Arizona Plumbing Regulation Library

Arizona statutes and Phoenix ordinances that govern plumbing work, contractor licensing, backflow, cross-connection, and water-waste rules, explained.

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Contractor Licensing

A.R.S. 32-1101: How Arizona Classifies Contractor Licenses

A.R.S. 32-1101 is the definitions section of Arizona's contractor law. It sets three license classes: commercial contractor for non-residential work, residential contractor for work within residential property lines, and dual licensed contractor for both. The class controls what work a plumber may legally perform.

Contractor Licensing

A.R.S. 32-1121: Arizona's Owner-Builder and Handyman Licensing Exemptions

A.R.S. 32-1121 exempts two groups from Arizona's contractor licensing law: homeowners who work on a house they own and occupy, and anyone doing casual work under $1,000 total. Both exemptions come with limits: permitted work and work meant for sale or rent generally fall outside them.

Contractor Licensing

A.R.S. 32-1132: Arizona's Residential Contractors' Recovery Fund

A.R.S. 32-1132 funds a state pool that repays Arizona homeowners for actual losses caused by a licensed residential contractor, up to $30,000 per claim. To collect, a homeowner must first win a court judgment or Registrar of Contractors order that the contractor has not paid.

Contractor Licensing

A.R.S. 32-1152: Arizona Contractor License Bonds

A.R.S. 32-1152 is the license-bond law. Before the Registrar of Contractors issues a license, the applicant must post a surety bond or a cash deposit. The amount is set by the registrar within a schedule, based on the contractor's classification and volume of work. A bond is separate from the Residential Contractors' Recovery Fund.

Contractor Licensing

A.R.S. 32-1153: A Contractor Must Be Licensed to Sue for Payment

A.R.S. 32-1153 bars a contractor from suing you for payment on work that needs a license unless the contractor was duly licensed both when the contract was signed and when the claim arose. It is a strong consumer protection against unlicensed plumbers and other contractors.

Contractor Licensing

A.R.S. 32-1154: Grounds to Suspend or Revoke a Contractor License

A.R.S. 32-1154 lists the acts and omissions that can get an Arizona contractor license suspended or revoked. The list includes abandoning a job, poor workmanship or code violations, fraud, false advertising, a felony conviction, and failing to pay for materials or services.

Contractor Licensing

A.R.S. 32-1155: The Deadline to File an Arizona ROC Complaint

A.R.S. 32-1155 is the statute that lets you file a written complaint against a licensed Arizona contractor with the Registrar of Contractors. The complaint must be filed within the deadline set by A.R.S. 32-1162: generally two years from the close of escrow (new construction) or two years from project completion (other work).

Contractor Licensing

A.R.S. 32-1158: What a Contractor's Written Contract Must Include

A.R.S. 32-1158 sets what a contractor's written contract must include in Arizona. For any job over $1,000, the contract must list the contractor's name, address, and license number, the jobsite, the completion date, the total price, and deposit and payment terms. It must also carry a complaint-rights notice in at least ten-point bold type, signed by both parties.

Liens

A.R.S. 33-1002: Arizona's Lien Exemption for Owner-Occupied Homes

A.R.S. 33-1002 shields an owner-occupied Arizona home from many construction liens. A contractor, subcontractor, or supplier generally cannot lien your home unless they signed a written contract directly with you. Any agreement that waives this protection is void. It is a lien statute, not the separate homestead equity exemption in A.R.S. 33-1101.

Condo & HOA

A.R.S. 33-1247: Who Maintains the Plumbing in an Arizona Condo

A.R.S. 33-1247, part of Arizona's Condominium Act, sets the default split for upkeep: the association maintains the common elements, and each owner maintains their own unit. So plumbing inside a unit is usually the owner's, and shared plumbing in the common elements is the association's, unless the declaration says otherwise.

Landlord-Tenant

A.R.S. 33-1314.01: When an Arizona Landlord Can Bill You for Water

A.R.S. 33-1314.01 lets an Arizona landlord bill tenants for water through a submeter or a RUBS allocation formula, as long as the lease discloses the method and fee, the landlord adds no markup beyond actual cost plus a real administrative fee, and any mid-lease change gets 90 days' notice.

Landlord-Tenant

A.R.S. 33-1324: A Landlord's Duty to Maintain Plumbing and Supply Water

A.R.S. 33-1324 is the Arizona statute that requires a landlord to keep a rental fit and habitable. For plumbing, that means keeping the plumbing and sanitary facilities in good working order and supplying running water and reasonable amounts of hot water at all times.

Landlord-Tenant

A.R.S. 33-1363: Tenant Self-Help for Minor Repairs (Repair and Deduct)

A.R.S. 33-1363 is Arizona's repair-and-deduct law for small problems. After written notice and a short wait, a tenant may hire a licensed contractor to fix a minor defect and deduct the cost from rent. The cost is capped at 300 dollars or one-half of the monthly rent, whichever is greater.

Landlord-Tenant

A.R.S. 33-1364: Tenant Remedies If a Landlord Cuts Off Water or Hot Water

A.R.S. 33-1364 gives an Arizona tenant remedies when a landlord fails to supply an essential service like running water or hot water. After reasonable notice, the tenant may buy substitute service and deduct the cost, recover damages for lost rental value, or get substitute housing with rent excused.

Condo & HOA

A.R.S. 33-1801: Plumbing Responsibility in an Arizona Planned Community

The Arizona Planned Communities Act, A.R.S. 33-1801 and following, governs most non-condo HOAs. In a planned community each owner owns their whole lot and home, so the plumbing that serves only their house is usually theirs to maintain. The association maintains the common areas, and the recorded declaration sets the exact split.

Liens

A.R.S. 33-992.01: Arizona's Preliminary Twenty-Day Notice (Lien Rights)

A.R.S. 33-992.01 is Arizona's preliminary twenty day notice law. It lets a contractor, subcontractor, or material supplier protect future mechanics' lien rights by serving a written notice, generally within twenty days of first furnishing labor or materials. For a homeowner, receiving one is normal. It is a required heads-up, not a lien, and not a bill.

Pipes and Supply Lines

A.R.S. 40-360.22: Call Arizona 811 Before You Dig

Arizona excavation law generally gives utilities two working days to mark and apartment/mobile-home landlords ten. Large projects have separate coordination rules. Wait for required responses, renew marks after 15 working days, and expose marked facilities with hand tools within 24 inches.

Wells

A.R.S. 45-454: Arizona Exempt (Domestic) Wells

A.R.S. 45-454 defines Arizona's exempt well. A well whose pump moves 35 gallons per minute or less, used for the home or stock watering, can pump groundwater without a full water right, even inside an Active Management Area. Limits still apply, including a 100-foot rule near a city water system and required drilling paperwork.

Wells

A.R.S. 45-594: Well Construction Standards and Capping an Open Well

A.R.S. 45-594 directs the Arizona Department of Water Resources to set construction standards for wells. The rules cover new and replacement wells, deepening, abandonment, and the capping of open wells. An unused well must be capped or properly abandoned so it is not a hazard or a path for pollution to reach groundwater. The statute also lets the state cap a dangerous, non-compliant well while the owner keeps full liability.

Wells

A.R.S. 45-596: Notice of Intention to Drill a Well

A.R.S. 45-596 requires a Notice of Intention to Drill, filed with Arizona's water agency before any well is drilled or deepened. The notice must name a licensed well driller by license number. The fee is $150, or $100 for a domestic well outside an Active Management Area. The state then mails a drilling card that authorizes the work.

Septic

AAC R18-9-A316: Septic Inspection When a Property Transfers

Arizona Administrative Code R18-9-A316 requires a Transfer of Ownership Inspection of a septic or on-site wastewater system before a property sells. A qualified inspector must check it within six months before the transfer and complete a Report of Inspection for the buyer. The buyer files a Notice of Transfer within 15 days.

Commercial

AAC R18-9-A902: Industrial Stormwater

Arizona's 2024 Multi-Sector General Permit, effective January 16, 2025, covers industrial stormwater from 29 business sectors, including warehousing and trucking, when it reaches a protected surface water. Operators write a SWPPP, file a Notice of Intent in myDEQ and pay an acreage-based yearly fee. Fully covered sites can certify no exposure.

Water Reuse

AAC R18-9-D701: Arizona's Type 1 Gray Water Permit Rules

Arizona's Type 1 general permit lets a household reuse under 400 gallons a day of gray water with no application, as long as it meets the rule's conditions. Gray water comes from tubs, showers, bathroom sinks, and washing machines. Kitchen sink, dishwasher, and toilet water are not gray water.

Commercial

AAC R18-9-E301: Lift Station Permits

Arizona Administrative Code R18-9-E301, the Type 4.01 General Permit, covers new or expanded sewer systems that include a manhole, a lift station or force main serving more than one dwelling, or pipe downstream of the 3,000 gallon per day point, which catches most private commercial lift stations. It needs a Construction Authorization before building and a Discharge Authorization before use, and every lift station gets two pumps and high and low level alarms.

Septic

AAC R18-9-E302: Conventional Septic System General Permit

AAC R18-9-E302 is Arizona's general permit for a conventional septic system: a septic tank with a gravity disposal field built as a trench, bed, chamber, or seepage pit. It covers systems under 3,000 gallons per day of design flow. The disposal field is sized from a soil test. ADEQ writes the rules; counties run day-to-day permitting.

Drainage

AAC R18-9-I652: Drywell Inventory Rules

Arizona drywells are now Class V injection wells under ADEQ, which took over the federal UIC program on October 15, 2025. Under A.A.C. R18-9-I652 the owner files a Class V inventory in myDEQ, and existing wells get one year from the program start. The old drywell registration statute, A.R.S. 49-331, was repealed in 2022.

Commercial Plumbing

Arizona Administrative Code R18-4-215: Backflow Prevention and Annual Testing

Arizona Administrative Code R18-4-215 requires public water systems to guard the drinking supply from backflow through cross-connections. It makes owners install an approved backflow-prevention assembly where a hazard exists, have it tested by a certified tester, and keep records of each test.

Commercial Plumbing

Phoenix City Code Ch. 37: Backflow and Cross-Connection Control

Phoenix City Code Chapter 37 runs the city's cross-connection control program. Where a property has a backflow hazard, the owner must install an approved backflow assembly, have it tested every year by a certified tester, and file the results with the city. The rules sit in sections 37-141 through 37-146.

Commercial Plumbing

Phoenix City Code Chapter 28: The FOG (Grease) Program for Food-Service Businesses

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.

Commercial

Phoenix Industrial Wastewater Discharge Permit (City Code Ch. 28)

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.

Water Conservation

Phoenix Water-Waste Ordinance: What Counts as Wasting Water

Phoenix City Code makes it a violation to knowingly waste water, such as letting it run off your property, run down the gutter, or flow from a broken line you fail to fix. The rule supports water conservation in the desert, and repeat violations can bring warnings and fines from the City.

Need The Work Done To Code?

Call a licensed Phoenix plumber who pulls the permit and passes inspection the first time.

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