How does Arizona's 90-day notice and right-to-repair process work?

Before you can sue a builder over a home defect in Arizona, a required set of steps has to run first. Many people call it the "90-day notice," but the current statute, A.R.S. 12-1363, sets the clock at 60 days for the builder's response, not 90. Here is the core: before filing a lawsuit (a dwelling action), you mail the builder written notice by certified mail describing each defect "in reasonable detail." The builder may then ask to inspect the home, and you must make it available within 10 days of the request. The builder has 60 days from receiving your notice to send a "good faith written response," which can offer to repair, offer money, or decline. This notice-and-repair step is a jurisdictional prerequisite under A.R.S. 12-1362, meaning a court will dismiss a defect lawsuit filed without it.

The process exists to give both sides a chance to fix a home without a courtroom. It does not erase your other rights. You keep your warranty rights and can still complain to the Arizona Registrar of Contractors. But to sue over a defect, you have to walk through these steps first and in the right order.

Why people say "90 days" but the law says 60

The "90-day notice" name is a leftover from an older version of Arizona's law, while the current statute uses a 60-day response window. Arizona's right-to-repair rules sit in the Purchaser Dwelling Act, A.R.S. 12-1361 through 12-1366. Earlier versions of that law used a 90-day period, and the nickname stuck in everyday use and in some online guides. The legislature later rewrote the timeline. Today, A.R.S. 12-1363 controls, and it gives the builder 60 days to respond.

So if a contract, an old article, or a neighbor tells you that you must wait 90 days, check the current statute. The deadlines that actually govern your claim are the ones in the present text of A.R.S. 12-1363: a 10-day window to allow inspection, a 60-day window for the builder's written response, and the repair timing that follows. Using the wrong number can cost you. File too early, and a court can throw the case out. Treat the statute, not the nickname, as the rule.

The law applies to a construction defect, which A.R.S. 12-1361 defines as "a material deficiency" in the design or construction of a dwelling caused by a code violation, defective materials, or "the failure to adhere to generally accepted workmanship standards in the community." A cosmetic complaint is not enough. A real, material problem is.

The step-by-step timeline

The timeline is fixed by statute, and each step has its own deadline. Here is the order set by A.R.S. 12-1363.

• Step 1: You send written notice. "Before filing a dwelling action, the purchaser shall give written notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the seller specifying in reasonable detail the basis of the dwelling action." List each defect and where it is in the home. Certified mail with a return receipt gives you proof of the date.
• Step 2: The builder may inspect within 10 days. Once the builder requests an inspection, you "shall ensure that the dwelling is made available for inspection not later than ten days" after you get the request. The builder may use "reasonable measures, including testing," to find the cause, and must "restore the dwelling to its condition before the testing" if they cut into anything.
• Step 3: The builder responds within 60 days. "Within sixty days after receipt of the notice," the seller must send "a good faith written response" by certified mail. That response can include an intent to repair or replace, an offer of money, or a refusal.
• Step 4: If the builder does nothing, you may sue. "If the seller does not provide a written response to the purchaser's notice within sixty days, the purchaser may file a dwelling action." Silence opens the courthouse door.
• Step 5: Repairs begin on a set schedule. If the builder elects to repair, the parties "coordinate repairs or replacements within thirty days," and the builder makes "reasonable efforts to begin repairs or replacements within thirty-five days" after sending the intent notice. If a permit is needed, the start can run to 10 days after the permit issues, whichever is later.

You are not locked into any deal. The statute lets you "accept or reject an offer of monetary compensation," and if you reject a money offer, you may proceed once any repairs the builder intends to make are complete.

The deadline trap: tolling and the statute of repose

The right-to-repair process pauses your legal clock so the notice steps do not run out your time to sue, but Arizona's outer deadline still looms. Under A.R.S. 12-1363(F), "during the notice and repair or replacement process, and for thirty days after substantial completion of the repair or replacement, the statute of limitations and statute of repose," including A.R.S. 12-552, "are tolled." Tolling means those clocks stop ticking while you and the builder work through the steps, then resume.

That tolling protects you, but it does not buy unlimited time. A.R.S. 12-552 is a statute of repose that generally bars a construction claim more than eight years after substantial completion of the home, stretched to nine years for a defect discovered in the eighth year. So a defect that surfaces late in that window is on a tight schedule. Start the notice process promptly. The tolling rule helps most when you act early, not when you sit on a problem until year seven.

This is why the order of operations matters. Send the certified notice, let the inspection and 60-day response play out, and keep every receipt and dated photo. If the repair fails or the builder walks away, you have satisfied the prerequisite and your tolled clock resumes for a court filing.

How this fits with your other rights

The notice-and-repair process governs lawsuits, but it runs alongside your warranty rights and your complaint options, not instead of them. A.R.S. 12-1362 makes the notice step a jurisdictional prerequisite: a purchaser "may not file a dwelling action until the seller and the seller's construction professional have completed all intended repairs and replacements," and a case filed without proper notice can be dismissed. That is the teeth behind the requirement.

At the same time, you keep these parallel tracks:

• The implied warranty. Arizona law builds a warranty of workmanship and habitability into every home contract. See our page on the implied warranty of workmanship and habitability.
• An ROC complaint. You can file with the Arizona Registrar of Contractors, a separate administrative path that can order repairs or discipline a license. See how to file an ROC complaint and recovery fund claim.
• Attorney's fees. If the case proceeds and you win, fees may be recoverable. See recovering attorney's fees in an Arizona defect claim.

For the broader law behind this process, see the Arizona Purchaser Dwelling Act. The deadlines here are fixed by statute, but laws change and the facts of your defect matter, so confirm the current text of A.R.S. 12-1361 through 12-1366 and have an Arizona construction attorney review your notice before you mail it.

Where Jematell Homes comes in

We are a licensed, family-owned Arizona custom home builder. We would rather answer your questions before you build than after, so get in touch any time.

Sources

• A.R.S. 12-1363 (Notice and right to repair or replace; tolling of time limits)
• A.R.S. 12-1362 (Dwelling action; notice of intent to repair; jurisdictional prerequisite)
• A.R.S. 12-1361 (Definitions: dwelling action, construction defect, seller)
• A.R.S. 12-552 (Statute of repose for construction and implied-warranty actions)
• Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC), the agency that handles the parallel builder-complaint track