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

A.R.S. 32-1155 lets any person file a written complaint with the registrar charging a licensed contractor with an act that is grounds for suspension or revocation. Here is the key line from subsection A, in full:

The complaint must be filed within the statute of limitations prescribed by 32-1162.

That cross-reference matters. It means 32-1155 does not set its own deadline. It borrows the deadline from A.R.S. 32-1162, which reads:

A person may file a written complaint pursuant to section 32-1155 with the registrar alleging a licensee has committed a violation of this chapter. The complaint must be filed: 1. For new home builds or other new building construction, within two years after the earlier of the close of escrow or actual occupancy. 2. For all other projects, within two years after the completion of the specific project.

In plain language: you generally have two years to file. The trigger date depends on the job. For new-home construction, the clock starts at whichever comes first, the close of escrow or the day someone actually moved in. For every other kind of plumbing or repair job, it starts when that specific project was completed.

This deadline matters most when a defect surfaces well after the work is done. For example, consider these scenarios:

• A Phoenix homeowner buys new construction, closes escrow in March, and finds a slab leak from a bad plumbing installation fourteen months later. The two-year clock started at closing, so they still have time to file.
• A contractor reroutes a sewer line as a standalone repair job, not new construction. The two-year window for that job runs from the date the repair was finished, not from any later closing or move-in date.
• A homeowner discovers a water heater installed two and a half years ago was never permitted correctly. Under 32-1162, that complaint is likely outside the filing window, since the clock ran from project completion.

A.R.S. 32-1155 also spells out what happens after a complaint is filed. The registrar can issue a citation giving the contractor ten days to answer in writing. If the contractor does not answer, the registrar may treat that as an admission and move toward suspending or revoking the license. Subsection D adds a protection for the contractor: the registrar generally cannot cite a contractor for workmanship issues unless the contractor gets fifteen days to inspect the disputed work first, unless the work was neglected, altered, or abused after the fact.

If you think a licensed contractor did bad plumbing work, do not wait to find out whether you are inside the window. Figure out which trigger date applies to your job: close of escrow or occupancy for new construction, or completion date for everything else. Then count two years from there. If you are close to that line, file now rather than gathering more evidence first, since the deadline itself does not pause for you to build a stronger case.

The step-by-step process for filing, and what the ROC can and cannot do once your complaint is open, is covered in our guide on how to file a complaint against a contractor in Arizona. That page also covers what to do if the contractor was never licensed, since 32-1155 and 32-1162 only apply to complaints against a licensed contractor. The specific grounds the ROC weighs in a complaint are listed in A.R.S. 32-1154, and serious losses may also open a claim on the Residential Contractors' Recovery Fund.

Confirm the current deadline before you rely on it. Statutes of limitations can be amended, and the two-year figure above reflects the text of A.R.S. 32-1162 as published on the Arizona Legislature's site as of this writing. Check the current statute yourself or call the Registrar of Contractors before you assume your window is still open.

The quoted text above is reproduced from the official Arizona Revised Statutes, which are public-domain government works. Read both statutes in full, including every subsection, on the Arizona Legislature's site: A.R.S. 32-1155 on azleg.gov and A.R.S. 32-1162 on azleg.gov. The Registrar of Contractors' own complaint portal and current instructions are posted at roc.az.gov/file-complaint.

This page explains a general Arizona statute and is not legal advice. Whether a specific complaint is timely depends on the facts of your project and the trigger date that applies to it, so confirm your situation with the Arizona Registrar of Contractors or a qualified attorney before relying on it.