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Change of Use / Certificate of Occupancy in South Tucson, Arizona

Covers a change in the occupancy type or occupancy classification of an existing building or space in the City of South Tucson. The City has no application named 'Change of Use'; the governing instrument is the Certificate of Occupancy, and the City publishes a dedicated Occupancy Certificate page setting out exactly when one is and is not required. A Certificate of Occupancy is expressly required for 'tenant improvement or renovations involving a change in the occupancy type, occupancy classification, or requires a greater degree of safety', and the application must be accompanied by a complete code analysis for the proposed use of the building, a complete site plan, a complete floor plan and a complete egress plan, each prepared and stamped by a registered Arizona architect or engineer. The certificate attaches to the space, not to the business. City Code Sec. 4-68(c) sets the Certificate of Occupancy fee at $66.00, and City Code Sec. 4-19 requires that all additions, alterations, repairs and 'character of use or occupancy' in buildings or structures conform to the adopted building code.

Reviewed 2026-08-15 · Source

When you need this permit

  • A Certificate of Occupancy may be issued, after all work specified on the City-approved construction documents is complete, for: new commercial and residential buildings; tenant improvement of a newly occupied space; tenant improvements resulting in a change of square footage; 'tenant improvement or renovations involving a change in the occupancy type, occupancy classification, or requires a greater degree of safety'; and other projects as determined by the Building Official.
  • A Certificate of Occupancy is NOT required and will not be issued for minor improvements such as flooring or paint which do not include a change in layout or square footage, do not include a change in the occupancy type or classification, and do not impact accessibility or egress.
  • The certificate is granted to a SPACE, not a business: if you occupy a space that has the same intended use as specified on the existing Certificate of Occupancy from the previous tenant, and you are making no changes to the space, no new certificate is needed — the previous CofO remains valid and is used for the new tenant. The City does not use tenant names on the certificate, only the type of business.
  • APPLICATION DOCUMENTS, all of which 'must be prepared and stamped by a registered Arizona architect or engineer': a complete code analysis for the proposed use of the building; a complete site plan; a complete floor plan; a complete egress plan. Additional information may be required as determined by the Building Official.
  • Before requesting a commercial Certificate of Occupancy the applicant must obtain approvals from the fire district, fire department, or State Fire Marshal; complete all permit conditions; and, for food-related businesses, obtain approval from the Pima County Health Department. All approvals must be submitted to submittals@southtucsonaz.gov prior to a final inspection and at least forty-eight (48) hours before a Certificate of Occupancy is requested.
  • City Code Sec. 4-19: 'All additions, alterations, repairs, character of use or occupancy in all buildings or structures within the jurisdiction of the city shall conform to the requirements of the building code of the city adopted in subsection (a) of this section and as amended, applicable to new and existing buildings, except as specifically provided for therein.'
  • City Code Sec. 4-20 (Zoning code conformance): whenever a building permit is issued and a building inspection performed, the building must conform to the provisions of the City zoning code in addition to Chapter 4.
  • Zoning Code Sec. 24-645 (Change of use): 'In the event an existing use is changed to a use which requires more off-street loading spaces than the former use, off-street loading spaces shall be provided for the new use before a certificate of occupancy is issued.' Related, Sec. 24-619 provides that where required off-street parking is diverted to another use in violation of the section, the certificate of occupancy for the use lacking the required parking spaces may be revoked by the city.
  • Rental properties are treated as commercial property for permitting purposes, and all commercial permits require a licensed contractor. Contractor
  • Construction plans for new construction, alterations, modifications or tenant improvements to commercial properties must be drawn by a professional licensed and registered with the Arizona Board of Technical Registration, who must also hold an active City of South Tucson business license; all contractors need both an Arizona ROC license and an active City of South Tucson business license. Contractor
  • Permit applications are submitted through the Online Permit Portal (live effective March 2, 2026), in person, or by mail to City Hall, and require 2 digital copies of a site plan and a floor plan. 'Remodel' is one of the permit types the portal lists by name.

Required documents

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Fee schedule

Certificate of occupancy feeCity Code Chapter 4, Article II, Division 3, Sec. 4-68(c) 'Other fees' (Ord. No. 15-01, § 2, 1-12-15; Ord. No. 19-06, § 1, 8-19-19). Read directly from the City's Municode-hosted City Code in a browser session.
$66.00
Building permit fee for the underlying tenant improvement / remodel work (valuation-based)City Code Sec. 4-56(2). See this file's fire-sprinkler-alarm-permit entry for the full band-by-band table.
Per the City Code Sec. 4-56(2) table: $28.60 for $1.00–$500.00 valuation, rising in bands to $6,765.00 for the first $1,000,000.00 plus $4.51 for each additional $1,000.00
Plan review feeCity Code Sec. 4-56(1)(a)-(b)
65% of the building permit fee for commercial buildings; 50% for residential buildings (Group R-3 and U occupancies)
Additional plan review required by changes, additions or revisions to plansCity Code Sec. 4-56(3); the same rate applies to reinspections and to inspections for which no fee is specifically indicated
$59.40 (minimum charge one-half hour), or the total hourly cost to the jurisdiction, whichever is greater

Review timeline

Plan review
Not published — contact the department

How long did your Change of Use / Certificate of Occupancy permit actually take in South Tucson?

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

Inspection process

  1. 1

    Rough-In (Mechanical / Electrical / Plumbing)

    Where the tenant improvement or renovation scope requires it, before concealment. Inspections are conducted only Mondays and Wednesdays, 7:00-9:00 a.m., with requests submitted the business day before.

  2. 2

    Final Inspection

    All work specified on the City-approved construction documents complete. Outside approvals (fire department/district/State Fire Marshal, and Pima County Health for food businesses) must already be on file with submittals@southtucsonaz.gov before this inspection.

  3. 3

    Certificate of Occupancy issued

    Issued to the space after the final inspection is passed; certifies the building was inspected for safety and is suitable for tenancy, complying with the applicable building codes and other development regulations when issued

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

Tips

  • The single most useful rule in South Tucson: the Certificate of Occupancy belongs to the SPACE, not to the business. If you are moving into a space whose existing CofO already specifies your intended use and you are changing nothing, you do not need a new certificate — the previous tenant's CofO stays valid and is used for you. The City puts the type of business on the certificate, never a tenant name.
  • The trigger for a new certificate is a change in occupancy TYPE or CLASSIFICATION (or a change in square footage, or work requiring a greater degree of safety) — not a change in signage or ownership. Flooring and paint that leave layout, square footage, occupancy classification, accessibility and egress alone are expressly outside the requirement.
  • Budget for a design professional up front. All four required submittals — code analysis, site plan, floor plan and egress plan — must be prepared AND STAMPED by a registered Arizona architect or engineer. There is no owner-prepared path for a change of occupancy classification here.
  • Sequence the outside approvals early. Fire approval, and Pima County Health approval for any food-related business, have to be in the City's inbox before the final inspection and at least 48 hours before you ask for the certificate — not on the day you want to open.
  • Check off-street loading before you commit to the new use: Zoning Code Sec. 24-645 will not let a certificate of occupancy issue where the new use requires more off-street loading spaces than the former use until those spaces are provided.
  • The Certificate of Occupancy fee itself is small — $66.00 under City Code Sec. 4-68(c). The real cost of a change of use in South Tucson is the stamped design work plus the valuation-based permit and 65% commercial plan review on any accompanying tenant improvement.

Frequently asked questions

Not necessarily. A certificate of occupancy is granted to a space, not a business. If the space's existing certificate already specifies the same intended use as yours and you are making no changes to the space, the previous certificate remains valid and is used for the new tenant — the City does not put tenant names on certificates, only the type of business. Source: City of South Tucson Occupancy Certificate page.

$66.00, per City Code Chapter 4, Article II, Division 3, Sec. 4-68(c). Any accompanying tenant improvement or remodel work is priced separately on the valuation-based building permit table at Sec. 4-56(2), with a plan review fee of 65% of the building permit fee for commercial buildings.

South Tucson does not publish a plan-review timeline for this permit. Contact City of South Tucson Planning, Zoning and Development Services Department (Development Services Division) at 520-792-2424 for current turnaround.

You'll need: Complete code analysis for the proposed use of the building; Complete site plan; Complete floor plan; Complete egress plan; Fire district / fire department / State Fire Marshal approval. Depending on your project, South Tucson may also ask for: Pima County Health Department approval; City of South Tucson Permit Application — Remodel / Building (Online Permit Portal). See the required-documents checklist on this page for details on each.

South Tucson requires 3 inspection(s) for a change of use / certificate of occupancy permit, in order: Rough-In (Mechanical / Electrical / Plumbing), Final Inspection, Certificate of Occupancy issued. Schedule each through City of South Tucson Planning, Zoning and Development Services Department (Development Services Division) (520-792-2424).

Apply through City of South Tucson Planning, Zoning and Development Services Department (Development Services Division) at South Tucson City Hall, 1601 S. 6th Ave., South Tucson, AZ 85713. Phone: 520-792-2424, email: submittals@southtucsonaz.gov. Office hours: Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Permit applications are submitted through the City's Online Permit Portal (live effective March 2, 2026), in person, or by mail/shipment to City Hall; applications require 2 digital copies of a site plan and a floor plan. Inspections are conducted Mondays and Wednesdays, 7:00-9:00 a.m., with requests submitted the business day before.. Official information: https://www.southtucsonaz.gov/devservices/page/permits.

South Tucson, Arizona has adopted: South Tucson is a separately incorporated city (population roughly 5,000, land area approximately 1 square mile) that is entirely surrounded by, but administratively and legally independent of, the City of Tucson -- it is sometimes called 'The Pueblo within a City.' South Tucson runs its own Planning, Zoning and Development Services Department, which independently reviews building plans and issues its own building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical/HVAC, sign, demolition, and remodel permits; it does NOT contract building-permit administration to the City of Tucson or to Pima County. Source: City of South Tucson Development Services and Permits page (southtucsonaz.gov/devservices) and City of South Tucson Permits page (southtucsonaz.gov/devservices/page/permits), both confirming an independent Development Services Division that 'reviews and conducts all inspections related to construction and enforcement within the City.'; Arizona has no mandatory statewide building code floor -- code adoption is a per-city/county authority under state enabling statutes (A.R.S. Title 9). The City of South Tucson's currently adopted codes (per 'City of South Tucson Adopted Building Codes, Ordinance No. 25-01') are: 2018 International Building Code (IBC); 2018 International Residential Code (IRC); 2017 National Electrical Code (NEC) (one edition behind the 2018-cycle ICC set); 2018 International Mechanical Code (IMC); 2018 International Plumbing Code (IPC); 2018 International Fuel Gas Code (IFGC); 2018 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC); 2018 International Existing Building Code (IEBC); 2018 International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC); 2018 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code (ISPSC); 2018 International Fire Code (IFC); the 2012 City of Tucson/Pima County Outdoor Lighting Code; Arizona Administrative Code Title 18, Chapter 5, Article 2 (Public and Semipublic Swimming Pools and Spas); and ICC A117.1-2009 (Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities). Source: 'CITY OF SOUTH TUCSON ADOPTED BUILDING CODES, ORDINANCE NO: 25-01' (southtucsonaz.gov/media/10481) and southtucsonaz.gov/devservices/page/permits.; These 2018-cycle codes (and the 2017 NEC) are meaningfully older than the 2024-cycle codes/2023 NEC already adopted by the neighboring, separately-verified City of Tucson and unincorporated Pima County jurisdictions in this dataset -- South Tucson has not yet moved to the 2024 ICC cycle as of this review. Source: Ordinance No. 25-01 (southtucsonaz.gov/media/10486) and the individual 'ST 2018 [Code] AMENDMENTS' documents published on the Permits page.; Each adopted code carries City of South Tucson local amendments published as standalone PDFs per code (e.g., 'ST 2018 International Building Code AMENDMENTS', 'ST 2017 National Electrical Code AMENDMENTS', etc.), all linked from the Permits page. Source: southtucsonaz.gov/devservices/page/permits.; New construction, alterations, modifications, or tenant improvements to commercial properties/structures require construction plans drawn by a professional licensed and registered with the Arizona Board of Technical Registration (architect, mechanical engineer, plumbing engineer, or electrical engineer as applicable to the scope); all such registered professionals conducting business within City limits must also hold an active City of South Tucson business license. Source: southtucsonaz.gov/devservices/page/permits.; All contractors, whether working on residential or commercial properties, must be licensed through the Arizona Registrar of Contractors in the applicable classification, and must hold an active City of South Tucson business license to conduct business within city limits. Source: southtucsonaz.gov/devservices/page/permits.. Local amendments apply — see the South Tucson overview page for the full list.

When the work is a tenant improvement or renovation involving a change in the occupancy type, occupancy classification, or requiring a greater degree of safety — and also for a tenant improvement of a newly occupied space, a tenant improvement resulting in a change of square footage, a new commercial or residential building, or any other project the Building Official determines. It is NOT required for minor improvements such as flooring or paint that do not change layout, square footage, occupancy type or classification, and do not impact accessibility or egress. Source: City of South Tucson Occupancy Certificate page.

Other permits in South Tucson

Residential Building Permit (New Construction, Additions, Remodels)Electrical Permit (including Reconnect)Plumbing PermitMechanical / HVAC PermitDemolition PermitSolar Photovoltaic (PV) PermitEV Charger / EVSE PermitCommercial Building Permit (New Construction, Alterations, Tenant Improvements)Sign PermitFire Sprinkler / Fire Alarm Permit

Change of Use / Certificate of Occupancy in other cities

Apache Junction, ArizonaBuckeye, ArizonaCamp Verde, ArizonaCocopah Indian Tribe, ArizonaDewey-Humboldt, ArizonaDuncan, ArizonaEagar, ArizonaFort McDowell Yavapai Nation, Arizona

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