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Residential Building Permit (New Construction, Additions, Remodels) — South Tucson, Arizona · Requirements sheet
Verified 2026-07-07 · Source: https://www.southtucsonaz.gov/devservices/page/permit-application-submittal-checklist
PermitBase is an independent reference and is not affiliated with any government agency. Requirements change and vary by project — confirm current details with the building department before you submit.
Residential Building Permit (New Construction, Additions, Remodels) in South Tucson, Arizona
Required for construction of new residential buildings, porches, additions, garages, and remodeling of existing structures in South Tucson. Reviewed against the 2018 IRC and 2018 IBC (for applicable non-residential elements) as adopted and amended by the City of South Tucson under Ordinance No. 25-01. Applications are submitted through the City's Online Permit Portal (live since March 2, 2026), in person, or by mail to City Hall.
Verified 2026-07-07 · Source
When you need this permit
- Building permit required for construction of all new residential buildings, porches, additions, garages, and remodeling of existing structures
- It is the responsibility of the homeowner or property owner to submit plans and secure permits for this work (per the City's Permit Application & Submittal Checklist)
- Permit applications require 2 digital copies of a site plan and a floor plan
- Detached accessory structures larger than 200 square feet (e.g., storage sheds) require a permit; walls/fences over 7 feet tall require a building permit and a structural engineered design
- Plans reviewed against the 2018 IRC/IBC as adopted and amended by the City of South Tucson (Ordinance No. 25-01); all submitted plans must be neat, legible, and well organized -- Planning and Development Services reviews plans but does not offer design services
- Rental properties are treated as commercial and require a licensed contractor; all contractors must hold both an Arizona Registrar of Contractors license in the applicable classification and an active City of South Tucson business license Contractor
- New construction or alterations/expansions/modifications to structures on flood-prone properties additionally require submission of a FEMA Elevation Certificate
- Work started or completed without a permit may still be permitted after the fact, but full standard requirements apply and work must stop immediately until approvals are obtained
Required documents
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Fee schedule
Building Permit Fee (valuation-based)CONFIRMED GAP after exhaustive chase: the City of South Tucson's own adopted-code amendment explicitly deletes the ICC model valuation-fee table (IBC Section 109.3 'Building permit valuations' is deleted in its entirety by the City's amendment) and defers to 'the fee schedules adopted by the jurisdiction by separate ordinance' (per the Section 105 Appeals fee clause). No numeric fee schedule for building/electrical/plumbing/mechanical permits could be located: (1) the live Permits and Submittal Checklist pages state only that cost 'is dependent on the valuation of proposed permit activity' with no linked table; (2) the City Code Chapter 4 (Buildings and Building Regulations) is hosted on Municode as a JavaScript-rendered SPA that returns an empty shell to both a plain fetch and a full-browser-header curl request; (3) the underlying adoption ordinance PDF (Ordinance 15-01, 31MB, and the 72-page packet at media/6516) is a scanned image with no extractable text layer (pdftotext returned 0 characters), and Ordinance 25-01 itself (media/10486) is likewise a scanned, non-text PDF; (4) the City's Finance 'City Taxes & Fees' page and its linked PDFs cover only property tax, business license ($40/year), and occupational fees -- no construction-permit fee table; (5) Wayback Machine CDX search of southtucsonaz.gov for fee-related URLs surfaced only the tax/business-license fee documents, no building-permit fee schedule at any historical snapshot. Applicants should confirm the current valuation-based fee directly with Development Services at 520-792-2424 or via the Online Permit Portal, which calculates cost at the time of application.
Not published -- fee is calculated based on the valuation of the proposed permit activity (cost of labor and materials); paid online through the Permit Portal after plan approval
Review timeline
Plan review
Not published — contact the department
Inspection process
- 1
Foundation/Footing
Before concrete pour
- 2
Framing
Structural framing and connections per approved plans and adopted 2018 IRC/IBC
- 3
Rough Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing
Rough-in of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems before concealment
- 4
Final
All work complete per approved plans; for platted subdivisions, the driveway-side sidewalk must be complete before final approval
See the full South Tucson inspection guide — scheduling & re-inspection fees →
Tips
- CONFIRMED GAP -- review timeline: A.R.S. Section 9-835 requires every Arizona municipality to establish AND POST on its own website (or an association-of-cities website) separate administrative-completeness and substantive-review time frames for each license/permit type it issues; the statute itself sets no universal statutory default number of days if a city has not done so (confirmed by direct review of the statute text at azleg.gov/ars/9/00835.htm -- it mandates the posting obligation but does not supply a fallback figure). After an exhaustive search of the City of South Tucson's website (Permits page, Permit Application & Submittal Checklist page, Inspections page, City Code Chapter 4 landing page, City Clerk Ordinance pages, Finance fee pages) and the City's own adopted-code local amendments (IBC/IRC/IMC/IPC/IFGC amendment PDFs), no published administrative-completeness or substantive-review time frame table (of the kind Buckeye, Pima County, and the City of Tucson each publish) could be located. The only numeric review-type timeframe found anywhere in the adopted codes is the 5-business-day Building Official response window for a CODE-INTERPRETATION APPEAL (IBC Section 105, as amended) -- a distinct process from initial plan review/permit issuance, and not a substitute for it.
- Chase trail for the review-timeline gap: (1) live Permits, Submittal Checklist, and Inspections pages fetched via browser-header curl (200 OK) -- none states a review-day figure; (2) City Code Chapter 4 (Buildings and Building Regulations) on Municode is a JavaScript SPA returning an empty template shell to both WebFetch and curl with full browser headers -- content not extractable as static text; (3) Ordinance 25-01 and the 2015 Ordinance 15-01 Chapter 4 PDF (31MB scanned council packet) both lack an OCR text layer (pdftotext yielded 0-72 characters) and were not re-processed via image rendering given the ordinance's fee/procedure content is already superseded by the standalone 2018-code amendment PDFs, which ARE machine-readable and were fully searched; (4) WebSearch for 'South Tucson' + '9-835' / 'licensing time frame' / 'plan review timeframe' returned no dedicated South Tucson document; (5) Wayback Machine has only a single January 2026 snapshot of the Permits page, materially identical to the live page. Given all avenues were exhausted without finding a published figure, this is reported as a confirmed gap rather than an estimate.
- Because South Tucson is only about 1 square mile with roughly 5,000 residents, it has a much smaller Development Services operation than its neighbors (City of Tucson PDSD, Pima County Development Services) and, unlike them, has not published either a numeric valuation-based fee table or a formal multi-lane permit review-timeframe framework online as of this review (2018-cycle codes/2017 NEC also confirm South Tucson is a code cycle behind Tucson and Pima County, which have both moved to 2024 codes/2023 NEC).
- Applicants should call Development Services directly at 520-792-2424 or email submittals@southtucsonaz.gov to obtain a current, case-specific review-time estimate, since no self-service published figure exists.
Frequently asked questions
South Tucson requires a residential building permit (new construction, additions, remodels) for: Building permit required for construction of all new residential buildings, porches, additions, garages, and remodeling of existing structures; It is the responsibility of the homeowner or property owner to submit plans and secure permits for this work (per the City's Permit Application & Submittal Checklist); Permit applications require 2 digital copies of a site plan and a floor plan; Detached accessory structures larger than 200 square feet (e.g., storage sheds) require a permit; walls/fences over 7 feet tall require a building permit and a structural engineered design; Plans reviewed against the 2018 IRC/IBC as adopted and amended by the City of South Tucson (Ordinance No. 25-01); all submitted plans must be neat, legible, and well organized -- Planning and Development Services reviews plans but does not offer design services; Rental properties are treated as commercial and require a licensed contractor; all contractors must hold both an Arizona Registrar of Contractors license in the applicable classification and an active City of South Tucson business license; New construction or alterations/expansions/modifications to structures on flood-prone properties additionally require submission of a FEMA Elevation Certificate; Work started or completed without a permit may still be permitted after the fact, but full standard requirements apply and work must stop immediately until approvals are obtained. If your project isn't listed, confirm with City of South Tucson Planning, Zoning and Development Services Department (Development Services Division) at 520-792-2424 before starting work.
The City of South Tucson has not published a numeric review-timeframe table or a valuation-based fee schedule online, unlike neighboring Tucson and Pima County. Permit cost depends on project valuation and is calculated at application; review-time estimates must be obtained directly from Development Services at 520-792-2424. This is a confirmed information gap after an exhaustive source chase, not an assumption.
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: City of South Tucson Permit Application (Online Permit Portal); Site Plan (2 digital copies); Floor Plan (2 digital copies); Construction Drawings. Depending on your project, South Tucson may also ask for: FEMA Elevation Certificate. See the required-documents checklist on this page for details on each.
South Tucson requires 4 inspection(s) for a residential building permit (new construction, additions, remodels), in order: Foundation/Footing, Framing, Rough Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing, Final. 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.
No. South Tucson is a separately incorporated city (nicknamed 'The Pueblo within a City') with its own Planning, Zoning and Development Services Department that independently reviews plans and issues its own building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, sign, demolition, and remodel permits. It does not use the City of Tucson's PDSD or Pima County's Development Services Department for building permits, even though it is geographically enclosed by the City of Tucson. Source: City of South Tucson Development Services and Permits page.
Sources & verification
Verified against official sources. Last reviewed 2026-07-07.
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 South Tucson building department before you submit. PermitBase is an independent reference and is not affiliated with any government agency.
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