Minor Electrical, Solar, and Gas Permit in Unincorporated Santa Cruz County, Arizona

Unincorporated Santa Cruz County requires a minor electrical, solar, and gas permit for: Applies to minor electrical, solar, and gas permit work; Solar permits require stamped engineering for gravity and uplift loads; Exempt from the $50.00 Zoning Clearance Fee (unlike residential/commercial/grading/pool permits); Submit Building/Grading Permit Application with project scope and contractor licensing information. If your project isn't listed, confirm with Santa Cruz County Building Department (a division of the Community Development Department, Planning & Building) at 520-375-7880 before starting work.

Yes — minor electrical, solar, and gas permits are a flat $60.00 fee, and are exempt from the $50 Zoning Clearance Fee. Solar systems specifically require stamped engineering for gravity and uplift loads. Source: Santa Cruz County Building Department page (live) and Guidelines for Builders (Rev. 03/2014), Section 6.

Unincorporated Santa Cruz County's published plan-review target for a minor electrical, solar, and gas permit is 5–10 business days.

You'll need: Building/Grading Permit Application. Depending on your project, Unincorporated Santa Cruz County may also ask for: Stamped Engineering (Solar only). See the required-documents checklist on this page for details on each.

Unincorporated Santa Cruz County requires 2 inspection(s) for a minor electrical, solar, and gas permit, in order: Rough-In / Service Inspection, Final. Schedule each through Santa Cruz County Building Department (a division of the Community Development Department, Planning & Building) (520-375-7880).

Apply through Santa Cruz County Building Department (a division of the Community Development Department, Planning & Building) at 2150 N. Congress Drive, Suite #206, Nogales, AZ 85621. Phone: 520-375-7880, email: permitting@santacruzcountyaz.gov. Office hours: Monday–Thursday, 7:00 AM – 6:00 PM. Due to the time required to accept or issue a building permit, no applications are accepted and no permits are issued after 5:00 PM. Source: Santa Cruz County Building Department page (live, browser-header fetch confirmed 2026-07-07) and Guidelines for Builders (Rev. 03/2014).. Official information: https://www.santacruzcountyaz.gov/440/Building-Department.

Unincorporated Santa Cruz County, Arizona has adopted: Arizona has NO statewide mandatory building code floor for general construction — code adoption is a per-city/county authority. Santa Cruz County independently adopts and administers its own construction codes for unincorporated areas through its Building Department (a division of Community Development). Source: Santa Cruz County Building Department page.; 2012 International Building Code (IBC), effective for all construction in the unincorporated areas of the County on September 1, 2013, per Ordinance No. 2013-03 (including all amendments). Source: Santa Cruz County Building Department page (live) and 'Guidelines for Builders' (Rev. 03/2014), https://www.santacruzcountyaz.gov/DocumentCenter/View/973/Guidelines-for-Builders.; 2012 International Building Code Standards, adopted alongside the 2012 IBC per Ordinance No. 2013-03. Source: Guidelines for Builders (Rev. 03/2014).; 2012 International Residential Code (IRC), adopted per Ordinance No. 2013-03. Source: Guidelines for Builders (Rev. 03/2014).; 2012 International Mechanical Code (IMC), adopted per Ordinance No. 2013-03. Source: Guidelines for Builders (Rev. 03/2014).; 2012 International Plumbing Code (IPC), adopted per Ordinance No. 2013-03. Source: Guidelines for Builders (Rev. 03/2014).; 2012 International Fire Code (IFC), adopted per Ordinance No. 2013-03. Source: Guidelines for Builders (Rev. 03/2014).; 2011 National Electrical Code (NEC) — one edition behind the 2012 I-Codes, consistent with typical NEC adoption lag; adopted per Ordinance No. 2013-03. Source: Guidelines for Builders (Rev. 03/2014). Independently corroborated by the 2018 Arizona Building Officials (AZBO) Directory, which lists Santa Cruz County as having adopted the 2012 IBC/IRC/IMC/IPC/IFC and 2011 NEC (https://www.azbo.us/documents/documents/2018_AZBO_Directory.pdf).; Santa Cruz County has also adopted a Zoning and Development Code (separate from the building-safety codes above) regulating zoning matters, setbacks, landscaping requirements, and swimming pools, administered by the Community Development Department's Planning & Zoning division. Source: Guidelines for Builders (Rev. 03/2014); Santa Cruz County Zoning and Development Code, https://www.santacruzcountyaz.gov/DocumentCenter/View/9059/Santa-Cruz-County-Zoning-and-Development-Code.; A subsequent Building Safety Code Ordinance and an Excavation and Grading Ordinance are both currently published and linked directly from the Building Department page (Building Safety Code Ordinance: https://www.santacruzcountyaz.gov/DocumentCenter/View/970/Building-Safety-Code-Ordinance; Excavation and Grading Ordinance: https://www.santacruzcountyaz.gov/DocumentCenter/View/972/Excavation-and-Grading-Ordinance), confirming the Building Department's code set is still active and in force as of this review. The Building Safety Code Ordinance PDF (970) is a large scanned image file that could not be machine-OCR'd during this review — a genuine access limitation, not an unpublished-code gap, since its existence, title, and the underlying 2012 I-Code adoption are independently confirmed by the live department page and the Guidelines for Builders document.; Grading permits are required in unincorporated Santa Cruz County for any grading exceeding 50 cubic yards, per Santa Cruz County Ordinance Nos. 2001-06 & 2007-05. A grading permit is issued only in conjunction with a building permit (with narrow exceptions for grading under Planning & Zoning jurisdiction or special cases approved by the Building Official). Source: Guidelines for Builders (Rev. 03/2014).. Local amendments apply — see the Unincorporated Santa Cruz County overview page for the full list.