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Tribal Business License (incl. construction companies/subcontractors) in San Carlos Apache Tribe, Arizona

A business-operating-authority license required under the Tribe's Tax Code (Ordinance No. 86-01, as amended by Resolution No. JN-14-186, Section 7.3) before any individual or business (other than street vendors) may conduct or operate a business within the exterior boundary of the San Carlos Apache Reservation. Administered by the Office of the General Manager / Business Licensing, not the Land Use Department. This is not a construction/building-code permit, but it is a documented, real prerequisite for any contractor performing paid construction work on the reservation, so it is included here for completeness rather than omitted.

Verified 2026-07-23 · Source

When you need this permit

  • Obtain a Business License packet (application + assurances/certifications) from the General Manager's Office
  • Non-San Carlos-Apache-Tribal-Member-owned businesses pay a fee per the Class of Licensure (Tribal Resolution No. JA-15-019); San Carlos Apache Tribal member-owned businesses pay no fee regardless of Class
  • Construction companies and subcontractors MUST attach: a Letter of Intent, a Certificate of Liability, and a current Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC) license Contractor
  • License must be renewed prior to January 1st each year; no renewal reminder notices are sent by the Tribe — renewal is the licensee's responsibility
  • If the business will receive compensation from the Tribe, also complete a Vendor Registration Form and submit an IRS W-9

Required documents

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Fee schedule

Temporary License (7 calendar days or less)Non-tribal-member-owned businesses only; no fee for San Carlos Apache Tribal member-owned businesses. Per Tribal Resolution No. JA-15-019.
$25.00
Seasonal License (3 months or less)Non-tribal-member-owned businesses only. Per Tribal Resolution No. JA-15-019.
$50.00
Annual License (exceeding 3 months)Non-tribal-member-owned businesses only; covers the period from issuance through December 31 of the year issued. Per Tribal Resolution No. JA-15-019.
$100.00

Review timeline

Plan review
Not published — contact the department

How long did your Tribal Business License (incl. construction companies/subcontractors) permit actually take in San Carlos Apache Tribe?

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Inspection process

    Tips

    • This license is issued by a different office (General Manager's Office / Business Licensing) than the Land Use Department that handles residential/commercial site permits — a contractor building on the reservation will likely need both a business license and, separately, whatever site-use authorization applies to the land parcel involved.
    • Construction companies and subcontractors face additional documentation requirements (Letter of Intent, Certificate of Liability, current ROC license) not required of other business types. Contractor
    • Licenses are calendar-year based and must be renewed before January 1st with no reminder sent by the Tribe — track this internally.
    • This is a business-operating-authority license, not a construction/building-code compliance permit; it does not substitute for any site-placement approval needed for the physical location of work.

    Frequently asked questions

    San Carlos Apache Tribe requires a tribal business license (incl. construction companies/subcontractors) permit for: Obtain a Business License packet (application + assurances/certifications) from the General Manager's Office; Non-San Carlos-Apache-Tribal-Member-owned businesses pay a fee per the Class of Licensure (Tribal Resolution No. JA-15-019); San Carlos Apache Tribal member-owned businesses pay no fee regardless of Class; Construction companies and subcontractors MUST attach: a Letter of Intent, a Certificate of Liability, and a current Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC) license; License must be renewed prior to January 1st each year; no renewal reminder notices are sent by the Tribe — renewal is the licensee's responsibility; If the business will receive compensation from the Tribe, also complete a Vendor Registration Form and submit an IRS W-9. If your project isn't listed, confirm with San Carlos Apache Tribe Land Use Department (Office of the General Manager) at (928) 475-4644, (928) 475-4639, or (928) 475-4647 (Land Use Department, for scheduling a Realty/land-use appointment); (928) 475-1600 (Office of the General Manager, general line); (928) 475-2350 (published general Tribe office line, source uses a 400 Apache Avenue address) before starting work.

    No. Per the Tribe's Business License packet, regardless of Class of Licensure, there is no fee for San Carlos Apache Tribal member-owned businesses; the published fee schedule (Tribal Resolution No. JA-15-019) applies only to non-member-owned businesses.

    San Carlos Apache Tribe does not publish a plan-review timeline for this permit. Contact San Carlos Apache Tribe Land Use Department (Office of the General Manager) at (928) 475-4644, (928) 475-4639, or (928) 475-4647 (Land Use Department, for scheduling a Realty/land-use appointment); (928) 475-1600 (Office of the General Manager, general line); (928) 475-2350 (published general Tribe office line, source uses a 400 Apache Avenue address) for current turnaround.

    You'll need: Business License Application (with Assurances/Certifications). Depending on your project, San Carlos Apache Tribe may also ask for: Letter of Intent (construction companies/subcontractors only); Certificate of Liability (construction companies/subcontractors only); Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC) License. See the required-documents checklist on this page for details on each.

    Apply through San Carlos Apache Tribe Land Use Department (Office of the General Manager) at Multiple tribal administration addresses are published in different official/quasi-official sources and could not be fully reconciled to a single authoritative Land Use Department street address in this research pass: (1) Mitchell Hoffman Administration Building, 3A San Carlos Ave., San Carlos, AZ 85550 (published for the Office of the General Manager); (2) 1 San Carlos Avenue, Building 3, PO Box 0, San Carlos, AZ 85550 (published on the Tribe's 2025 Business License packet for the General Manager's Office and Business Licensing); (3) 400 Apache Avenue, PO Box 850, San Carlos, AZ 85550-0850 (published elsewhere as a general Tribe office address). These are likely different buildings within the same San Carlos, AZ tribal administrative complex, but this could not be independently confirmed to street-address precision. Disclosed as a gap rather than picking one arbitrarily.. Phone: (928) 475-4644, (928) 475-4639, or (928) 475-4647 (Land Use Department, for scheduling a Realty/land-use appointment); (928) 475-1600 (Office of the General Manager, general line); (928) 475-2350 (published general Tribe office line, source uses a 400 Apache Avenue address), email: Not published for the Land Use Department specifically. The Tribe's Business Licensing contact (a related but distinct office under the same Office of the General Manager) publishes monica.boni@scat-nsn.gov and the General Manager herself publishes christabelle.mull@scat-nsn.gov; no equivalent named Land Use Department staff email was located during this research pass.. Office hours: Not published. The Land Use Department's page does not state office hours; applicants are instructed to call ahead and schedule an appointment rather than walk in. Disclosed as a gap rather than assumed to be standard business hours.. Official information: https://www.scat-nsn.gov/reality-2/.

    San Carlos Apache Tribe, Arizona has adopted: HONEST FRAMING: The San Carlos Apache Tribe does not administer a full adopted IBC/IRC/ICC-family building code program through the process documented here. What is confirmed and documented is a land-placement / site-approval process for residential (and, per limited evidence, commercial) use of tribal trust land, administered by the Tribe's Land Use Department (within the Office of the General Manager) with site-location review and approval performed by the San Carlos Planning and Zoning Committee. This is a real, disclosed distinction — not a downgrade of a fuller program that exists but wasn't found.; Per the Tribe's official Realty page (scat-nsn.gov/reality-2/), the Realty Program (Land Use Department) handles all inquiries about residential and commercial leases/permits for land on the San Carlos Apache Reservation. The residential process requires: (1) the applicant be an enrolled San Carlos Apache Tribal member; (2) the applicant identify up to three candidate sites within the reservation boundary they are interested in; (3) an appointment with the Land Use Department, bringing a Tribal ID card or a certified copy of a Certificate of Indian Blood (CIB) issued within the last 6 months by the Tribe's Enrollment Department; (4) if a requested site is available, the completed application is presented to the San Carlos Planning and Zoning Committee for review and approval of the site location; (5) if the Planning and Zoning Committee approves the site, the application is forwarded to the Tribal Environmental Departments (Archeology and Wildlife Biology) for an environmental review; (6) a land survey must be submitted to the Land Use Office within 6 months of the date of preliminary approval; (7) once the survey is returned, the Land Use Office compiles the required documents and submits the package to the San Carlos Apache Tribal Council for final review and approval, formalized via a Certified Resolution; (8) upon Council approval, the Land Use Department notifies the applicant and directs them to pay the permit fee to the Tribe's Finance and Revenue Department. Source: San Carlos Apache Tribe official Realty page, https://www.scat-nsn.gov/reality-2/ (content confirmed via cached search-engine extraction; the live page itself sits behind a Sucuri WAF JavaScript challenge that blocks non-browser fetches, so the page could not be directly rendered in this research pass — its content is corroborated by multiple independent search-result excerpts quoting the same process steps, and no conflicting account was found).; Separately, and administered by a different office (the General Manager's Office / Business Licensing, not the Land Use Department), the Tribe requires a Tribal Business License (Tribal Tax Code Ordinance No. 86-01, as amended; Section 7.3; fee schedule set by Tribal Resolution No. JA-15-019) for anyone conducting business within the reservation's exterior boundary who is not a street vendor. Construction companies and subcontractors specifically must attach a Letter of Intent, a Certificate of Liability, and a current Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC) license to their Business License application. This is a business-operating-authority requirement, not a construction/building-code permit, but it is a real prerequisite for any contractor performing work on the reservation and is documented here for completeness. Source: San Carlos Apache Tribe, 'Tribal Privilege License & Tribal Sales Tax' packet, https://www.scat-nsn.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2025SCATBusinessLicenseApplication.pdf (fetched and read directly, 2026-07-07).; No IBC, IRC, or other ICC-family building code edition adoption was found published anywhere for the San Carlos Apache Tribe during this research pass. No standalone 'building code,' 'construction code,' or technical trade-permit (electrical/plumbing/mechanical) ordinance was located. This is disclosed as a genuine, confirmed research gap consistent with the honest-framing requirement for this jurisdiction, not an inferred absence..

    Construction companies and subcontractors must attach a Letter of Intent, a Certificate of Liability, and a current Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC) license to their Business License application, per the Tribe's published Business License packet.

    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 San Carlos Apache Tribe building department before you submit. PermitBase is an independent reference and is not affiliated with any government agency.

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