Town of Payson building permits

Verified

Department contacts, adopted codes, permit types, fees, and gotchas for Town of Payson, Arizona.

Last verified 2026-07-06 · Source · Embed this page’s badge · Version history

Building department

Address: 303C N. Beeline Highway, Payson, AZ 85541
Phone: 928-472-5030
Email: building@paysonaz.us
Office hours: Monday - Thursday, 7:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. (closed Fridays and Holidays); TDD Phone 928-472-6449. Building permit applications may be submitted at the Building Division counter; electronic/digital submittals are preferred for solar and other checklist-based permits.
Website: Official site
Permit portal: Apply online at Town of Payson's portal

Inspection guide

See how inspections work in Town of Payson — 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 for general construction — code adoption is a per-jurisdiction (city/town/county) authority under state enabling statutes (A.R.S. Title 9 for municipalities). The Town of Payson independently adopts and administers its own construction codes through its Community Development Department / Building Division; it does NOT defer to Gila County for permitting within town limits. Gila County (which covers unincorporated areas around Payson) separately runs its own, older code cycle (2012 I-Codes / 2011 NEC per Gila County Building Safety) — the two are distinct code regimes. Source: Town of Payson Code of Ordinances, Chapter 150 (Standardized Building and Construction Codes), via American Legal Publishing code library; Gila County Building Safety 'Adopted Building Code' page.
2018 International Building Code (IBC), published on or after August 31, 2017 by the International Code Council, Inc., adopted by reference (Payson Code of Ordinances § 150.21), with Town of Payson local amendments including: Section 101.4 revised so referenced codes mean only codes specifically adopted by the Town; Section 104.10.1 (flood hazard areas) not adopted; new § 105.8 requiring construction sites be kept reasonably clear of debris; Section 107.2.6.1 (flood hazard documentation) revised to route through the Town Engineering Department prior to Certificate of Occupancy; Section 109.4 work-commencing-before-permit adds a minimum $70 investigation fee; Section 412.4.5 (residential aircraft hangar height/area limits) not adopted; Section 903.2.8 sprinkler trigger exempts single-family detached and duplex structures under 4,800 sq ft livable area; Table 2902.1 adds a drinking-fountain footnote for occupant loads over 99; IBC Appendix chapters not specifically adopted. Source: Payson Code of Ordinances § 150.21, International Building Code (amlegal.com); Town of Payson 'Amendments-2018' Building Department document.
2018 International Residential Code (IRC), published on or after August 31, 2017 by the International Code Council, Inc., adopted by reference (Payson Code of Ordinances § 150.20), with extensive Town of Payson local amendments — see Local Amendments below for the Climatic and Geographic Design Criteria (Table R301.2(1)) and fire-sprinkler provisions. IRC Appendix M (Home Day Care - R3 Occupancy), Appendix Q (Tiny Houses), Appendix R (Light Straw Clay Construction), and Appendix S (Straw Bale Construction) are specifically adopted. Source: Payson Code of Ordinances § 150.20, International Residential Code (amlegal.com).
2017 National Electrical Code (NEC), as adopted by the Town of Payson (one edition behind the 2018 ICC set, consistent with the standard ICC/NEC publication offset). Source: Town of Payson Building Division / Residential Permit Application program materials (via web search of paysonaz.gov Building Division and Residential Permit Application pages, confirming 2017 NEC alongside the 2018 IBC/IRC).
Current Mechanical Code, Plumbing Code, Fire Code, and Electric Code 'as adopted by the town' are cross-referenced generally in the Unified Development Code's building-permit application requirements (Payson Code of Ordinances § 154-09-003(C)(4): 'all required structural, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, civil engineering and other drawings and documents necessary to meet the requirements of the current Building Code, Plumbing Code, Mechanical Code, Fire Code, Electric Code and other codes adopted by the town'). The specific edition years for the standalone Mechanical, Plumbing, Fuel Gas, Existing Building, and Fire Code sections of Chapter 150 (following the same numbering pattern as § 150.20 IRC and § 150.21 IBC) could not be independently re-verified against the live amlegal.com code library within this research pass after repeated rate-limiting/bot-challenge blocks on those specific sub-pages; the 2018 IBC/IRC and 2017 NEC editions ARE independently confirmed. Given the Town's Chapter 150 adopts the IBC/IRC as a matched 2018-cycle ICC set, the companion IMC/IPC/IFGC/IEBC sections are very likely also the 2018 ICC editions, but this specific file does not assert that as verified fact — see confidence notes on individual permit types below.
Manufactured homes, mobile homes, factory-built buildings, and Park Model living units are subject to a Town of Payson building permit for placement per IRC § 105.1 as locally amended: approved hold-down anchors are required at building corners, and hard-wired/exterior electrical and mechanical equipment requires a separate permit. Park Model Living Unit is separately defined in IRC § 202 as amended (factory-assembled portable unit with an Arizona RV seal, chassis-mounted, not more than 12 ft wide, not more than 400 sq ft, not less than 320 sq ft, permanently connected to utilities, no holding tank other than an approved water heater). Source: Payson Code of Ordinances § 150.20 IRC amendments (1)-(2), (8).

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)

2units

2 buildings · $1.5M valuation

Trailing 12 months

66units

12 of 12 months reported · #48 in Arizona coverage by units

Year to date (2026 YTD through 2026-05)

20units

20 buildings · $9.7M valuation

5 month(s) reported to Census

Full year 2025

69units

69 buildings · $33.3M valuation

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

Arizona has no statewide mandatory building code — the Town of Payson independently adopts and amends its own construction codes (2018 IBC, 2018 IRC, 2017 NEC) and runs its own Community Development / Building Division program; it does not defer to Gila County, which separately runs an older code cycle (2012 I-Codes / 2011 NEC) for unincorporated county areas.
Fire sprinklers are NOT mandatory for single-family homes in Payson under 4,800 sq ft of livable area — the Town specifically struck the model code's blanket sprinkler-installation requirement (IRC §313.2.1) and ties sprinkler triggers to the 4,800 sq ft threshold or specific group-home occupancy conditions instead.
Payson's amended IRC Climatic and Geographic Design Criteria: 48 lbs/sq ft ground snow load, 115/89 mph wind (Exposure B), Seismic Design Category B, 18-inch frost depth, negligible weathering, no ice barrier required — meaningfully different from lower-elevation Arizona desert cities (e.g., Buckeye has no snow load and 115 mph Exposure C).
A minimum $70 investigation fee applies whenever work commences before permit issuance, under both the amended IBC and IRC — this is separate from and in addition to the permit fee itself.
Plumbing, Electrical, Mechanical, and Fire Alarm/Sprinkler trade permits share ONE combined 'Supplemental Permit Application' form, rather than four separate applications as in some other jurisdictions.
Residential fences up to 6 ft (rear) / 4 ft (front) are exempt from a permit; retaining walls of 4 feet or more always require structural engineering and a permit — there is no general blanket fence-height exemption matching other Arizona cities' 7-foot thresholds.
No architect/engineer is required for single- or two-family residential work of any kind in Payson (new construction, additions, or alterations) — only for larger commercial buildings, high-occupancy buildings, or long structural spans.
The Town's own published review-timeframe figures (satisfying A.R.S. § 9-835) are 10 working days for single-family/duplex projects and approximately 20 working days for initial commercial plan review comments, per the Building Division FAQs.
Construction/repair work hours are Town-wide restricted by Ordinance #421 (seasonal start times of 5-6 a.m., stop by 10 p.m. daily; weekends/holidays start no earlier than 6 a.m. year-round) and Ordinance #450 requires toilet facilities on all worksites.
Demolition permits are a flat $50 fee but valid for only 30 days from issuance — re-permitting is required if demolition isn't completed in that window.
Park Model living units (factory-built RV-sealed units under 400 sq ft) require a building permit for placement in Payson, with specific hold-down anchor and separate hard-wired-equipment permit requirements under the Town's amended IRC §105.1.
The Town's live 'Building Fees and Charges' and 'Town Fees and Charges' web pages (paysonaz.gov) reference a current Fee Schedule under Resolution 3438, effective July 1, 2025, but this specific PDF exhibit could not be retrieved directly during this research pass (the paysonaz.gov site returns HTTP 403 to automated fetches even with a browser user-agent, and no Wayback Machine snapshot of the underlying document-library JS widget captured the live PDF link). All dollar figures in this file are sourced from the FY2021-2022 Fees and Charges Schedule (the most recent full copy locatable via egovlink.com's public document library), which uses the same Chapter 150 Table 3-A through 3-E structure the Town has used for years; the STRUCTURE is very likely still current, but individual dollar amounts should be reconfirmed against the live Resolution 3438 exhibit or by calling the Building Division (928-472-5030) for precision-critical use cases.
This research pass could not independently re-verify the specific edition years of Payson's standalone Mechanical, Plumbing, Fuel Gas, and Existing Building Code sections of Chapter 150 (their §150.22-150.28 range) against the live amlegal.com code library, due to repeated Cloudflare bot-challenge blocks on those specific sub-pages after the first few successful fetches (IBC §150.21 and IRC §150.20 were both successfully retrieved and are fully verified). The 2018 IBC/IRC and 2017 NEC editions ARE independently confirmed via multiple sources. Given Payson's Chapter 150 adopts a matched 2018-cycle ICC set for IBC/IRC, the companion Mechanical/Plumbing/Fuel Gas/Existing Building codes are very likely also 2018-cycle ICC editions, but this is a reasonable inference rather than a directly verified fact, and is called out as such in the codesAdopted array rather than asserted as fact.