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

The statute lists the landlord's core duties in subsection A. In most rentals, a tenant cannot be made to sign these rights away. Here are the parts that matter most for plumbing.

First, the general repair duty:

Make all repairs and do whatever is necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition.

Next, the duty to keep systems working:

Maintain in good and safe working order and condition all electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, air-conditioning and other facilities...

Then the water duty, which is the key one here:

Supply running water and reasonable amounts of hot water at all times, reasonable heat and reasonable air-conditioning or cooling where such units are installed.

In plain terms, water is not optional. A landlord must keep the pipes working. A landlord must keep water flowing. And that must include a reasonable amount of hot water, all day, every day.

This law matters when a plumbing problem makes a home hard to live in. A few examples:

• A water heater fails and the tenant has no hot water. The landlord must fix or replace it and bring back reasonable hot water.
• A main line breaks and no water reaches the unit. The duty to supply running water at all times now applies.
• A sewer line backs up into a tub or floor drain. The duty to keep sanitary facilities in safe working order applies.
• A slab leak soaks a floor and the unit is no longer safe. The general "fit and habitable" duty covers it.

There is one common exception. For a single-family home, the landlord and tenant can agree in writing that the tenant handles some tasks. That deal must be made in good faith. It cannot be used to dodge building codes. So read any written agreement before you assume who is on the hook.

If you rent, know that 33-1324 puts the water and plumbing duty on your landlord in most cases. Report the problem in writing and keep a copy. That written notice matters if the landlord drags their feet.

This statute sets the duty. It does not, by itself, set your remedies if the landlord ignores you. Those remedies live in a companion law, A.R.S. 33-1364, for a cut-off of water or hot water. See our page on tenant remedies when a landlord cuts off water. For a small repair you can arrange yourself, A.R.S. 33-1363 lets a tenant repair and deduct within a cost cap. In a rented commercial space the split can differ; see commercial plumbing tenant vs landlord.

If you are not sure whether a hot water problem is the heater or the plumbing, our guide on no hot water in the shower only can help you narrow it down.

Confirm the current text before you rely on it. The duties above reflect A.R.S. 33-1324 as published on the Arizona Legislature's site as of this writing. Landlord-tenant laws change, so check the current statute or ask a housing counselor before acting.

The quoted lines above come from the official Arizona Revised Statutes, a public-domain government work. Read the whole section, including every subsection, on the Arizona Legislature's site: A.R.S. 33-1324 on azleg.gov. For the wider law, see A.R.S. Title 33, Chapter 10.

This page explains a general Arizona statute and is not legal advice. Whether a landlord broke this duty depends on the facts of your rental, so confirm your situation with a landlord-tenant attorney or a housing-counseling office before you act.