Residential Services
Every Valley jurisdiction reviews residential work differently, and the differences are large enough to change your schedule by months. This page sets out what each city actually publishes — including which Phoenix fast-track program applies to a house and which one does not.
E-Project produces the permit set and manages the submittal — but the useful thing to know before you start is which review path your project will land on. Small remodels often qualify for expedited paths. Hillside parcels almost always disqualify from them. And in Phoenix specifically, the fast track for a house is Priority Expedited Plan Review, not Self-Certification.
Correcting a Common Assumption
Not available for a detached single-family house
This is the residential fast track
Sources: Phoenix PDD Self-Certification · Phoenix PDD Priority Expedited Plan Review
Published Targets
| Jurisdiction | Plan type | Published target |
|---|---|---|
| Phoenix (calendar days, July 2026 report) | Custom & standard plans | Goal 30 · actual avg 30 |
| Major remodels & additions | Goal 30 · actual avg 37 | |
| Minor remodels & additions | Goal 20 · actual avg 24 | |
| Plot plans | Goal 5 · actual avg 2 | |
| Scottsdale (business days) | Small Scope Review — residential remodel/addition under 500 SF | 1 admin · 5 substantive |
| Pools, fences, walls, signs | 5 admin · 5 substantive | |
| All other plan types | 7 admin · 15 substantive | |
| Paradise Valley (business days) | All residential — each review cycle | Up to 15, plus 3–5 to process the permit |
| Tempe | Residential | No verifiable published figure — confirm with the permit center |
Phoenix republishes its turnaround report monthly and recommends planning around the longer of goal and actual. Note that major and minor remodels and additions were both running over goal in the July 2026 report. Every figure here is an initial review target — each resubmittal cycle adds another.
Before the Permit
Mandatory pre-application review for all hillside applications, then one of several review tracks. The Town's guidance is explicit that hillside committee review happens before applying for a permit. New homes, remodels, additions, solar, accessory structures and new pools on hillside parcels all go through it.
Required for exterior changes to attached, condominium and multi-family properties. Detached single-family is exempt: additions or changes to detached single-family residences may submit for construction document plan review without Development Review approval.
Use permits, variances, development plans and land division approvals run through the Planning Division and bodies including the Development Review Commission, Board of Adjustment and Hearing Officer, submitted through the Tempe Citizen Access portal.
Thresholds Worth Knowing
Requirements and thresholds change. These are cited from each jurisdiction's published materials as of 2026 to illustrate how different the regimes are — E-Project confirms current requirements for your parcel before design begins.
What to Have Ready
Not a detached single-family house. The City of Phoenix Self-Certification program has run since 2010 and does allow registered professionals to certify code compliance in place of traditional City plan review, but detached single-family residential building plans are excluded from building plan eligibility; the program's residential reach is single-family subdivisions up to 160 acres for grading and drainage civil plans, plus multifamily and other buildings. To certify building plans a professional must be an architect or structural engineer registered in Arizona for at least three years and complete the City's training, with certification renewing every three years. Projects in hillside development areas and FEMA special floodplain hazard areas are explicitly ineligible.
Priority Expedited Plan Review, or PEPR. It is the program that actually applies to single-family work: eligibility includes non-hillside single family residences when resources are available. The fee is three times the base amount for the plan type, and the City states PEPR review times shall be one-half of the published goal for that plan type, with prorated refunds possible if the City misses the deadline. Two caveats matter: hillside parcels are excluded, and the City may deny expedited status even to qualifying projects when staff resources are insufficient.
Phoenix publishes a monthly turnaround report. In the July 2026 edition the goals were 30 calendar days for custom and standard plans, 30 for major remodels and additions, 20 for minor remodels and additions, and 5 for plot plans — with actual averages running at 30, 37, 24 and 2 respectively. Scottsdale publishes business-day targets: 5 days substantive for residential remodels and additions under 500 square feet, and 15 days for other plan types. Paradise Valley states initial and each subsequent review may take up to 15 business days plus 3 to 5 business days to process the permit. Tempe does not publish a verifiable residential turnaround figure — ask the permit center directly.
The address or parcel number, so zoning district and overlays can be confirmed. A current survey if one exists. Any existing drawings for a remodel. Your budget range and timeline. For hillside or sloped parcels, expect a slope analysis and an engineer-sealed grading and drainage plan to be required — thresholds vary, and in Paradise Valley a grading and drainage plan sealed by a registered civil engineer is required on any single-family home, or where 999 square feet or more of impervious area is added, or where work value exceeds $500,000.
Yes. Permitting services and entitlement process management are core E-Project services — submittal, comment responses, resubmittal and coordination with the reviewing departments, in addition to producing the drawings. What varies by jurisdiction is which pre-permit approvals are required first, such as Paradise Valley's Hillside Building Committee review or Scottsdale's Development Review Minor for attached, condominium and multi-family exterior changes.
Tell us the address and the scope. We will tell you which review path applies and what it realistically takes.
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