Permit Requirements

Garage permits across Arizona

Where each city draws the line on garage work. Sort any column — useful if you build across several towns and need to know where the rules change.

Cities compared 12
Always need one 12
Depends on size 0
Where the line falls Fee
Mesa 517,151 Yes Building a garage needs a building permit. An attached ga… The code does not print a dollar amount. Fees come from the…
Gilbert 288,790 Yes Over 200 The code does not print a dollar amount. Permit fees are se…
Chandler 281,231 Yes Over 120 Код не печатает сумму. Пошлины устанавливаются резолюцией г…
Glendale 258,143 Yes Over 200 The code prints no dollar amount. Building permit and plan-…
Scottsdale 246,170 Yes Over 200 The code does not print a dollar amount. Fees come from the…
Tempe 190,114 Yes Over 200 sq ft
Surprise 167,564 Yes Over 200 The code does not print a dollar amount. Surprise sets perm…
Buckeye 114,334 Yes Over 200 Per City of Buckeye Development User Fee Schedule; no dolla…
Avondale 96,609 Yes Over 200 Building permit fees are set by the Chief Building Official…
Bullhead City 43,266 Yes Over 120 Fees follow the City of Bullhead City Comprehensive Fee Sch…
Douglas 15,819 Yes Any garage, attached or detached, requires a building per… Building permit fees per 15.08.010, valuation-based (garage…
Cottonwood 12,939 Yes Over 200

“Unconfirmed” means the city's code doesn't state the rule plainly enough to publish. Those city pages link straight to the ordinance section instead.

Why neighboring cities disagree

Every city starts from a model code and then edits it. One town raises the shed cutoff, the next lowers the fence height, a third exempts the structure where its neighbor only exempts repairs to it. None of that is visible from a national article — you have to read each ordinance, which is what these pages do.

This is a reference, not legal advice. Confirm with the building department in the city you're building in. How we build these pages.