County Guide
Maricopa County, AZ Building Permits: Who Issues Them
Maricopa County's Planning and Development Department issues building permits for unincorporated areas only. Who covers what, and how to look up permits.
Short answer: in Maricopa County, Arizona, the county building department only issues permits for unincorporated land. If your project is inside Phoenix, Mesa, Scottsdale, or another incorporated city, that city's own building department has jurisdiction, not the county. Here is who issues permits in Maricopa County, what the county covers, and how to look up a record.
Who Issues Building Permits in Maricopa County?
Building permits for unincorporated Maricopa County are issued by the Maricopa County Planning and Development Department. It reviews plans, issues permits, and inspects residential and commercial construction on land that sits outside any city limits. For those areas it is the authority having jurisdiction, the office with legal power to approve and inspect the work. If you want the background on that role, see our guide to the authority having jurisdiction.
The county moved its permitting online through a system it calls the Permit Center, which handles applications, plan review, and inspection requests for the departments that use it. Older records were kept in a separate legacy system, so very old permits may live in a different archive.
What the County Covers vs the Cities Inside It
This is the part that trips people up. Maricopa County is large and holds most of metro Phoenix, but the county building department does not permit work inside incorporated cities. Each city runs its own building department and keeps its own records.
Phoenix, Mesa, Scottsdale, Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale, and Tempe all issue their own permits. A remodel in Phoenix goes through the City of Phoenix, not the county. The county's records cover unincorporated communities and county islands, the pockets of land that were never annexed into a city.
Before you file or search, confirm whether the address is inside a city or in unincorporated county land. Permits filed with a city will not appear in county records, and the reverse is also true.
How to Look Up Permits in Maricopa County
For unincorporated addresses, start with the county's own Permit Center, where you can search public permit records by address, permit number, or parcel. Building permits are public record in Arizona, which is why these portals exist. Our explainer on whether building permits are public record covers what you can and cannot see.
If the address is inside a city, use that city's portal instead. To track activity across the county without hopping between portals, use our live Maricopa County permit tracker, which pulls residential permits from the official feed and updates weekly. To research a single property's permit history, see how to look up permit history by address.
Permit Activity in Maricopa County
Permit Ledger tracks about 1,170 residential permits in unincorporated Maricopa County in the latest 30-day period as of mid-July 2026, down from roughly 1,925 in the prior 30 days. Because the county figure reflects unincorporated land only, it runs lower than the combined total for the metro's incorporated cities, which permit on their own systems.
Month-to-month swings like this are normal for a single jurisdiction and can reflect seasonal timing and how batches of permits post to the feed. The tracker shows the current mix by project type so you can see what is driving the count.
Who Uses This Data
Contractors use county permit activity to size demand and time outreach. Investors watch renovation and addition volume as a read on where money is going into housing stock. Direct mail marketers pull recent permit addresses to reach owners who are already spending on their homes. All of it starts with knowing which office issued the permit, since that determines where the record lives.
Frequently asked questions
Who issues building permits in Maricopa County, Arizona?
The Maricopa County Planning and Development Department issues building permits, but only for unincorporated areas. Projects inside cities such as Phoenix, Mesa, or Scottsdale go through that city's own building department.
Does Maricopa County issue permits for Phoenix or Mesa?
No. Phoenix, Mesa, Scottsdale, and the county's other incorporated cities each run their own building departments and issue their own permits. County records cover unincorporated land only.
How do I look up a building permit in Maricopa County?
For unincorporated addresses, search the county's online Permit Center by address, permit number, or parcel. For an address inside a city, use that city's permit portal. You can also track county residential permits on Permit Ledger's live tracker.
Are Maricopa County building permits public record?
Yes. Building permits are public record in Arizona, so anyone can search permit and inspection records through the county's portal or the relevant city's system.
How many building permits does Maricopa County issue?
Permit Ledger tracked about 1,170 residential permits in unincorporated Maricopa County in the 30 days ending mid-July 2026, down from about 1,925 in the prior 30 days. City permits are counted separately by each city.
See Live Maricopa County Permit Data →Related guides
- What Is the AHJ (Authority Having Jurisdiction)?
- What Is a Parcel Number? Definition and How to Find It
- Unpermitted Work: What Happens If You're Caught
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