Commercial Plumbing: Rules in Phoenix-Area Cities

Every Valley city compared here wants grease interceptor cleaning and repair records kept at the business for three years and shown on request. Chandler lists what each record must show, including a county-licensed hauler. Phoenix inspects unannounced, and the Fountain Hills Sanitary District inspects at least once a year.

Each Valley city sets its own grease rules, because Maricopa County leaves sizing to cities. Phoenix, Mesa, Scottsdale and Tempe allow an indoor grease trap only with four or fewer fixtures and no dishwasher. Required pumping runs from every 30 days (Phoenix traps) to every 180 days (Glendale), and enzymes never replace pumping.

Significant industrial users need a city wastewater discharge permit before they discharge, and smaller users can be pulled in when their discharge could harm the sewer. Apply early: Scottsdale wants the application 180 days ahead and Gilbert 90. Phoenix wants pretreatment plans approved before building plan submittal.

Phoenix, Mesa, Scottsdale and Glendale name restaurants on their lists and require an RP assembly or air gap. Surprise and Goodyear require one on commercial or all connections. Tempe, Gilbert and Chandler judge the hazard. Every required assembly gets a yearly certified test (Phoenix 37-144, Mesa 8-1-8, Scottsdale 49-62, A.A.C. R18-4-215).

Yes, for a new restaurant or a major alteration or addition. The county Environmental Health Code bars construction until detailed plans are submitted to and approved by Environmental Services. The plans need a plumbing schedule showing water heaters, overhead waste lines, floor drains and sinks, connections and backflow devices.

Sinks, dish machines, ice machines and walk-in condensate lines drain indirectly through a 1-inch minimum air gap to a floor sink or drain, each on its own rigid line. Floor drains stay out of walk-in units except trough drains in processing rooms or produce and meat coolers with undercut or swing doors.

The city, not the county. The county's restaurant plan review guide says local municipalities determine the number and size of grease traps and interceptors, and tells owners on county land to contact the Water & Waste Division. In unincorporated areas, IPC 1003.3 is amended to add county Environmental Services requirements.

Pinal County plans must show each grease trap or interceptor with its type and size, easily accessible and outside the building. The Appendix A checklist also asks how often it is emptied, the backflow device on any equipment connected to the water supply, the indirect drainage method for each machine, and a waiver letter if there is no interceptor.

Pinal County Environmental Health wants a plumbing schedule on every food establishment plan set, listing fixtures, sinks, floor drains and sinks, supply lines, overhead waste lines, water heating equipment with capacity and recovery rate, backflow devices and wastewater connections. Review runs within 30 business working days and approval expires one year after issuance.

No. Phoenix strikes dilution from the model plumbing code. Corrosive liquids, spent acids and other harmful chemicals must be neutralized or treated in an approved neutralizing device, and the waste and the treatment method must be approved before installation. Federal rules generally prohibit dilution as a substitute for required pretreatment.

Yes, for qualifying facilities. Phoenix can issue an annual permit instead of one permit per alteration to an already approved plumbing installation. The holder needs an Arizona registered architect or engineer as its agent and must keep records. In practice the annual permit runs through the city's Annual Facilities Program, Section 117.

Yes. Phoenix requires plan review for every grease interceptor installed or replaced. A like-for-like swap of a grease trap can be reviewed over the counter. A new gravity interceptor or any re-piping goes through electronic plan review. A certificate of occupancy is required for these reviews.

City Code 28-15 requires the user to keep a Phoenix interceptor working. Grease traps are pumped at least every 30 days and never go past 90. Food service gravity interceptors are pumped at least every three months, and any gravity interceptor when it is over 25 percent full and at least yearly. Keep records on site three years.

Under Phoenix City Code 28-12, laundries, food service establishments, service stations, auto repair shops, car washes and commissaries must install and operate an interceptor when the Water Services Director finds one necessary. The city's FOG manual goes further: every food service establishment that prepares food on site needs a grease interceptor.

Phoenix City Code Chapter 28 bars food-service businesses from putting fats, oils, and grease into the city sewer. Under the City's FOG program, a restaurant must install an approved grease interceptor, pump it on schedule, keep service records, and pass city inspections.

An industrial or commercial business in Phoenix that sends process wastewater to the public sewer usually needs a city wastewater discharge permit first. Phoenix City Code Chapter 28 and its Industrial Pretreatment Program set the rules. This is separate from the FOG grease program, which covers food-service kitchens.

In Phoenix a grease trap (hydromechanical interceptor) is allowed only for kitchens with up to four plumbing fixtures and no garbage disposal or dishwasher. More than four fixtures, or any disposal or dishwasher, requires an outdoor gravity grease interceptor, at least 500 gallons with two compartments.

Phoenix Environmental Services inspectors arrive unannounced, in uniform, and try to come in off hours. They check three years of pumping records, the interceptor and how full it is, the count of grease-bearing fixtures and the outside grease and trash area. Problems get an inspector's requirement with a time frame, and extension requests must be in writing.

A commercial building permit with plan review, applied for in the SHAPE PHX portal. Phoenix requires it for non-residential remodels, tenant improvements and changes of use. Moving or adding fixtures counts. Swapping a fixture in the same spot, clearing a stoppage or fixing a leak is exempt.

Phoenix's online permits flyer lists three commercial plumbing jobs a licensed contractor can permit online: Replace Water Heater, Minor Plumbing Repipe and Gas Pipe Repair. The work must be minor enough to skip plan review. New permit applications now go through the SHAPE PHX portal.

Three city departments approve a Phoenix fire line together: the Fire Department, Planning and Development (PDD) and Water Services (WSD). The Fire Code also says fire protection permits go only to current Fire Department business certificate holders, so a plumbing license alone does not let you pull one.

Scottsdale Water Quality inspects each restaurant. Code requires a complete cleaning by a licensed contractor every 30 days for interceptors rated 100 gpm/200 pounds or less, and every 90 days for larger units, or sooner at 25 percent full. Keep written logs on site for three years. Enzymes cannot replace pumping.

Scottsdale's Commercial Plan Review page lists 7 business days for administrative review and 10 business days for substantive review of a tenant improvement. Plumbing is part of the construction documents, so it rides that clock. Corrections send the plans back, and the process restarts when you resubmit.

The city's Pretreatment page says Scottsdale car washes, repair shops and fleet facilities must pump and clean their interceptor at least once a year, more often if discharge requires. Code Section 31-85 sets 90 days for sand and grease interceptors over 100 gpm/200 pounds. Keep pump-out records on site for three years.

Scottsdale wants a kitchen equipment list, a drawing that shows every drain, floor sink and vent, and interceptor size calculations on the city worksheet. Gravity interceptors also need site and civil drawings with setbacks and easements. A licensed plumbing contractor must do the work, and no interceptor may be installed at risk.

Scottsdale requires at least 500 gallons for a gravity grease interceptor. Its sizing formula uses DFU × 3 gpm × 12 or 17 minutes, while its gravity-interceptor definition specifies at least 30 minutes retention. Have plan review resolve that difference for the design. Small traps require four or fewer food-prep fixtures and no dishwasher.

Scottsdale requires an interceptor at new facilities handling grease-laden or other harmful waste, at an existing facility that has none when it adds, alters or remodels, and at any facility that causes a sewer blockage or grease build-up. Each interceptor serves one user only, and the code names the kitchen fixtures that must drain to it.

Paradise Valley Town Code 15-2-15 requires grease, oil and sand interceptors when the Town Engineer finds them necessary for wastes with excessive grease or oil, flammables or sand. Homes are excluded. The Town Engineer approves type, capacity and an accessible location, and the owner keeps the interceptor working at the owner's expense.

Yes. Carefree requires a Certificate of Occupancy before a physical business opens, and the way to get one is to request and pay for a $100 Building Safety Inspection in the Permit & License Portal after applying for the $50 business license. The COO is one-time unless the business moves to a different building. Contractors skip the inspection step.

Small tenant improvements in Group B, M or S space can use Mesa's permit-by-inspection program if they are 10,000 square feet or less, involve no change of occupancy (except between B and M), no high piled storage or hazardous materials, and need no added zoning approval. An inspector reviews and issues the permit. Using it is optional.

Usually not for two years. Mesa's City Engineer will not approve a right-of-way permit to cut a street for two years after the city accepts new pavement, renovation, reconstruction or street maintenance. Exceptions cover emergencies, lost essential service, building service with no other route and legal mandates. Cuts within five years also pay a restoration fee.

Yes. In Mesa no building can be used, and no occupancy classification changed, until the Building Safety Director issues a Certificate of Occupancy after inspection. It also waits on unpaid city taxes and accounts. A partial or temporary certificate can cover part of a project, and the original is free.

Yes. Any connection to, opening into or alteration of Mesa's public sewer needs a written permit from Development Services, and a valid plumbing permit comes first. The owner maintains the building connection pipe from the building to the public sewer, except that the city repairs a broken section located off-property in a street or alley.

Yes. Mesa requires a Right-of-Way Permit before anyone excavates or works in a street, alley or public easement, including sewers and water mains. Apply with engineering plans, and the City Engineer reviews and inspects the work. Give 24 hours notice before starting. Digging a street to connect to the sewer also needs the City Engineer's permit.

You need one if Mesa classes your business as Class I (any significant industrial user) or Class II (a smaller user the city finds could harm the sewer or worker safety). Class III needs no permit. Mesa issues permits within 60 days of a complete application, for up to five years, and they cannot be transferred.

Yes, if you ask for a meter four inches or larger, or the equivalent in multiple meters. Mesa's code also requires an MLM Permit to use more than the 330 acre-foot annual demand ceiling or to take service with unusual demand. Residential-only meters and hospitals are excluded, but landscape meters are not.

Not if the total occupant load is 25 or fewer, counting employees and customers. Mesa's amendments also drop the service sink requirement for businesses and stores with 100 or fewer occupants and the drinking fountain requirement at 50 or fewer. Other separate-facility exceptions and fixture-count rules still apply.

Mesa sizes a grease interceptor from drainage fixture units: total the units, multiply by 3 gpm, then by 12, and round up. The minimum is 500 gallons, the maximum 2,500, with two chambers, or three at 750 gallons and up. A trap is allowed only with four or fewer food-prep fixtures and no dishwasher.

Mesa makes the owner keep pretreatment equipment in continuous, effective operation at the owner's cost and keep cleaning, repair and calibration records at the facility for three years. Bypasses are prohibited except in narrow cases. A planned bypass needs 10 days written notice, and an unplanned one must be reported within 24 hours.

Mesa City Code 8-4-22 lets the city require a grease, oil or sand interceptor at restaurants, laundries, service stations, auto shops and carwashes. The owner keeps it working at their own expense and keeps written cleaning and repair records at the facility for three years. Section 8-4-22 sets no pumping interval.

Mesa charges a water and wastewater capacity fee by meter size on any new or upsized water connection, from $9,528 for a 3/4 inch meter to $254,072 for a 4 inch meter. It is due before the city installs the meter. Upsizing pays only the difference, and impact fees under Title 5 can apply on top.

Mesa bans wastewater below pH 5.0 or above 10.5, hotter than 150 degrees F, with a flashpoint under 140 degrees F, or carrying enough fats, oils, grease or solids to block or damage the sewer. It also bars unapproved cooling water, condensate and stormwater. Class I industrial users face added metal limits.

Mesa reviews commercial plumbing plans against a nine-page checklist built on the 2024 IPC with Mesa amendments. It covers fixture counts, water service, drainage, vents, backflow, roof drains and interceptors. Plumbing systems cannot be deferred to a later submittal, and incomplete packages can be returned without review.

Mesa can issue an Annual Facilities Permit to a qualified facility, such as a manufacturer or property manager with full-time building staff. It replaces individual permits for repeat work on existing buildings, but only if the work adds no floor area and does not change the use. An Arizona registered architect or engineer must serve as the agent.

Yes, Chandler can issue an annual permit for repeat alterations at a previously approved building instead of a permit for each job. The fee schedule lists it as a $1,000.00 registration plus $60.00 per hour of on-site review and inspection, with a trust account required. The scope of work is set by a building official policy.

Only with the city's approval. A mobile food operator who wants to send gray water to a commissary in Chandler submits the city's online food truck discharge form. It names the commissary and its grease device type (grease interceptor or grease trap), its capacity in gallons, and the expected frequency and volume of discharge.

Chandler sizes gravity grease interceptors by total drainage fixture units: 0 to 21 DFU needs 750 gallons, 22 to 35 needs 1,000, 36 to 90 needs 1,250, and so on up to 3,000 gallons at 308 to 342 DFU. Above 342 DFU, an Arizona registered professional engineer must design it.

Chandler's Industrial Pretreatment Program bars non-residential wastewater with FOG above 100 mg/L or pH below 5.0 or above 12.5. Chandler bills excess pollutant charges when BOD tops 300 mg/L, suspended solids top 350 mg/L or ammonia tops 35.0 mg/L.

Yes. Chandler requires every food service establishment that prepares or packages food or beverages to install a fats, oils and grease treatment device, sized by fixture count. Keep pumping records on site for 3 years, clean when grease and solids reach about 25 percent of capacity, and never add enzymes or route a disposer to it.

Chandler's posted time frames for a commercial tenant improvement building permit are 20 working days for the completeness review, 40 for substantive review (two reviews of 20 working days each) and 60 working days overall. The clock stops while you answer a deficiency notice or corrections.

Yes. Under Gilbert Town Code 66-177, every nonresidential user connected to the town sewer, including home occupations and users exempt from a business license, completes a wastewater discharge questionnaire. It is filed with the business license application and repeated yearly with the renewal. License-exempt users file when they connect and every July 1.

In Gilbert, an industrial user the town designates as significant needs a Class A wastewater discharge permit, and must apply at least 90 days before any new or additional industrial discharge begins. Smaller users can be required to hold a Class B permit if the director finds their discharge could harm the sewer system. Permits run up to five years.

Gilbert Town Code 66-244 requires every newly built, remodeled or converted commercial kitchen with grease-generating activity to install a grease removal device at least as large as the adopted plumbing code (the 2018 IPC) requires. The town can also order a new or more effective grease removal device after grease blockages in the sewer line serving the business.

In Gilbert, a vehicle or equipment service facility may have no floor drains unless they connect to a wastewater pretreatment system. Parts-cleaning sinks and tanks cannot connect to the sewer, and wash rack water must pass through a pretreatment device first. The town's list covers repair, fueling, fluid changes, body work and washing.

Gilbert requires the entire contents of a grease removal device to be pumped out at least every six months, and more often when needed to keep grease out of the sewer. The director can accept a longer interval if the owner shows it works. Emulsifiers are banned, and additives can never be the only maintenance.

Gilbert collects system development fees before it issues a building permit. With no building permit, they are due when the water service connection is bought, or before a sewer-only connection is approved. Nothing issues until they are paid, and a change of use or added floor area is charged on the added service units only.

Gilbert requires pretreatment when the director finds a permit applicant's waste must be lowered before it reaches the town sewer, when a business produces wastewater the article prohibits, or when a plant change raises the strength or volume of a permit holder's discharge. The plans go to the director for approval before construction starts.

Sometimes. Tempe City Code 8-111.3 lets the building official issue a temporary certificate of occupancy before all permitted work is finished, if that portion will be occupied safely. Each is limited to 30 days, a permit gets at most three, and Table 2-A lists $1,006 for the first 30 days or each extension.

Not always. Tempe's IPC 403.2 says separate toilet facilities for each sex are not required in a structure or tenant space with a total occupant load of 30 or fewer, employees and customers combined. Single-user rooms and all-gender rooms with privacy also avoid the split. Section 410.2 drops drinking fountains at the same 30.

Tempe City Code 27-32 lets Public Works issue wastewater discharge permits to nondomestic users and require a notice of intent. A significant industrial user needs a Class I permit first, and others may be required to hold Class II, III or IV permits. A permit lasts up to five years and goes void if a transfer lacks 60 days' notice.

Yes, in most cases. Tempe City Code 8-105.1 requires a permit before anyone alters, repairs or replaces a plumbing system or changes a space's use. The exemptions cover stopping leaks and clearing stoppages without replacing parts, and like-for-like water heater and softener swaps only in homes. Applications go through Tempe's online permit portal.

Tempe City Code 27-22 lets Public Works require every non-residential sewer user to install, clean and maintain grease traps and interceptors at its own expense, under city rules. A food service kitchen needs a trap or an interceptor, a commercial dishwasher means an interceptor, and commercial garbage disposals are barred.

Tempe inspects restaurant grease devices on a routine schedule. Inspectors check that a permitted hauler is pumping the device every 30 or 90 days by size, that pump-out records are on site, that the device is intact, that the right fixtures drain to it and that no disposal is connected.

Tempe City Code 27-10 bars a long list from the city sewer, including fats, oils, grease, wipes and rags in amounts that obstruct flow, wastewater hotter than 150 degrees Fahrenheit or outside pH 5.0 to 10.5, petroleum oil, and condensate unless Public Works authorizes it. A nondomestic source also needs a Public Works permit.

Queen Creek asks industrial users to complete an Industrial Waste Survey as part of the building permit. The Town ties this to Town Code 16-4-15, which bars discharges to the public sewer that can cause interference or health problems, and 16-4-17, which sets pretreatment requirements. The Town says to call 480-358-3003 to learn whether your project needs a permit.

Yes. The City of Maricopa's tenant improvement guide says all food service facilities require separate approval by Pinal County, with plan review and permitting through Pinal County Environmental Health in Florence. Fire sprinkler and fire alarm submittals need their own permits and approvals too, so a restaurant here has several approvals running alongside the city building permit.

Glendale requires every grease trap and grease, oil or sand interceptor to be pumped out or cleaned out completely at least once every 180 days, or more often if the city says so. The owner pays, keeps three years of written records at the facility, and cannot use enzymes as a substitute for pumping.

Peoria requires every grease trap and interceptor to be pumped out or cleaned out completely at least once every 90 days, or more often if the Director says so. The owner pays, keeps cleaning and repair records at the facility for three years, and cannot use enzymes or bacteria as a substitute for pumping.

Yes, if you are an industrial user as Surprise Municipal Code defines it. Under 58-322 an industrial user must hold a city industrial waste discharge permit, get a new or amended one before starting any new industrial discharge, pretreat as needed, keep records and file quarterly self-monitoring reports. The city issues them for up to five years.

Surprise's 2024 plumbing amendments hand grease interceptor sizing to the City. A gravity interceptor's retention time is whatever the City approves, not the model code's fixed 30 minutes, and an automatic grease removal device must still work as a gravity interceptor when the power goes out. The City's guidance then asks for an outdoor unit of 750 to 2,500 gallons.

Yes. Goodyear Ordinance 12A requires every food service establishment to install an appropriately sized grease trap or grease interceptor. Interceptors run 500 to 2,500 gallons, traps are limited to four food-prep fixtures and no dishwasher, and every trap and interceptor is cleaned out completely at least every 180 days unless the director allows otherwise in writing.

Avondale City Code 24-104 lets the director require grease, oil, hair and sand interceptors wherever wastewater carries excessive fats, oil, grease or sand, but never for residential users. Under 24-105, every user applying to discharge into the sewer submits an industrial pretreatment survey, and larger or designated users need a discharge permit.

Buckeye City Code 16-10-2(B) requires grease, oil and sand interceptors or traps where the water resources department finds them necessary, and never for private living quarters. Unless the director approves otherwise, an interceptor holds 750 to 2,500 gallons. The owner keeps it working at the owner's expense and keeps cleaning records on site for three years.

Tolleson City Code 11-3-1 lets the Utilities Director require a pretreatment system for industrial flows, to restrict certain waste constituents, even out peak discharges or reach a required result. Every system needs plans signed by an Arizona-licensed engineer, and grease, oil and sand interceptors are required where the city finds them necessary.

Yes. Litchfield Park requires a building permit to repair, remove, convert or replace any plumbing system, and a tenant space change also brings plan review, a certificate of occupancy and a business license. Commercial plumbing improvements are listed at 5 to 10 business days for review, and simple permits can be issued over the counter.