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Certificate of Occupancy / Change of Occupancy Permit (Commercial & Tenant Improvement) in El Mirage, Arizona

El Mirage's equivalent of a 'change of use' permit is its Certificate of Occupancy (CO) process, administered by Building Safety with mandatory sign-off from multiple departments before the certificate is issued (Building Inspection, Business License, Engineering Inspection, Fire Inspection, and Planning Inspection for a full commercial project; a narrower subset applies to Tenant Improvement and Residential COs). A distinct, low-cost 'Tenant (no work performed)' fee applies specifically when a new tenant occupies an existing commercial space with a compatible use and no construction work is performed — this is El Mirage's closest equivalent to a stand-alone 'change of use' permit in jurisdictions that use that term.

Verified 2026-07-23 · Source

When you need this permit

  • A Certificate of Occupancy (CO) is required before occupying any new, altered, or repurposed commercial building or tenant space in El Mirage; a Certificate of Completion is issued instead for speculative/'shell' tenant space with no defined occupancy at the time construction is finished
  • Applicant must complete the applicable Certificate of Occupancy Sign-Off Sheet (Residential, Commercial, Tenant Improvement, or Temporary/Not-for-Occupancy variant) and obtain every required department's approval signature before Building Safety will process the certificate
  • Commercial CO sign-off requires approval from: Building Inspection, Business License, Engineering Inspection, Fire Inspection, and Planning Inspection
  • Tenant Improvement CO sign-off requires approval from: Building Inspection, Business License, and Fire Inspection (no separate Engineering/Planning line on this variant)
  • Residential CO sign-off requires approval from: Building Inspection, Engineering Inspection, and Planning Inspection (no Business License or Fire sign-off required for a single-family home)
  • A 'Tenant (no work performed)' fee of $50 applies specifically to a change of occupancy/change of tenant where no construction work is performed — this is El Mirage's closest equivalent to a dedicated 'change of use' permit product
  • The owner/contractor is solely responsible for coordinating all underlying department inspections; if an inspection fails, that department's inspector leaves a written correction notice for the owner/contractor to resolve — the CO or Certificate of Completion will NOT be issued until ALL required department approvals are received
  • Once the fully-signed sign-off sheet is delivered to Building Safety, City office processing time is within 10 business days
  • Construction type, occupancy classification, occupant load, number of stories, and Sprinklered/Alarm status (Yes/No) are recorded on the sign-off sheet at the time of issuance, and all applicable fees must be paid before the certificate is issued

Required documents

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Fee schedule

Certificate of Completion (speculative tenant space, no defined occupancy)City of El Mirage FY26-27 Adopted Fee Schedule, Building Safety — Certificate (C) of Occupancy (O) section (verified by visual render of the fee-schedule PDF)
$250 per building
Commercial Certificate of OccupancyCity of El Mirage FY26-27 Adopted Fee Schedule, Building Safety — Certificate (C) of Occupancy (O) section
$200 per building
Tenant (no work performed) — Change of OccupancyCity of El Mirage FY26-27 Adopted Fee Schedule, Building Safety — Certificate (C) of Occupancy (O) section; this is the fee line item for a pure change-of-tenant/change-of-use with no construction work
$50 per change of occupancy
Residential Certificate of OccupancyCity of El Mirage FY26-27 Adopted Fee Schedule, Building Safety — Certificate (C) of Occupancy (O) section
$100 per house
Multi-Family Certificate of OccupancyCity of El Mirage FY26-27 Adopted Fee Schedule, Building Safety — Certificate (C) of Occupancy (O) section
$100 per building
Temporary Certificate of Occupancy — first 30-day periodCity of El Mirage FY26-27 Adopted Fee Schedule, Building Safety — Certificate (C) of Occupancy (O) section
$250 each
Temporary Certificate of Occupancy — 31-60 daysCity of El Mirage FY26-27 Adopted Fee Schedule, Building Safety — Certificate (C) of Occupancy (O) section
$500 each
Temporary Certificate of Occupancy — 61-90 daysCity of El Mirage FY26-27 Adopted Fee Schedule, Building Safety — Certificate (C) of Occupancy (O) section; verified by visual render of the fee-schedule PDF (pdftotext -layout had bled this figure into an unrelated row)
$1,000

Review timeline

Plan reviewEl Mirage’s published plan-review target
Up to 10 business days

How long did your Certificate of Occupancy / Change of Occupancy Permit (Commercial & Tenant Improvement) permit actually take in El Mirage?

Anonymous — one question, no email. Answers are combined and only shown once at least 5 people have reported.

Inspection process

  1. 1

    Building Inspection Sign-Off

    Final building inspection approval, required on every CO/Certificate of Completion variant

  2. 2

    Engineering Inspection Sign-Off

    Final civil/engineering approval; required on Commercial and Residential CO variants, not on the Tenant Improvement variant

  3. 3

    Fire Inspection Sign-Off

    Fire Marshal final approval; required on Commercial and Tenant Improvement CO variants, not on the Residential variant

  4. 4

    Business License Sign-Off

    Confirms an active City business license; required on Commercial and Tenant Improvement CO variants, not on the Residential variant

  5. 5

    Planning Inspection Sign-Off

    Zoning/site compliance approval; required on Commercial and Residential CO variants, not on the Tenant Improvement variant

See the full El Mirage inspection guide — scheduling & re-inspection fees →

Tips

  • Confirm which sign-off sheet variant applies before starting — Residential, Tenant Improvement, and full Commercial each route through a different subset of departments, and using the wrong form will stall the certificate.
  • The $50 'Tenant (no work performed)' fee is the cheapest path when a new tenant/business moves into a space with a compatible occupancy classification and does zero construction — confirm with Building Safety and Planning that the proposed use actually qualifies, since any construction work or occupancy-classification change instead requires the full Commercial CO ($200) or a Tenant Improvement permit.
  • The multi-department sign-off is entirely owner/contractor-coordinated: the City does not proactively schedule the underlying Building/Engineering/Fire/Planning/Business License inspections, only the final 10-business-day office processing of the completed sign-off sheet.
  • A Certificate of Completion ($250/building) — not a CO — is issued instead for speculative 'shell' tenant space where no occupancy is yet defined; it uses the same 5-department sign-off routing as the Commercial CO.

Frequently asked questions

El Mirage requires a certificate of occupancy / change of occupancy permit (commercial & tenant improvement) for: A Certificate of Occupancy (CO) is required before occupying any new, altered, or repurposed commercial building or tenant space in El Mirage; a Certificate of Completion is issued instead for speculative/'shell' tenant space with no defined occupancy at the time construction is finished; Applicant must complete the applicable Certificate of Occupancy Sign-Off Sheet (Residential, Commercial, Tenant Improvement, or Temporary/Not-for-Occupancy variant) and obtain every required department's approval signature before Building Safety will process the certificate; Commercial CO sign-off requires approval from: Building Inspection, Business License, Engineering Inspection, Fire Inspection, and Planning Inspection; Tenant Improvement CO sign-off requires approval from: Building Inspection, Business License, and Fire Inspection (no separate Engineering/Planning line on this variant); Residential CO sign-off requires approval from: Building Inspection, Engineering Inspection, and Planning Inspection (no Business License or Fire sign-off required for a single-family home); A 'Tenant (no work performed)' fee of $50 applies specifically to a change of occupancy/change of tenant where no construction work is performed — this is El Mirage's closest equivalent to a dedicated 'change of use' permit product; The owner/contractor is solely responsible for coordinating all underlying department inspections; if an inspection fails, that department's inspector leaves a written correction notice for the owner/contractor to resolve — the CO or Certificate of Completion will NOT be issued until ALL required department approvals are received; Once the fully-signed sign-off sheet is delivered to Building Safety, City office processing time is within 10 business days; Construction type, occupancy classification, occupant load, number of stories, and Sprinklered/Alarm status (Yes/No) are recorded on the sign-off sheet at the time of issuance, and all applicable fees must be paid before the certificate is issued. If your project isn't listed, confirm with City of El Mirage Development Services Department — Building Safety / Permit Center at 623-972-8116 before starting work.

In El Mirage, the published Certificate of Completion (speculative tenant space, no defined occupancy) is: $250 per building. Additional published fees: Commercial Certificate of Occupancy — $200 per building; Tenant (no work performed) — Change of Occupancy — $50 per change of occupancy; Residential Certificate of Occupancy — $100 per house; Multi-Family Certificate of Occupancy — $100 per building; Temporary Certificate of Occupancy — first 30-day period — $250 each; Temporary Certificate of Occupancy — 31-60 days — $500 each; Temporary Certificate of Occupancy — 61-90 days — $1,000. These are the jurisdiction's own published figures — see the fee schedule table and source citations on this page.

Per the City's own Sign-Off Sheet forms, once the fully-signed sheet with all required department approvals is delivered to Building Safety, office processing time is within 10 business days. This does not include the time to schedule and pass each department's own inspection beforehand.

You'll need: Certificate of Occupancy Sign-Off Sheet — Commercial. Depending on your project, El Mirage may also ask for: Certificate of Occupancy Sign-Off Sheet — Tenant Improvement; Certificate of Occupancy Sign-Off Sheet — Residential; Certificate of Completion Sign-Off Sheet — Not for Occupancy. See the required-documents checklist on this page for details on each.

El Mirage requires 5 inspection(s) for a certificate of occupancy / change of occupancy permit (commercial & tenant improvement), in order: Building Inspection Sign-Off, Engineering Inspection Sign-Off, Fire Inspection Sign-Off, Business License Sign-Off, Planning Inspection Sign-Off. Schedule each through City of El Mirage Development Services Department — Building Safety / Permit Center (623-972-8116).

Apply through City of El Mirage Development Services Department — Building Safety / Permit Center at 10000 N El Mirage Road, El Mirage, AZ 85335-3607. Phone: 623-972-8116, email: bgomez@elmirageaz.gov. Office hours: Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (excluding holidays). As of January 2, 2024, all plans must be submitted electronically through the ELM Online Permits portal (ci-elmirage-az.smartgovcommunity.com); the Development Services main line is 623-876-2977, TDD 623-933-3258, Fax 623-876-4605.. Official information: https://www.elmirageaz.gov/712/Permit-Center.

Yes, in effect. El Mirage's Certificate of Occupancy fee schedule includes a specific 'Tenant (no work performed) — Per Change of Occupancy' line item priced at $50, for when a new tenant occupies an existing commercial space with a compatible use and no construction work. Any change involving construction or a change in occupancy classification instead falls under the full Commercial CO ($200) or a Tenant Improvement permit.

For a full commercial project: Building Inspection, Business License, Engineering Inspection, Fire Inspection, and Planning Inspection. Tenant Improvement COs route through Building Inspection, Business License, and Fire Inspection only; Residential COs route through Building Inspection, Engineering Inspection, and Planning Inspection only.

Sources & verification

Verified against official sources. Last reviewed 2026-07-23.

Fees, timelines, and adopted codes are researched from each jurisdiction's published records — see how we verify. Requirements change and vary by project, so always confirm the current details with the El Mirage building department before you submit. PermitBase is an independent reference and is not affiliated with any government agency.

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