Non-Permitted Construction

With the large amount construction going on in the Arcadia neighborhood, and contractors stretched with long project backlogs, some homeowners or contractors may be tempted to skip getting a construction permit to save time. Building permits insure that all construction conforms to the City of Phoenix Building code and protects the health, safety, and general welfare of our neighborhood. Non-permitted construction will not be inspected, and should it not conform to building codes, could pose fire, flood, electrocution, or collapse risk.

City of Phoenix building codes are presented on the city webpage, 2018 City of Phoenix Building Construction Codes. You may review the codes and ordinances that are commonly referenced in developing property or used in construction projects at the webpage, Ordinances.

In general, an owner needs a permit if they intend to construct, alter, repair, move, demolish or change the occupancy of a building or structure, or to erect, install, enlarge, alter, repair, remove, convert or replace any electrical, gas, mechanical or plumbing system.  The City of Phoenix has a brochure on what work requires a permit.

Some work is exempt from permit requirements, and such work is listed in section 105.2 of the building code. The exempt work that you are likely to observe that does not need permitting are:

·  Erection of one-story detached accessory structures used as tool and storage sheds, playhouses, or similar uses. These are exempt if the floor area is not greater than 200 square feet.

·  Painting

·  Placement of nonfixed and movable fixtures, cases, racks, counters and partitions not over 5 feet 9 inches in height also do not need a permit.

Note that section 105.2 of the International Building Code lists fences under 7 feet as not needing a permit; this is not true for Phoenix (see “Interaction With Zoning,” below).

The non-permitted construction one is likely to observe would usually be:

·  Fences (over 3 feet tall), walls, and retaining walls.

·  Sheds, playhouses

·  Porch or carport enclosures.

·  Installation or replacement of exterior tankless hot water heaters

·  Pool construction or remodeling; installation and maintenance of barriers (see requirements).

·  Alteration of hillside topography and/or hillside vegetation.

·  Alteration of drainage conditions of a lot.

·  Room additions, and of course, demolition and rebuilding!

Looking Up Permits

You can look up permits by property address. Follow the link to Permit Information Search.

Scroll down near the bottom and enter the date range

Then press SEARCH. A new table will appear below you input, with all of the permits associated with that address:

If you click on one of the permit numbers (TYPE-NUMBER), in red, a PDF file of the permit will download to your computer. On the right side of the table, you will see buttons to view the Inspection History.

If you see a CITA, CINV, or RINV code, this is not a permit – it is a code for an on-going non-permitted construction investigation.

NOTE: The search function can be somewhat finicky. Sometimes, it will return “no results” when, in fact, there were permits for that address during the date range you specified. Try it again.  Try a different address, then go back to the first address you were searching for.  It would be unusual for a property in the Arcadia area not to have any permit history.

Of course, what you are looking for is the absence of a permit for the construction activity you have observed. However, to know the search is working, you should go back far enough in time to see that some historical permits are reported (as far back as 1955). If you see historical permits reported, but no permit for the current activity you are observing, you may have discovered a non-permitted construction violation.

In addition, it is possible you find a permit listed, but the homeowner or contractor has deviated from the requirements of the permit. This is also a non-permitted construction violation. Download the permit and review it to verify they are complying with the permit.

Other search categories (plan reviews, demolitions permits, and more) can be accessed at this link.

Reporting Non-Permitted Construction

You can report non-permitted construction via three methods:

·         Call the Phoenix Planning and Development Department at (602) 262-7884

·         Email mailto:dsd@phoenix.gov (Please be aware that such emails may be subject to public records disclosure and are retained for 90 days.)

·         The webpage to Report A Non-Permitted Construction Issue

Note: Complainant contact information is required for follow-up questions on the complaint but will never be shared.

Enforcement of Non-Permitted Construction

The City of Phoenix webpage on Non-Permitted Construction has information on the process that is followed when the city discovers non-permitted construction. Briefly, the enforcement process is as follows:

· A Stop Work Order will be issued. All cited work must immediately cease.

· A Notice of Violation (NOV) will be served by personal service or by certified mail with return receipt requested. These are issued shortly after the Stop Work Order.

· The City of Phoenix may record a notice of violation with the County recorder.

· Civil Action – the City of Phoenix may issue a civil sanction of $500. These are typically issued after any of the following occur:

o   The owner refuses to abate an imminent unsafe condition.

o   Owner continues to build after a Stop Work Order.

o   Construction is unsafe and the owner continues to allow occupancy.

o   Construction is a documented nuisance or public safety concern to the neighborhood.

o   The owner is a documented recidivist.

To resolve the notice of violation, the owner will have to either:

·         Obtain a permit (at twice the fee)

·         Totally demolish the non-permitted construction (a demolition permit may be required)

For more information on code compliance, see the City of Phoenix Neighborhood Code Compliance web page.

Interaction With Zoning

Some construction may also require a review of zoning requirements for the property.  The most common projects needing review of zoning requirements are:

·  Placement of sheds, playhouses. Zoning needs to be checked to see if you can place the shed in the desired location.

·  Any fence or wall over three feet requires a permit. Receiving Zoning approval is the first step. See the webpage for Residential Fences and Walls. If the residential property is along Camelback Road, between 44th Street and the eastern City limits, special zoning provisions allow variation beyond the underlying wall height and setback requirements for the underlying residential zoning. See Section 652. Arcadia Camelback Special Planning District Road Overlay District for details.

You can find out your setbacks by calling the Planning and Zoning department at (602) 262-7131 option 6. Or see the Zoning page of the ACMNA website for more information and a link to an interactive online zoning map.

Permit Violation Or Zoning Violation?

If construction is done without a permit, it is a permit violation and should reported at the Report a Non-Permitted Construction Issue webpage.

If construction violates the parcel zoning, it is zoning violation and should be reported at the Other Property Issues webpage.

If construction violates the zoning ordinance, and is done without a permit, it is a double foul!

Website Quick Links

City Of Phoenix Building Construction Codes https://www.phoenix.gov/pdd/devcode/buildingcode/

Ordinances https://www.phoenix.gov/pdd/devcode/ordinances

Owner’s Guide to Residential Permits https://www.phoenix.gov/pddsite/Documents/TRT/dsd_trt_pdf_00576r.pdf

Apply for Permits https://apps-secure.phoenix.gov/PDD

Search for Permits https://apps-secure.phoenix.gov/PDD/Search/Permits

Other search categories https://apps-secure.phoenix.gov/PDD/Search

Report Non-Permitted Construction https://www.phoenix.gov/pdd/non-permitted-construction

Non-Permitted Construction Compliance https://www.phoenix.gov/pdd/about/faq/non-permitted-construction

Code Enforcementhttps://www.phoenix.gov/nsd/programs/compliance

Pool barrier requirements https://www.phoenix.gov/fire/safety-information/home/water/pool-barriers

Residential Fences and Walls https://www.phoenix.gov/pdd/topics-a-to-z/residential-fences-and-walls

Arcadia Camelback Special Planning District Road Overlay District https://phoenix.municipal.codes/ZO/652

ACMNA Zoning page https://www.acmna.org/zoning-and-codes