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Commercial Tenant Improvement Permit in Sahuarita, Arizona

Required for changes, alterations, upgrades, and repairs to the interior or exterior of an existing commercial building in the Town of Sahuarita. Genuinely distinct from the new/shell commercial building permit: submitted on its own Commercial Tenant Improvement Submittal Checklist, billed under a separate valuation-reduction fee tier (Town Code § 3.10.080(N): 20% or 40% of calculated valuation, at the Building Official's discretion based on project scope), permits no deferred submittals of any kind, and is the only commercial permit type under which a Certificate of Occupancy and utility clearances are issued — gated on the associated shell building already holding its own Certificate of Completion.

Verified 2026-08-01 · Source

When you need this permit

  • Building permit required for commercial alteration work: changes, alterations, upgrades, and repairs to the interior or exterior of an existing commercial building
  • All construction documents must be drawn by an Arizona Licensed Design Professional
  • NO deferred submittals of any kind are permitted — explicitly including fire sprinkler and fire alarm plans, which ARE allowed as deferred submittals on the new/shell commercial checklist
  • Updated Fire Sprinkler Plan and Fire Alarm Plan, and Updated Type I Kitchen Hood and Suppression System Plans (where applicable to the tenant's use), must be submitted with the initial application
  • Pima County Health Department approval required if applicable (food-service or similar regulated uses)
  • No tenant-improvement permit will receive final inspections or Certificate of Occupancy approval until the associated shell building permit has its own Certificate of Completion
  • Address numbers must be posted prior to final inspection, per Pima County Address Display Requirements
  • A Pre-Construction meeting is required as the first inspection
  • 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

Required documents

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Fee schedule

Tenant Improvement / Remodel — Reduced-Valuation Building Permit FeeTown Code § 3.10.080(N): 'Tenant improvements or remodels shall be assessed 20% or 40% of the calculated valuation as determined by the building official based on the scope of the project.' Verified live via real-browser navigation of ecode360.com/49024348 on 2026-08-01; the same provision is already cited in this file's residential-addition-remodel entry, and the code text applies it without a residential/commercial qualifier.
20% or 40% of the calculated valuation, as determined by the Building Official based on project scope, then applied against the same § 3.10.080(A) valuation schedule used for new construction
Plan Review Fee, All StructuresTown Code § 3.10.080(B)(7)(a), applied to the reduced tenant-improvement valuation fee above
65% of the Building Permit Fee
Fire Protection PermitTown Code § 3.10.080(F); applies to the required Fire Sprinkler Plan/Fire Alarm Plan scope, which cannot be deferred on a tenant-improvement submittal
10% of the Building Permit Fee

Review timeline

Plan reviewSahuarita’s published plan-review target
5–20 business days

How long did your Commercial Tenant Improvement Permit permit actually take in Sahuarita?

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

Inspection process

  1. 1

    Pre-Construction Meeting

    Required as the first inspection, per the Commercial Tenant Improvement Submittal Checklist

  2. 2

    Rough MEP / Fire Sprinkler-Alarm

    Mechanical/electrical/plumbing rough-in and fire sprinkler/alarm connections, all fully engineered up front since no deferred submittals are permitted

  3. 3

    Final / Certificate of Occupancy

    Cannot be scheduled or approved until the associated shell building permit already holds its own Certificate of Completion

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

Tips

  • This is a genuinely separate permit from the shell/new-building permit, not just a checkbox on the same form: it uses its own Commercial Tenant Improvement Submittal Checklist, its own reduced-valuation fee basis (20% or 40% of calculated valuation per § 3.10.080(N)), and it is the ONLY commercial permit type that closes out with an actual Certificate of Occupancy.
  • Unlike the new/shell commercial checklist (which allows deferred truss and fire sprinkler submittals), the Tenant Improvement checklist explicitly states 'NO DEFERRED SUBMITTALS' and repeats it a second time specifically for the Fire Sprinkler Plan and Fire Alarm Plan — budget full engineering up front rather than planning to defer life-safety plans.
  • Sequencing gotcha: a tenant-improvement permit cannot receive final inspection or Certificate of Occupancy approval until the shell building it sits inside already has its own Certificate of Completion — confirm the shell's status before scheduling a TI final.
  • Per the Town's A.R.S. § 9-835 timeframes chart (updated 7/22/2024), Tenant Improvement shares the identical 'Commercial: Addition, Alteration, New, Tenant Improvement' review category as new construction: 5 business days administrative completeness, 20 business days first substantive review, 20 business days second substantive review — the fee and submittal-completeness rules differ from new construction, but the review-time budget does not.

Frequently asked questions

Sahuarita requires a commercial tenant improvement permit for: Building permit required for commercial alteration work: changes, alterations, upgrades, and repairs to the interior or exterior of an existing commercial building; All construction documents must be drawn by an Arizona Licensed Design Professional; NO deferred submittals of any kind are permitted — explicitly including fire sprinkler and fire alarm plans, which ARE allowed as deferred submittals on the new/shell commercial checklist; Updated Fire Sprinkler Plan and Fire Alarm Plan, and Updated Type I Kitchen Hood and Suppression System Plans (where applicable to the tenant's use), must be submitted with the initial application; Pima County Health Department approval required if applicable (food-service or similar regulated uses); No tenant-improvement permit will receive final inspections or Certificate of Occupancy approval until the associated shell building permit has its own Certificate of Completion; Address numbers must be posted prior to final inspection, per Pima County Address Display Requirements; A Pre-Construction meeting is required as the first inspection; 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.

The Building Permit Fee is based on 20% or 40% of the calculated project valuation (Building Official's discretion, based on project scope, per Town Code § 3.10.080(N)), then run through the same valuation fee table used for new construction, plus a 65% plan review fee and a 10% fire protection permit fee if a fire sprinkler/alarm scope is included.

Sahuarita's published plan-review target for a commercial tenant improvement permit is 5–20 business days.

You'll need: Commercial Tenant Improvement Submittal Checklist; Contractor Form; Updated Fire Sprinkler Plan and Fire Alarm Plan. Depending on your project, Sahuarita may also ask for: Type I Kitchen Hood and Suppression System Plans; Pima County Health Department Approval. See the required-documents checklist on this page for details on each.

Sahuarita requires 3 inspection(s) for a commercial tenant improvement permit, in order: Pre-Construction Meeting, Rough MEP / Fire Sprinkler-Alarm, Final / Certificate of Occupancy. 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.

No — they are two distinct permit types with separate checklists. Tenant Improvement uses the Commercial Tenant Improvement Submittal Checklist and a reduced-valuation fee basis (20% or 40% of calculated valuation, Town Code § 3.10.080(N)); it is also the only commercial permit type that receives a Certificate of Occupancy, whereas the shell/new-building permit closes out with a Certificate of Completion.

No. The Commercial Tenant Improvement Submittal Checklist explicitly states there are no deferred submittals, calling this out specifically for the Fire Sprinkler Plan and Fire Alarm Plan — both must be submitted complete with the initial application.

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Commercial Tenant Improvement Permit in other cities

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