Commercial Building Permit (New Construction, Addition, Shell Building) in Sahuarita, Arizona

Sahuarita requires a commercial building permit (new construction, addition, shell building) for: Building permit required for new commercial building construction, commercial additions, and shell buildings; each building requires a separate permit; Reviewed against the 2024 IBC (effective July 1, 2026) and Town of Sahuarita amendments; ADA/accessibility review per the Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities ICC A117.1-2009; Full construction document set required, sealed by an Arizona Registered Design Professional: cover sheet with page index, site plan, floor plans, elevations (building heights must be shown for zoning review), building sections, foundation plans, framing plans, mechanical/plumbing/electrical plans, and fire sprinkler plans with hydraulic calculations if applicable (deferred submittal accepted for fire sprinkler plans and for truss calculations, noted on the cover sheet); Structural calculations (when engineer-designed), Energy/COMCHECK or approved design program with S,D&J calculations, a soils/geotechnical report no more than 1 year old, specification sheets, and a completed/signed Contractor Form (contractor license number plus Sahuarita business license number) are all required uploads; At second resubmittal: Sahuarita or Pima County Industrial Wastewater Application (if applicable), Pima County Department of Environmental Quality (PDEQ) Construction Authorization (if applicable), Grading Permit approval from Public Works, and a Town of Sahuarita or Pima County Sewer Card depending on provider; A free, optional Pre-Application meeting with Planning & Zoning, Public Works, Fire, and Building Safety is recommended before starting a development plan (schedule via 520-822-8855); A Pre-Construction meeting is required as the first inspection; during construction, fire flow and fire access per the adopted International Fire Code Appendix B & D are required before combustible materials are permitted on site; If the building owner does not own the property, a letter from the owner authorizing the building is required; Tenant improvements and additions to an existing shell require a separate permit (see commercial-tenant-improvement-permit) — utility clearances and Certificates of Occupancy are issued only under tenant-improvement permits, not the shell/new-building permit itself; Apply via Accela Citizen Access (aca.accela.com/TOS/Default.aspx); plan check fee must be paid before the application is deemed complete and plan review begins. If your project isn't listed, confirm with Town of Sahuarita Community Development Department — Building Safety Division at 520-822-8866 before starting work.

In Sahuarita, the published Building Permit Fee — Based on Valuation is: $23.50 (valuation $1-$500) up through $5,608.75 + $3.65 per additional $1,000 above $1,000,000. Additional published fees: Plan Review Fee, All Structures — 65% of the Building Permit Fee; Fire Protection Permit — 10% of the Building Permit Fee; Zoning Clearance — Commercial and Industrial Buildings — $15.00 (up to 120 sq ft); $45.00 (121-1,000 sq ft); $15.00 per additional 500 sq ft increment above 1,000 sq ft. These are the jurisdiction's own published figures — see the fee schedule table and source citations on this page.

Per the Town's A.R.S. § 9-835 Building Permit Review Timeframes chart (updated 7/22/2024), the 'Commercial: Addition, Alteration, New, Tenant Improvement' category carries a 5-business-day administrative completeness review, 20 business days for the first substantive review, and 20 business days for the second substantive review.

You'll need: Commercial (New, Addition, Shell Building) Submittal Checklist; Contractor Form; Soils/Geotechnical Report; Site/Floor/Foundation/Framing Plans. Depending on your project, Sahuarita may also ask for: Structural Calculations. See the required-documents checklist on this page for details on each.

Sahuarita requires 4 inspection(s) for a commercial building permit (new construction, addition, shell building), in order: Pre-Construction Meeting, Foundation/Footing, Framing / Rough MEP, Final / Certificate of Completion. Schedule each through Town of Sahuarita Community Development Department — Building Safety Division (520-822-8866).

Apply through Town of Sahuarita Community Development Department — Building Safety Division at 375 W. Sahuarita Center Way, Sahuarita, AZ 85629. Phone: 520-822-8866, email: buildapps@sahuaritaaz.gov. Office hours: Office hours are not published on the Town's Permits and Inspections, Community Development, or Building Safety Division pages as of this review; permit submittal and inspection scheduling are handled online through Accela Citizen Access (aca-prod.accela.com/tos) rather than in-person counter hours. General phone contact: 520-822-8866. Source: Town of Sahuarita Permits and Inspections page and Building Safety Division staff directory (sahuaritaaz.gov/758/Building-Safety-Division).. Official information: https://sahuaritaaz.gov/848/Permits-and-Inspections.

Yes. Tenant improvements and additions inside an existing commercial shell require their own permit, submitted on the separate Commercial Tenant Improvement Submittal Checklist, not the Commercial (New, Addition, Shell Building) checklist used for new construction. See the commercial-tenant-improvement-permit entry.

Not under the shell/new-building permit itself. Per the Town's Commercial Submittal Checklist, Certificates of Occupancy and utility clearances are issued only under tenant-improvement permits; a new/shell commercial building permit closes out with a Certificate of Completion instead.