Unincorporated La Paz County building permits
VerifiedDepartment contacts, adopted codes, permit types, fees, and gotchas for Unincorporated La Paz County, Arizona.
Last verified 2026-07-07 · Source · Embed this page’s badge · Version history
Building department
- Address
- 1112 Joshua Avenue, Suite 202, Parker, AZ 85344
- Phone
- 928-669-6138
- Comdev@lapaz.gov
- Office hours
- Permit paper applications normally accepted Monday–Thursday (excluding holidays), 7:00 AM – 6:00 PM, at La Paz County Community Development, 1112 Joshua Ave., Ste. 202, Parker, AZ 85344. Source: La Paz County Building Code Ordinance No. 2024-02, Section 103.A. General county line: 928-669-6115.
- Website
- Official site
Inspection guide
See how inspections work in Unincorporated La Paz County — 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.
- 2018 International Building Code (IBC), including Appendix C, H, I, and J — adopted by reference, Building Code Ordinance No. 2024-02, Section 101.1(A)(1), effective October 17, 2024
- 2018 International Residential Code (IRC), including Appendix A, B, G, H, P, and Q — adopted by reference, Building Code Ordinance No. 2024-02, Section 101.1(A)(9)
- 2018 International Existing Buildings Code (IEBC) — adopted by reference, Building Code Ordinance No. 2024-02, Section 101.1(A)(3)
- 2018 International Mechanical Code (IMC), including Appendix A — adopted by reference, Building Code Ordinance No. 2024-02, Section 101.1(A)(4)
- 2018 International Plumbing Code (IPC), including Appendix C and E — adopted by reference, Building Code Ordinance No. 2024-02, Section 101.1(A)(5)
- 2018 International Fuel Gas Code (IFGC), including Appendix A, B, and C — adopted by reference, Building Code Ordinance No. 2024-02, Section 101.1(A)(6)
- 2018 International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC), including Appendix A — adopted by reference, Building Code Ordinance No. 2024-02, Section 101.1(A)(7)
- 2018 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code (ISPSC) — adopted by reference, Building Code Ordinance No. 2024-02, Section 101.1(A)(8)
- 2018 International Fire Code (IFC), including Appendix B, C, D, E, F, and I — adopted by reference, Building Code Ordinance No. 2024-02, Section 101.1(A)(10)
- 2020 National Electrical Code (NEC) — adopted by reference, Building Code Ordinance No. 2024-02, Section 101.1(A)(2)
Permit types & fees
Residential Building Permit (New Construction, Addition, Accessory Structure)
Required for new single-family dwellings, residential additions, garages/workshops, and other residential construction in the unincorporated areas of La Paz County. The La Paz County Community Development Department (Building and Safety Division) administers the 2018 IRC/IBC for unincorporated areas outside Parker and Quartzsite. Fees are valuation-based per Table M-1 of the county's fee schedule.
Commercial Building Permit (New Construction, Tenant Improvement, Shell Building)
Required for new commercial construction, tenant improvements, and shell buildings in the unincorporated areas of La Paz County. Fees are valuation-based per Table M-1, with tenant improvement and shell-building categories subject to per-square-foot rates published in the county fee schedule.
Manufactured Home / Park Model / Factory-Built Building Placement Permit
Required for placement of any manufactured home, park model trailer, container, or factory-built building on privately owned parcels in unincorporated La Paz County. Homes manufactured before June 15, 1976 cannot be placed anywhere in the county. Fees for manufactured home placement and plan review follow the Arizona Department of Housing (state) fee schedule rather than the county's own valuation table; park model placement is a county flat fee.
Mechanical / Plumbing / Electrical Permit
Required for standalone mechanical, plumbing, or electrical work not part of a new-construction building permit in unincorporated La Paz County, under the 2018 IMC/IPC/IFGC and 2020 NEC. Small-valuation trade work is billed a flat per-trade fee; larger work is billed under the standard building-permit valuation table.
Swimming Pool / Spa / Jacuzzi Permit
Required for swimming pools, spas, hot tubs, and whirlpools in unincorporated La Paz County under the 2018 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code. Pool fees are based on surface area; spas/jacuzzis are a flat fee.
Grading Permit
Required for grading work in unincorporated La Paz County per 2018 International Building Code Appendix J, except as exempted. Fees scale with cubic yardage of cut or fill; larger projects and those in mapped FEMA flood zones require an engineered grading and drainage plan.
Demolition Permit
Required prior to any demolition in unincorporated La Paz County. Billed per Assessor's Parcel Number (APN), covering all structures on that parcel.
Solar Installation Permit
La Paz County publishes a distinct 'Solar Installation' fee line item, separate from its general building-permit fee table, for rooftop and ground-mounted residential/commercial PV installations in unincorporated La Paz County. It also charges a discounted 50% plan-review rate for solar (vs. the standard 65% rate for commercial/residential building permits), confirmed by direct visual review of Resolution No. 2025-05, Exhibit D (Fee Schedule, effective August 6, 2025), pages 11-12. Electrical interconnection is billed additionally under the county's standard electrical utility fee, per the fee schedule's note that solar fees are 'plus the value of any utilities installed.'
EV Charger / EVSE Permit
La Paz County does not publish a distinct fee line item for electric vehicle charging equipment (EVSE) in its Fee Schedule (Resolution No. 2025-05, Exhibit D). Installation of a Level 2 EV charger or similar equipment requires a standard Electrical Permit, billed under the same "Utilities" (electrical trade) fee table used for all other electrical work, under the adopted 2020 NEC (which includes Article 625, Electric Vehicle Power Transfer System). No EVSE-specific expedited process, flat fee, or SolarAPP+-style instant permitting platform was found for La Paz County.
New residential construction activity
New privately-owned residential construction onlyHousing 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)
- 5units
5 buildings · $804,893 valuation
- Trailing 12 months
- 70units
12 of 12 months reported · #46 in Arizona coverage by units
- Year to date (2026 YTD through 2026-05)
- 33units
33 buildings · $5.2M valuation
- Full year 2025
- 62units
62 buildings · $10.1M valuation
County-wide figures: Verified against the Census Bureau's 2020 AZ county reference file (www2.census.gov/geo/docs/reference/codes2020/cou/st04_az_cou2020.txt): AZ|04|012|00043540|La Paz County. BPS reports county-wide totals; jurisdiction is the unincorporated remainder outside Parker and Quartzsite, which are separately incorporated and filed elsewhere in this KB (parker-az.json, quartzsite.json).
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
- Apply for permits through the County's iworq Citizen Portal (https://lapazcountyapplypermit.portal.iworq.net/portalhome/lapazcountyapplypermit), or in person/by mail at 1112 Joshua Ave., Ste. 202, Parker, AZ 85344. Paper applications are accepted Monday–Thursday, 7:00 AM–6:00 PM (closed Fridays and holidays).
- Know your Assessor's Parcel Number (APN) before applying — the County will not search it for you. Look it up at http://publicrecords.lapazassessor.com/assessor/web/.
- Only Arizona-licensed contractors may pull permits for construction work (A.R.S. §32-1151); verify any contractor at https://roc.az.gov/search/node/roc%20contractorsearch before hiring. An owner-builder exemption applies only for owner-occupied, non-rental, non-public-facing structures the owner builds personally.
- Manufactured homes built before June 15, 1976 CANNOT be placed anywhere in unincorporated La Paz County (A.R.S. §41-4048(C)).
- Permit applications are void 180 days after submittal if incomplete; issued building permits expire if work has not commenced within 180 days. Extensions: 1st free, 2nd $40, 3rd+ $60 (max 180 additional days per extension).
- Starting work without an approved permit triggers an Investigation Fee equal to the permit fee — total amount due becomes DOUBLE the normal permit fee, with a $100 minimum.
- The County publishes a two-phase review-timeline document under A.R.S. §11-1605: Administrative Completeness review (up to ~40 working days across 3 rounds) followed by Substantive Review (up to 105 working days, extendable to 165 working days for technically complex projects). See https://www.lapaz.gov/DocumentCenter/View/9418.
- Plan review fee is 65% of the calculated building permit fee for most permit types (50% for solar and tower permits per the fee schedule's Plan Review Fees table); paid at time of submittal.
- This file covers the Building and Safety Division's construction-permitting program only. La Paz County's Community Development Department also separately administers Planning & Zoning (rezone, variance, conditional use), Wastewater/Septic (Environmental Quality Review), and Code Compliance — see https://www.lapaz.gov/346/Community-Development---GIS for those programs.
- This file covers ONLY the unincorporated areas of La Paz County (excluding Indian Reservations). The incorporated Town of Parker (parker-az.json) and City of Quartzsite (quartzsite.json) each administer and enforce their own, separate building codes and are not covered by this file.
- Temporary Certificate of Occupancy costs $500 (residential or commercial), valid 30 days, and must be renewed at $500 every 30 days until the permanent Certificate of Occupancy is issued.
- Building valuation is based on the most current ICC Building Valuation Data and is updated annually without further Board of Supervisors action, per Resolution No. 2025-05.