Homeowner guide
What happens between a remodel idea and being ready to build.
Permitting is the longest part of a remodel that nobody plans for. Here is the actual sequence, and where projects genuinely differ.
Before anything is drawn
Feasibility comes first.
Every project starts with two questions that have nothing to do with design: what does the property allow, and what does the existing house actually consist of. Zoning governs the first — setbacks, lot coverage, height, and whether the use you have in mind is permitted on that parcel at all. The second is a matter of measurement rather than opinion.
This is where a project is cheapest to change. A layout that cannot meet a setback is a drawing problem in week one and a demolition problem in month four. Documenting what is there — where the structure carries load, where the drains actually run, what the electrical service can support — is the first real work, and everything downstream depends on it being right.
The sequence
Idea to construction, in order.
Most permitted projects move through these stages. Not every project touches every one — see what changes by project type, below.
- 01
Project idea
What you want to change, and roughly what it might involve.
- 02
Zoning & property feasibility
What the parcel permits — setbacks, coverage, height, permitted use.
- 03
Existing conditions
Measuring and documenting the house as it actually is, not as the original plans claimed.
- 04
Design development
Layout and construction drawings resolved against those constraints.
- 05
Engineering, where required
Structural work — removed bearing walls, new openings, additions — goes to an engineer.
- 06
Scope & selections
The scope written in enough detail to price, with long-lead items decided.
- 07
Permit documents
Assembling the submittal package the jurisdiction requires.
- 08
Submission
Filed with the municipality with authority over the parcel.
- 09
Plan review
The jurisdiction reviews the package against adopted codes.
- 10
Corrections & resubmittal
Comments come back and are addressed. This is routine, not failure.
- 11
Permit issuance
Construction may begin.
- 12
Construction & inspections
Work proceeds through inspection gates in a fixed order.
- 13
Closeout
Final inspections, and a certificate of occupancy where applicable.
The part nobody warns you about
Corrections are normal.
Plan review usually comes back with comments. Homeowners often read that as a rejection, or as evidence that something was done badly. It is neither. A reviewer is checking a package against adopted codes and noting where more information is needed — a detail to clarify, a calculation to show, a sheet to revise.
What matters is how many rounds it takes and how quickly each one turns around. A complete, well-assembled submittal tends to draw fewer comments than a thin one, which is the practical argument for doing the design work properly rather than racing to file.
We do not publish review timeframes. That clock belongs to the jurisdiction’s queue, and no contractor controls it — anyone quoting you a firm review duration is quoting someone else’s workload.
Not every project is the same
Where the path genuinely differs.
Requirements depend on scope and on the jurisdiction with authority over your parcel. These are the patterns, not a rule for your property.
- Kitchens
- Replacing cabinets and finishes in place often needs no permit. Once plumbing, gas or electrical moves, it generally does — and removing a wall raises a structural question before it raises a permitting one.
- Bathrooms
- Similar logic, with waterproofing and ventilation added. Relocating a toilet means opening the floor to reach the drain, which changes both the scope and what gets inspected.
- Whole-home remodels
- More trades, more inspection gates, and more discovery. Systems work across a whole house usually brings the permitted scope well beyond what the homeowner first pictured.
- Additions
- Almost always permitted, and almost always engineered. Foundation, framing, rough-ins and insulation each carry their own inspection, in a fixed order.
- Casitas & ADUs
- A complete dwelling, reviewed under accessory-dwelling rules that vary by jurisdiction and have been changing in Arizona. Utility connections carry their own inspections.
- Exterior work
- Re-coating is often unpermitted; changing an opening's size is structural. Window and door replacement sits somewhere between depending on what changes.
Who files
Who may pull a permit.
Jurisdictions set their own rules about who may apply for a permit, and Arizona regulates contracting through the Registrar of Contractors. A homeowner acting as an owner-builder is treated differently from a contractor, and taking that route means taking on responsibilities that would otherwise sit with the contractor.
Whoever you hire, checking their standing on the Registrar’s public licence lookup before you sign anything is a reasonable thing to do. It takes a minute and it is the single cheapest piece of diligence available to you.
On a Monarch project, we develop the design, assemble the permit package, and sequence inspections around the trades. Work that legally requires a licensed specialty trade is performed by that trade.
Before you rely on this
This is general information about how remodeling permitting commonly works in the Phoenix area, not advice about a specific property. Requirements vary by project scope and by the jurisdiction with authority over your parcel, and the governing rules are those your municipality has adopted. Nothing here is a guarantee of permit approval.
Sources
Check these yourself. Statutes and municipal codes change, and the version your jurisdiction has adopted is the one that governs your property.
- Planning & Development DepartmentCity of Phoenix
- Public licence lookupArizona Registrar of Contractors
Not sure what your project needs?
We establish what your jurisdiction requires as part of design and preconstruction — before a scope is priced, rather than after a drawing has to change.