Last verified 2026-07-07 · Source · Embed this page’s badge · Version history

Building department

Address: Town of Tusayan: 845 Mustang Drive / PO Box 709, Tusayan, AZ 86023. Coconino County Building and Safety Division: 2500 N. Fort Valley Road, Building 1, Flagstaff, AZ 86001
Phone: 928-638-9909 (Town of Tusayan); 928-679-8850 (Coconino County Building and Safety)
Email: tusayantownmanager@tusayan-az.gov (Town of Tusayan, for pre-application meetings); plansubmittals@coconino.az.gov (Coconino County Building and Safety)
Office hours: Town of Tusayan Town Hall and Coconino County Building and Safety Division: Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Applicants must first submit a completed Pre-Application Checklist to the Town of Tusayan and are strongly encouraged to schedule a pre-application meeting with the Town Manager before beginning the permit process, because multiple agencies are typically involved. Building/civil plan review and inspections are then conducted by Coconino County via its Online Permit Applications portal (co-coconino-az.smartgovcommunity.com); once County review is complete, the Town of Tusayan issues the final signed building permit. Per the Town's own published guidance: 'No construction may begin until the Town has issued its final signed building permit.'
Website: Official site

Inspection guide

See how inspections work in Tusayan — sequence, scheduling & re-inspection fees.

Codes adopted

Arizona has no statewide building code for non-state buildings; codes are adopted locally. According to the International Code Council, codes are adopted locally in Arizona and are predominantly the I-codes, with different cities and counties choosing their own editions and local amendments. The Arizona State Fire Code (adopting the 2018 IFC) applies only to state and county buildings, public and private schools, and non-residential occupancies in areas without a locally adopted fire code — it does not establish a statewide residential or commercial building code floor. Each city and county adopts its own code editions independently, resulting in different I-Code years and amendment sets across jurisdictions. There is no state-mandated minimum edition; enforcement is entirely local. Always confirm the adopted edition and any local amendments with the specific jurisdiction before submitting plans.

Arizona has NO statewide mandatory building code floor for general construction — code adoption is a per-city/county authority under state enabling statutes (e.g., A.R.S. Title 9 for municipalities, A.R.S. Title 11 for counties). The Town of Tusayan is a small (2020 Census population 561), recently incorporated (2010) gateway town that does NOT run an independent, self-staffed building department: it adopted its own local building-code ordinance but contracted the actual plan-review and inspection FUNCTION to Coconino County via an intergovernmental agreement (IGA), retaining only final permit issuance and pre-application/zoning gatekeeping in-house. Source: Town of Tusayan Engineering & Development page (tusayan-az.gov/engineering-development/) — 'Building permits are handled through an intergovernmental agreement with Coconino County... No construction may begin until the Town has issued its final signed building permit.'
Town of Tusayan Ordinance No. 2021-03 ('AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF TUSAYAN, ARIZONA, ADOPTING THE CODE OF TUSAYAN, ARIZONA, BUILDINGS AND CONSTRUCTION, UNIFORM CONSTRUCTION CODES ADOPTED, ADOPTION BY REFERENCE'), passed and adopted September 22, 2021, adopts by reference: International Building Code (IBC) 2018 Edition; International Residential Code (IRC) 2018 Edition; International Mechanical Code (IMC) 2018 Edition; International Fuel Gas Code (IFGC) 2018 Edition; International Plumbing Code (IPC) 2018 Edition; International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) 2018 Edition; International Existing Building Code (IEBC) 2018 Edition; International Swimming Pool and Spa Code (ISPSC) 2018 Edition; National Electrical Code (NEC) 2017 Edition (as published by the National Fire Protection Association); AND the Coconino County Building Code Amendments and Standards dated June 18, 2019 — all adopted by reference in full. This is the identical 2018 ICC suite / 2017 NEC combination that Coconino County's own Building Division uses countywide, confirming Tusayan's code baseline is deliberately harmonized with the County's rather than independently authored. Source: Town of Tusayan Ordinance No. 2021-03 (PDF, scanned/rendered and read directly, tusayan-az.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Ordinance-2021-03.pdf), Section I.
Ordinance 2021-03 also repeals and replaces Sections 1-10, Parts X-XII of the Coconino County Building Code Amendments and Standards (June 18, 2019) with a 'New Amendment: INNOVATIVE MATERIALS AND SYSTEMS PILOT PROGRAM, Sections 1-28' — mirroring Coconino County's own 'Innovative Materials and Systems Pilot Program' that allows owner-builders to seek an exemption from standard code provisions for alternative building methods/materials under certain circumstances. Source: Town of Tusayan Ordinance No. 2021-03, Section I; Coconino County Building Codes, Ordinances, Design Criteria page (coconino.az.gov/2391/Building-Codes-Ordinances-Design-Criteri), '2019-10 Coconino County Building Ordinance.'
As of July 2026, Coconino County's own Building Division still lists the 2018 International Code Council suite (IRC, IBC, IMC, IFGC, IPC, IECC, IEBC) plus the 2017 NEC as its CURRENT adopted codes (per the County's 'Current Codes and Ordinances' list), adopted via County Ordinance 2019-10. The County has begun a public process (open house held March 23, 2026) toward adopting the 2024 ICC suite and 2023 NEC, but as of this record's lastVerified date that update had NOT yet been formally adopted — the 2018/2017 baseline remains controlling for both the County and, by Ordinance 2021-03's adoption-by-reference, for Tusayan. Source: Coconino County Building Codes, Ordinances, Design Criteria page (coconino.az.gov/2391/Building-Codes-Ordinances-Design-Criteri), 'Current Codes and Ordinances' and 'Building Code Adoption' sections.
Town of Tusayan Zoning Code, Chapter 9, §9.3(B): 'A building permit, as required by the Building Code, shall be obtained prior to the construction, reconstruction, alteration or change in use of any building or other structure' — the Zoning Code's own building-permit trigger clause, applicable in the G (General), AR (Agricultural-Residential), and RR (Rural Residential) zones. Source: Town of Tusayan Zoning Code § 9.3, Property Development Standards: G, AR and RR Zones (codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/tusayan/latest/tusayan_az_zone/0-0-0-3764).
Manufactured homes and factory-built buildings are licensed and permitted through a joint state/local structure: the Arizona Department of Fire, Building and Life Safety (Office of Manufactured Housing) sets manufacturer/installer/retailer licensing and issues State/IGA installation permits, while local site/foundation/utility compliance for a manufactured home placed within Tusayan town limits is handled through the same Town-Coconino County IGA building-permit pathway as other structures. Source: Coconino County Online Permit Applications page (coconino.az.gov/2390/Online-Permit-Applications), 'Manufactured Homes and Factory Built Projects' section; Coconino County Building Permitting Fees PDF, Part III, 'Manufactured Homes and Factory Built Building Permit Fees.'
Applicants must first submit a Pre-Application Checklist to the Town of Tusayan and receive the Town's endorsement before proceeding to civil or building permit review; the Town strongly encourages scheduling a pre-application meeting with the Town Manager given the number of agencies potentially involved (Coconino County Community Development, Coconino County Flood Control District, Tusayan Sanitary District, Tusayan Fire District, Arizona State Fire Marshal, Grand Canyon Unified School District). Source: Town of Tusayan Engineering & Development page; Town of Tusayan Pre-Application Checklist (tusayan-az.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Town-of-Tusayan-Pre-Applicaton-Checklist-103025.pdf).

Permit types & fees

New residential construction activity

New privately-owned residential construction only

Housing units authorized by building permits for new privately-owned residential construction — this is not total permit volume (no commercial permits or remodels).

Latest month (2026-05): No data reported
Trailing 12 months: No data reported
Year to date (2026 YTD): No data reported
Full year 2025: No data reported

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey (BPS), 2026-05 vintage. Census survey data — separate from the permit-requirements verification above. All Arizona building activity

Tips & gotchas

Tusayan is unusual among Arizona municipalities in this dataset: it is a very small (2020 Census population 561), recently incorporated (2010) gateway town immediately outside Grand Canyon National Park's south entrance, and it does NOT run its own independent, in-house building department. It adopted its own local building-code ordinance (2021-03) but contracted the actual plan-review and inspection FUNCTION to Coconino County under an intergovernmental agreement — the Town's own role is limited to (1) requiring and endorsing a Pre-Application Checklist before County review can begin, and (2) issuing the final signed building permit after County review/approval is complete. 'No construction may begin until the Town has issued its final signed building permit' even though the County did the substantive technical review.
Because Ordinance 2021-03 adopts the Coconino County Building Code Amendments and Standards (June 18, 2019) by reference in full, and because both governments currently run the identical 2018 ICC code suite (IBC, IRC, IMC, IFGC, IPC, IECC, IEBC, ISPSC) plus the 2017 NEC, Tusayan's substantive code requirements are, in practice, identical to unincorporated Coconino County's — there is no meaningful Tusayan-specific building-code amendment layer beyond the Innovative Materials and Systems Pilot Program section swap.
As of this record's verification date (July 2026), Coconino County has begun a public process toward adopting the 2024 ICC code suite and 2023 NEC (an open house was held March 23, 2026) but had NOT yet formally adopted it — the 2018 ICC / 2017 NEC baseline remains the current, controlling code for both the County and, by reference, Tusayan.
Because plan review and inspections are performed by Coconino County, not the Town, use Coconino County's own official 'Permit Review Timeframes' document (A.R.S. §§ 11-1604 to 11-1607) as the governing timeline source for Tusayan projects: Residential Projects carry a 63-day overall ceiling (15 business days administrative completeness + 21 calendar days substantive review, extendable at the applicant's request); Commercial Projects carry a 105-day ceiling; Manufactured Homes carry a 7-business-day ceiling. These County figures are the best available governing timeline for Tusayan permits, but they do NOT include the separate, non-time-boxed Town of Tusayan Pre-Application Checklist endorsement step that must occur first.
Coconino County's Building Permitting Fees schedule (effective 09/01/2021) is a scanned/complex-layout PDF whose per-unit and per-tier dollar figures extracted with column misalignment during this research pass (a known extraction hazard for this specific document) — the FEE STRUCTURE (base $50 issue fee + per-unit/per-sq-ft/per-tier add-ons; 65% plan review fee; ICC-valuation-based Table II/III bands) is confirmed and cited, but any exact per-line-item dollar figure should be reconfirmed against the live PDF or by phone (928-679-8850) before being quoted to an applicant as precise.
Multiple concurrent agencies commonly apply to Tusayan construction projects beyond the Town-County building-permit pathway: Coconino County Flood Control District, Tusayan Sanitary District (wastewater), Tusayan Fire District, Arizona State Fire Marshal, and Grand Canyon Unified School District — applicants should expect to coordinate separately with each as applicable.
Manufactured homes and factory-built buildings follow a joint state/local structure: the Arizona Department of Fire, Building and Life Safety (Office of Manufactured Housing) handles state manufacturer/installer/retailer licensing, while local site/foundation/utility compliance for a unit placed in Tusayan runs through the same Town-County IGA building-permit pathway as any other structure, using Coconino County's Manufactured Homes and Factory Built Building Permit Fees (Part III of the fee schedule) and the County's 7-business-day Manufactured Homes review ceiling.
The Town of Tusayan's own Zoning Code § 9.3(B) building-permit trigger clause ('A building permit, as required by the Building Code, shall be obtained prior to the construction, reconstruction, alteration or change in use of any building or other structure') is the Town-side legal hook requiring a permit at all — the actual review then flows to the County under the IGA.
Violation of the adopted Buildings and Construction code (Ordinance 2021-03) is a class one misdemeanor in Tusayan, punishable by a fine up to $2,500 or imprisonment up to six months, or both, with each day of continuing violation a separate offense — this penalty provision is set by the Town itself, distinct from the County's own enforcement mechanisms.