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Commercial Building Permit (New Construction, Alterations, Change of Use) in Nogales, Arizona

Required under the City of Nogales Development Code for new commercial building construction and for alterations, repairs, or changes of use to existing commercial buildings, including industrial/warehouse buildings (relevant to Nogales' Mariposa Port of Entry-area warehouse and cross-border distribution sector). Commercial projects use the same Project Submittal Application, Zoning Compliance Certificate, and Building Permit process as every other permit type in this file — Nogales' application form has no 'New Build' vs 'Tenant Improvement' checkbox at all (unlike, for example, the Town of Florence's commercial application). The one genuinely commercial-specific process step is that commercial development is NOT exempt from the Development Code's standalone Development Site Plan requirement (Sec. 3.105.a-b) — the site plan must be reviewed and approved by unanimous vote of the City's Development Review Committee (Sec. 3.103.f) before/alongside the building permit. Tenant improvement work is not tracked as a separate permit type or fee schedule anywhere in the Development Code or on the Project Submittal Application; it is folded into this same commercial building/site-plan process.

Verified 2026-08-01 · Source

When you need this permit

  • Building permit required for new commercial construction and for any improvement, repair, or change of use to commercial property within City limits, per the Development Code's general building permit requirement (Sec. 3.103.d.1); the narrow 120-sq-ft/no-utility-work exemption (Sec. 3.103.d.2) is not a practical no-permit path for commercial construction, which virtually always exceeds that threshold or involves electrical/plumbing/mechanical work
  • A Development Site Plan is required for commercial (and industrial) construction under Sec. 3.105.a — commercial projects are NOT among the categories the Development Code exempts from standalone Development Site Plan review (Sec. 3.105.b exempts only: single-family residences/accessory buildings in approved subdivisions; mobile home/RV park placements; and multi-family developments of fewer than 5 units per lot)
  • The Development Site Plan must be submitted to and reviewed/approved by the City's Development Review Committee — Community Development/Planning & Zoning Director, Building Official, Director of Public Works, City Engineer, Fire Marshal, Santa Cruz County Floodplain Administrator, and Assistant Administrator — by unanimous vote of members present (Sec. 3.103.f.2-f.4, Sec. 3.105.c)
  • Commercial (and industrial, Planned Area Development, and Shopping Center) site plans must show contour lines at 2-foot intervals, versus 1-foot intervals required for other site plans/subdivisions — the Development Code's one explicit, distinct technical requirement that names commercial projects separately from general residential/subdivision site plans (Sec. 3.105.c.1.b)
  • A Zoning Compliance Certificate from the Planning and Zoning Director is a prerequisite before the Building Official may issue a building permit for foundation excavation or construction (Sec. 3.103.c.1), with a verified 10-working-day issue-or-refuse turnaround from a complete filing (Sec. 3.103.c.3)
  • Development Review Committee decisions on a site plan are appealable to the Planning and Zoning Commission within 7 calendar days, with the Commission required to reach its decision within 30 calendar days (Sec. 3.103.f.7); a Commission decision is further appealable to City Council within 7 calendar days, with Council reaching its decision within 'a reasonable time' — no fixed day-count is published for the Council-level appeal
  • Reviewed against the 2018 IBC and 2018 IFC as adopted by the City (the Project Submittal Application carries a distinct 'Fire' tracking-number field, reflecting Fire Marshal review as part of the Development Review Committee), plus 2017 NEC and 2010 ADA Standards
  • No distinct industrial/warehouse permitting track exists: industrial-zoned projects (including warehouse/distribution buildings) go through the identical Building Permit + Development Site Plan + Zoning Compliance Certificate process as other commercial projects. Industrial use is instead addressed through separate, higher-threshold performance standards rather than a different permitting procedure — e.g., permitted exterior noise of up to 80 dBA (day) / 65 dBA (night) between two industrial-district properties versus 70/60 for commercial and 50/45 for residential (Sec. 3.106.d); distinct ground-vibration limits at industrial-district property boundaries (Sec. 3.106.e); and height-limit exceptions for chimneys, smokestacks, derricks, conveyors, and grain elevators where industrial processes customarily require greater height (Sec. 3.104.e.3)
  • Applicant must submit the City of Nogales Project Submittal Application (Rev. 07/31/2023) — the same single, generic form used citywide for Building, Planning, Engineering, Fire, Signs, Admin, and Utilities applications; it has no 'New Build' vs 'Tenant Improvement' checkbox and no commercial-specific fields beyond a free-text 'Proposed Use of Building/Suite' and 'Description of Work/Request'
  • Contractor must hold a valid Arizona ROC license (General, or the applicable trade license) and City business/contractor license, indicated on the Project Submittal Application Contractor
  • A Certificate/Occupancy Permit is required before the building may be occupied; the Building Official makes a final inspection within 10 working days after receiving notice that the building is complete and ready for use (Sec. 3.103.e.1)
  • Permit becomes invalid if work is not commenced within 180 days of issuance, or is suspended/abandoned for 180 days after commencement

Required documents

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Fee schedule

Building Permit Fee and Plan Review FeeCity Code Sec. 5-26 (2012 IRC + Appendix L adoption); Ordinance No. 2015-11-005; City of Nogales 'Building Permit Application Requirements' page (archived 2016-12-15, Wayback) for the 25%/65% plan-review split. The exact IRC Appendix L dollar-bracket table could not be independently reproduced against ICC's own source (codes.iccsafe.org blocks automated access), and library.municode.com/az/nogales (Chapter 5, which would contain the City's locally-adopted dollar table) returns no server-rendered content to automated fetches, confirmed by direct fetch attempt during this review — a genuine access gap, not an unpublished-fee gap. Confirm the precise base fee for your project's valuation with Community Development / One Stop.
Based on Valuation (2012 IRC Appendix L 'Permit Fees', adopted by City Code Sec. 5-26 and Ordinance No. 2015-11-005) — the same valuation-based mechanism used for every other permit type in this file; no separate commercial-only valuation bracket or fee line was found. Plan review fee: 25% of the Building Permit Fee where valuation is $100,000 or less; 65% where valuation is $100,001 or more.
Development Site Plan Review FeeDevelopment Code Sec. 3.105.g states only that 'Site plan review fees shall be paid in accordance with the adopted City of Nogales fee schedule' — no itemized site-plan-review dollar figure was located in any City of Nogales document accessible during this review (the fee schedule itself sits behind the same Municode/ICC access barriers noted above). Confirm the exact amount with Community Development / One Stop before budgeting.
Not published as a specific dollar amount

Review timeline

Plan reviewNogales’s published plan-review target
10–10 business days

How long did your Commercial Building Permit (New Construction, Alterations, Change of Use) permit actually take in Nogales?

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

Inspection process

  1. 1

    Foundation/Footing

    Before concrete pour, per 2018 IBC

  2. 2

    Rough-In (Structural / MEP / Fire)

    Framing and structural connections, plus mechanical/electrical/plumbing rough-in and fire-protection system rough-in where applicable, per 2018 IBC/IFC and 2017 NEC

  3. 3

    Final / Occupancy Inspection

    Within 10 working days after the City receives notice that construction is complete and ready for use, the Building Official makes a final inspection to confirm Development Code compliance before issuing an Occupancy Permit (Sec. 3.103.e.1)

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

Tips

  • Unlike some other Arizona cities (e.g., the Town of Florence, whose Building Permit Application has a 'New Build' vs 'Tenant Improvement' checkbox), Nogales' Project Submittal Application makes no distinction at all between new commercial construction and tenant improvement work — both are described in the same free-text 'Description of Work/Request' field and billed under the identical valuation-based fee mechanism. There is no separate tenant-improvement permit type, fee schedule, or review track in Nogales.
  • The Development Site Plan requirement is the genuinely distinct commercial-project step: residential (single-family in an approved subdivision), mobile-home/RV-park, and small multi-family (under 5 units) development all get their site plan review folded directly into the Building Permit Application and skip the standalone Development Review Committee process — but commercial (and industrial) development does not qualify for any of those exemptions and must go through full Development Review Committee review with a unanimous-vote approval requirement (Sec. 3.103.f.4). Build this into your project timeline in addition to the 10-working-day Zoning Compliance Certificate and building-permit review.
  • No timeframe for the Development Review Committee's initial site plan review itself is published by the City — the only day-counts stated in the Development Code apply to APPEALS of a Committee decision (7 calendar days to file, 30 calendar days for the Commission to decide; a further 7-calendar-day appeal to City Council with no fixed decision deadline, only 'a reasonable time'). Confirm current site-plan review turnaround directly with Community Development / Planning & Zoning before committing to a project schedule.
  • Because Development Review Committee approval requires a unanimous vote of members present (Building Official, Planning & Zoning Director, Public Works Director, City Engineer, Fire Marshal, Santa Cruz County Floodplain Administrator, Assistant Administrator), a single member's objection can hold up site plan approval — budget for potential resubmittal cycles.
  • There is no separate industrial or warehouse building permit in Nogales, despite the City's significant Mariposa Port of Entry-area warehouse/distribution economy — industrial-zoned projects use the same Building Permit + Development Site Plan + Zoning Compliance Certificate process as other commercial construction. Industrial use is instead accommodated through more permissive performance standards (higher allowable noise levels between industrial properties, distinct vibration limits, and height-limit exceptions for tall industrial process equipment) rather than a distinct permitting track.

Frequently asked questions

Yes. Commercial construction is not among the categories the Development Code exempts from the standalone Development Site Plan requirement (only single-family residences in approved subdivisions, mobile home/RV park placements, and small multi-family developments under 5 units qualify for that exemption). A commercial site plan must be reviewed and unanimously approved by the City's Development Review Committee.

In Nogales, the published Building Permit Fee and Plan Review Fee is: Based on Valuation (2012 IRC Appendix L 'Permit Fees', adopted by City Code Sec. 5-26 and Ordinance No. 2015-11-005) — the same valuation-based mechanism used for every other permit type in this file; no separate commercial-only valuation bracket or fee line was found. Plan review fee: 25% of the Building Permit Fee where valuation is $100,000 or less; 65% where valuation is $100,001 or more.. Additional published fees: Development Site Plan Review Fee — Not published as a specific dollar amount. These are the jurisdiction's own published figures — see the fee schedule table and source citations on this page.

The City has not published a specific turnaround time for the Development Review Committee's initial site plan review. The Development Code only specifies day-counts for the appeal stages: a 30-calendar-day decision deadline if a Committee decision is appealed to the Planning and Zoning Commission, and 'a reasonable time' (no fixed number of days) if further appealed to City Council.

You'll need: Project Submittal Application; Development Site Plan; Proof of Ownership and/or Proof of Agency; Development Schedule. Depending on your project, Nogales may also ask for: Landscape Plan; Soil Engineering Report; Site Hydrology Report. See the required-documents checklist on this page for details on each.

Nogales requires 3 inspection(s) for a commercial building permit (new construction, alterations, change of use), in order: Foundation/Footing, Rough-In (Structural / MEP / Fire), Final / Occupancy Inspection. Schedule each through City of Nogales Community Development Department (Planning & Building Department; permit intake via the Nogales Information and Development Center / "One Stop", Public Works Department) (520-287-6571 (Community Development main line); 520-287-7245 (Nogales Information and Development Center / One Stop intake, Public Works Department)).

Apply through City of Nogales Community Development Department (Planning & Building Department; permit intake via the Nogales Information and Development Center / "One Stop", Public Works Department) at Community Development Department: 777 North Grand Avenue, Nogales, AZ 85621. Project/permit submittal intake (Nogales Information and Development Center, "One Stop"): 1450 N. Hohokam Drive, Nogales, AZ 85621. Phone: 520-287-6571 (Community Development main line); 520-287-7245 (Nogales Information and Development Center / One Stop intake, Public Works Department). Office hours: Not published on the City's Community Development or Planning Division pages as of this review. Permit tracking and status checks are available 24/7 online via the City's Accela Citizen Access Portal (aca-prod.accela.com/NOGALES).. Official information: https://www.nogalesaz.gov/180/Community-Development.

No. Nogales' Project Submittal Application has no 'New Build' vs 'Tenant Improvement' distinction anywhere on the form, and the Development Code does not establish a separate tenant-improvement permit type or fee schedule. Tenant improvement work is submitted and billed exactly like new commercial construction, under the same valuation-based Building Permit Fee mechanism.

No. Industrial-zoned construction, including warehouse/distribution buildings near the Mariposa Port of Entry, follows the same Building Permit, Development Site Plan, and Zoning Compliance Certificate process required for other commercial construction. Industrial use is addressed through separate, more permissive performance standards (noise, vibration, and height-limit provisions), not a different permitting procedure.

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