Glossary

A B C D E F G H I J L M N O P Q R S T U V W

Abandonment (Construction Contract) Abandonment is when a contractor stops work on a job and walks away without a legal excuse, leaving it unfinished. In Arizona it is a specific ground for disciplining a contractor's license, and it lets an affected homeowner file a complaint with the Registrar of Contractors.Allowance (home building contract) An allowance is a set dollar amount in a building contract for an item you have not chosen yet, such as flooring, cabinets, or appliances. The builder budgets the allowance into the price; if your final selection costs more, you pay the difference, and if it costs less, you get credited.Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC) The Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC) is the state agency that licenses, regulates, and disciplines construction contractors. It sets license classes, takes consumer complaints about poor work, and runs the Residential Contractors' Recovery Fund that can reimburse homeowners up to $30,000 when a licensed builder fails.As-Completed Appraisal An as-completed appraisal estimates what a home will be worth once it is finished, based on the plans and specifications, not its value today as a vacant lot or half-built shell. Construction lenders use this future value to set how much they will lend on a build.Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) The Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) is the government office or official with legal power to approve plans, issue permits, and inspect construction in a given area. For a custom home in Arizona, the AHJ is usually your city or county building department.Affidavit of Disclosure An affidavit of disclosure is a form Arizona law requires from a seller of five or fewer unsubdivided parcels in an unincorporated county area. It must reach the buyer at least seven days before transfer, and the buyer may rescind the sale for five days after receiving it.

Blower Door Test A blower door test measures how airtight a home is by mounting a calibrated fan in an exterior doorway, depressurizing the house, and recording the air leakage. Energy codes set a pass threshold in air changes per hour at 50 pascals (ACH50), commonly 3 to 5 ACH50.Blue Stake / Arizona 811 (utility locating) Blue Stake, now called Arizona 811, is the free statewide service that locates and marks buried utility lines before anyone digs. You file a locate request, utilities mark their underground gas, power, water, and communication lines, and you can dig safely without striking them.Braced Wall Panel A braced wall panel is a section of wall built and fastened to resist sideways forces from wind and earthquakes, keeping a home from racking or collapsing. The IRC, in Section R602.10, sets where panels go, how wide they must be, and which bracing methods qualify.Build on Your Lot Build on your lot is a custom home approach where you already own (or buy) the land, then hire a builder to construct a home on that specific lot. Unlike a tract subdivision, the home is designed and permitted for your parcel, its soil, slope, and views, rather than a builder-chosen site.Builders Risk Insurance Builders risk insurance is a short-term property policy that covers a building while it is under construction. Also called course of construction insurance, it protects the structure and on-site materials from losses like fire, wind, theft, and vandalism until the project is finished and a homeowners policy takes over.Backflow Prevention Backflow prevention is the device or assembly that stops used or contaminated water from flowing backward into a home's drinking water. It goes at every point where a clean pipe could meet a dirty one, such as a hose bibb, an irrigation line, a pool fill valve, or a storage tank.Bonding jumper A bonding jumper is a conductor that ties separate metal parts together so they all sit at the same voltage. The main bonding jumper does this once, at the electrical service, joining the neutral to the metal enclosure. Other jumpers bond items like gas piping to the same ground.

Casita A casita is a small, separate living space on the same lot as a main house, common in the Southwest. It usually has its own entrance and bathroom, and often a kitchenette, and is used for guests, family, or as a home office. In Arizona it may count as an accessory dwelling unit.CC&Rs CC&Rs are the Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions: recorded rules that govern what owners can do with their lots in a subdivision or HOA. They cover home size, materials, colors, setbacks, and approvals, and they are legally binding on every owner. In Arizona they fall under planned community law.Certificate of Occupancy (CO) A Certificate of Occupancy (CO) is the document your city or county issues stating that a building is complete, meets code, and is legally safe to live in. In Arizona you cannot move into a new home until the local building department grants the CO.Change Order A change order is a written, signed amendment to a construction contract that adds, removes, or changes work and adjusts the price and schedule to match. It documents what changed, what it costs, and how it affects the timeline, so both the owner and builder agree before the new work begins.Cistern A cistern is a large water-storage tank that holds a home's water supply where there is no well or city water main. In Arizona's hauled-water areas, like Rio Verde Foothills, a buried or above-ground cistern is filled by a water-hauling truck and feeds the house through a pump.Conditioned (Unvented) Attic A conditioned attic, also called an unvented attic, is an attic sealed and insulated at the roofline instead of the ceiling, so it sits inside the home's cooled envelope. This keeps ductwork and the air handler out of extreme heat, which improves efficiency in hot climates like Arizona.Conditioned Space Conditioned space is the part of a home that is heated and cooled and sits inside the insulated, air-sealed building envelope. It excludes areas like a vented attic, an unconditioned garage, or a crawlspace. The boundary decides where insulation and air-sealing go.Construction Defect A construction defect is a flaw in the design, materials, or workmanship of a home that makes part of it fail to work as it should, such as a leaking roof, cracked foundation, or faulty wiring. In Arizona, owners must follow a notice process under the Purchaser Dwelling Act before suing.Contractor's License A contractor's license is the state credential, issued by the Arizona Registrar of Contractors, that lets a person legally build or remodel for pay. Arizona requires it for almost all construction over $1,000, and the license class (such as B for residential general contracting) sets what work the holder may perform.Contractor's License Bond A contractor's license bond is a surety bond (or cash deposit) that Arizona requires a contractor to post with the Registrar of Contractors before getting licensed. It guarantees a pool of money that homeowners, suppliers, and workers can claim against if the contractor breaks the contract or fails to pay.Cool Roof A cool roof is a roof built to reflect more sunlight and shed more heat than a standard roof, so it stays cooler in the sun. It uses reflective coatings, tiles, or membranes to lower roof and attic temperatures, which trims summer cooling costs in hot climates like Arizona.Cost-Plus Contract A cost-plus contract pays the builder the actual cost of the work (labor, materials, and subcontractors) plus a set fee or percentage for the builder's profit and overhead. The owner sees the real invoices, so the final price is open and moves with the true cost of the job.Ceiling Height Ceiling height is the clear distance from the finished floor to the finished ceiling. The building code sets a minimum of 7 feet for habitable rooms and hallways, and 6 feet 8 inches for bathrooms, toilet rooms, and laundry rooms, with separate rules for sloped ceilings and dropped beams.Condenser Pad A condenser pad is the base that an outdoor air conditioner or heat pump sits on. The residential code requires ground-supported equipment to be level and firmly set on concrete or another approved material that rises at least 3 inches above the surrounding dirt, with room left around it for service.CSST CSST is corrugated stainless steel tubing, the flexible yellow or black gas line used in most new homes in place of rigid black iron pipe. Its wall is thin, so code requires yellow CSST to be bonded to the home's electrical grounding system with a copper jumper.Caliche Caliche is a layer of desert soil whose particles are cemented together by calcium carbonate, forming a hard, nearly waterproof crust. In Arizona it can sit at or just below the surface and run several feet thick, and it slows excavation for footings, utility trenches, pools, and septic fields.Construction Valuation Construction valuation is the dollar value a building department assigns to a proposed project in order to calculate the building permit fee. It is not the contract price and not the appraised value of the finished home. Most Arizona jurisdictions derive it from a square-foot cost table tied to occupancy group and construction type.

Defensible Space Defensible space is the managed buffer between a home and the wildland around it, cleared and thinned to slow a wildfire and protect the structure from embers, flames, and heat. Arizona organizes it into zones measured outward from the house, typically reaching up to 100 feet.Design Review Committee (DRC) A Design Review Committee (DRC), also called an Architectural Review Committee (ARC), is the HOA body that approves a custom home's design before you build. It checks your plans against the community's private guidelines, separate from the city. In Arizona, A.R.S. 33-1817 sets rules for how it must operate.Draw Schedule A draw schedule is the payment plan in a construction contract that releases money in stages as the home reaches set milestones, such as foundation, framing, and drywall. Each release is a draw. It ties payments to completed work rather than paying everything up front.Dust Control Training Dust control training is a certification Maricopa County requires for people responsible for dust on a construction site under Air Quality Rule 310. Larger permitted sites must keep a trained dust control coordinator on site during dust-generating work, and certifications are valid for three years.Dwelling Action A dwelling action is the legal name in Arizona for a lawsuit a homeowner brings against the builder, developer, or contractor over a construction defect in a home. It is defined in A.R.S. 12-1361 and triggers a required notice-and-repair process before suit.Defrost Cycle A defrost cycle is the short stretch when a heat pump reverses itself to melt frost off the outdoor coil. In heating mode that coil runs colder than the outside air, so moisture freezes onto it and chokes airflow. The unit briefly runs in cooling mode until the coil clears, then returns to heating.Drainage Drainage is how storm water moves across a lot and leaves it. On an Arizona build it covers the finished grade, the swales, and the path monsoon runoff takes around the house. Code requires the ground to fall at least 6 inches in the first 10 feet away from the foundation.Design-Bid-Build Design-bid-build is the traditional delivery method where an owner hires an architect to finish the drawings, sends that completed plan set to general contractors for competing bids, then signs a separate construction contract with the winner. Design and construction run in sequence under two independent agreements.Design-Build Design-build is a project delivery method in which one contract covers both the design of a home and its construction. A single company, or a team led by one, answers for the drawings and the finished house, so the owner deals with one accountable party instead of two separate agreements.

Easement An easement is a legal right for someone else to use part of your land for a specific purpose, such as utility lines, drainage, or access, even though you still own that land. Easements run with the property and usually limit what you can build over them.Expansive Soil Expansive soil is clay-rich ground that swells when it absorbs water and shrinks as it dries. This swelling and shrinking pushes on foundations and can crack slabs, walls, and floors. It is common across central Arizona and drives how custom home foundations are designed.Egress Egress is the way out of a building in an emergency. In a house it covers two paths: the normal route of doors, hallways, and stairs to the outside, and the emergency escape and rescue opening, usually a window, that every bedroom, basement, and habitable attic must have.Energy Storage System (ESS) An energy storage system, or ESS, is a stationary home battery that stores electricity for later, usually charged by rooftop solar or cheap off-peak power. Building code treats it as fire equipment rather than an appliance, so it has to be listed to UL 9540 and it can only go in certain places.Evaporative Cooler An evaporative cooler, commonly called a swamp cooler, cools a home by pulling hot outside air through water-soaked pads. Evaporation absorbs heat, so the air leaving the pads is much cooler. It performs well in dry desert air and loses much of that power once monsoon humidity arrives.Exempt Well An exempt well is an Arizona well whose pump is rated at no more than 35 gallons per minute and that serves a household rather than irrigation. State law lets it skip the groundwater rights and permits a larger well needs inside an Active Management Area, but you still file a Notice of Intent to Drill.

Fenestration Fenestration is the industry term for all the openings in a building's shell that let in light or air: windows, doors, skylights, and glass walls, plus their frames. In energy codes it is where heat enters and escapes, so fenestration ratings like U-factor and SHGC drive a home's efficiency.Final Inspection A final inspection is the last code inspection of a new home, where a city or county inspector confirms the completed build meets the approved plans and the building code. Passing it is what allows the certificate of occupancy to be issued, so you can legally move in.Footing A footing is the widened concrete base at the bottom of a foundation that spreads the home's weight onto the soil below. It sits under walls, posts, and grade beams, keeping the structure from sinking or settling unevenly. Footing size depends on the load above and the soil's bearing strength.Flame Spread Index Flame spread index is a number that rates how quickly fire travels across the surface of a building material. It comes from the ASTM E84 tunnel test, where fiber-cement board scores 0 and red oak flooring scores 100. Codes use the score to decide where a material is allowed to be used.Floodplain A floodplain is land that a mapped flood is expected to cover. FEMA draws the line at the base flood, the flood with a 1 percent chance of happening in any given year. In Arizona, building inside one means a raised finished floor, a separate floodplain permit, and a lender asking about flood insurance.Fixed-Price Contract A fixed-price contract, also called a lump-sum or stipulated-sum contract, sets one total price for a defined scope of work before construction starts. The builder carries the risk of cost overruns on that scope. The price still moves for change orders and for allowance items that land above the budgeted number.

Grade Beam A grade beam is a reinforced concrete beam that runs along or just below ground level and carries the load of the walls above, spanning between footings, piers, or stronger soil. It lets a foundation bridge over weak or expansive soil instead of resting directly on it.Graywater Graywater is gently used household wastewater from clothes washers, tubs, showers, and bathroom sinks, but not from toilets, kitchen sinks, or dishwashers. In Arizona, a home system under 400 gallons a day can reuse it for irrigation under ADEQ's Type 1 general permit.Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) A guaranteed maximum price (GMP) is a contract where the builder is paid actual costs plus a fee, but the total cannot exceed a hard cap. If the job comes in under the cap, the owner usually keeps the savings; if it runs over, the builder absorbs the overage, not the owner.Grounding electrode system A grounding electrode system is the set of metal parts that connect a home's electrical system to the earth, all bonded together into one path. It can include a concrete-encased electrode cast into the foundation, a driven ground rod, a buried metal water pipe, a ground ring, or a plate.General Contractor A general contractor is the licensed business that holds the prime construction contract and runs the whole build, hiring and paying the subcontractors. Arizona does not license a trade called general contractor. It licenses by classification, and a custom home falls under general residential contracting.

Hauled Water Hauled water is potable water delivered to a home by truck and kept in an onsite storage tank, used where there is no city water line or well. In Rio Verde Foothills, haulers fill at the EPCOR standpipe and deliver to tanks of 2,500 gallons and up that the home runs off.Header (framing) A header is a horizontal framing beam placed above a door, window, or other opening in a wall. It carries the weight from above and transfers that load around the opening down to the studs on each side, so the opening does not sag or crack the structure.Heat Pump A heat pump is a single system that both heats and cools by moving heat instead of burning fuel. In summer it pulls heat out of the house; in winter it pulls heat from outside air into the house. Because it transfers heat rather than generating it, it can deliver two to four times the energy it uses.Habitable Attic A habitable attic is attic space finished as a real room, not storage. Building code treats it as living space, so it needs minimum floor area, a 7 foot ceiling over at least half that area, an emergency escape window, and a fixed stair instead of a pull-down ladder.

ICF (Insulated Concrete Form) Construction ICF construction builds walls from hollow foam blocks that lock together, get filled with steel and concrete, and stay in place as permanent insulation. The result is a solid, well-insulated wall that suits Arizona's heat by keeping cooling costs and indoor temperature swings low.Impact Fees Impact fees are one-time charges a city or town collects from new construction to help pay for the public infrastructure the growth creates, such as roads, water lines, sewers, and parks. In Arizona they are called development fees, and the amount depends on the jurisdiction and the type of home.Interest Reserve An interest reserve is money built into a construction loan to cover the interest payments during the building phase. Instead of paying out of pocket each month while the home is unfinished, the lender draws the interest from this reserve, so the borrower's cash flow stays clear until the home is done.International Fire Code (IFC) The International Fire Code (IFC) is a model code from the International Code Council that sets fire-safety rules for buildings, from sprinklers and fire access to defensible space. Arizona cities adopt and amend it locally. Paradise Valley enforces the 2021 IFC.International Residential Code (IRC) The International Residential Code (IRC) is the model building code for one- and two-family homes, written by the International Code Council. Arizona cities and counties adopt it, often the 2018 edition, so it sets the minimum rules your custom home must meet to pass plan review and inspection.

Junior ADU (JADU) A junior accessory dwelling unit, or JADU, is a small second living space created inside the walls of an existing single-family home, usually up to about 500 square feet. It has its own entrance and a small kitchen, and it may share a bathroom with the main house, unlike a full ADU built as a separate unit.

Lien Waiver A lien waiver is a signed document in which a contractor, subcontractor, or supplier gives up the right to file a mechanic's lien for work or materials, usually in exchange for payment. It is the receipt that proves a trade was paid and cannot later claim the home.Lot Coverage Lot coverage is the share of a lot that buildings are allowed to cover, set by zoning as a percentage of the lot area. A 35% maximum on a 10,000-square-foot lot caps the building footprint at 3,500 square feet. It limits how large a home and outbuildings can be on a given parcel.Low-E Glass (Low-Emissivity Window) Low-E glass is window glass with a microscopically thin metallic coating that reflects heat while letting light through. The coating lowers the window's U-factor and can cut solar heat gain, reducing energy loss by 30% to 50%. In the desert, spectrally selective low-E glass blocks sun heat while keeping daylight.Load-Bearing Wall A load-bearing wall carries weight from the roof, the floor, or the walls above it and passes that weight down to a beam, a post, and finally the foundation. A partition wall holds up nothing but itself. Which one you are looking at decides whether a wall can be removed cheaply.

Makeup Air Makeup air is fresh outside air brought into a house to replace air pulled out by a strong exhaust fan, usually a large kitchen range hood. The building code requires it once a hood moves more than 400 cubic feet per minute, so the exhaust does not depressurize the tight, sealed home.Manual J Load Calculation A Manual J load calculation is the industry method for sizing a home's heating and cooling system. It measures how much heat the house gains and loses through walls, windows, roof, and air leakage, then sets the exact size of air conditioner or heat pump the home actually needs.Mechanic's Lien A mechanic's lien is a legal claim a contractor, subcontractor, or supplier can record against a property when they have not been paid for labor or materials used to improve it. The recorded lien attaches to the home and can force a sale to collect the unpaid amount.Mini-Split (Ductless HVAC) A mini-split is a ductless heating and cooling system with an outdoor compressor connected to one or more indoor air handlers by a small refrigerant line. Because it has no ductwork, it cools or heats individual rooms directly, avoiding the energy lost through ducts in a hot attic.Manometer A manometer is the gauge used to read gas pressure, either a U-shaped tube of liquid or a digital meter. A plumber uses one to prove a new gas line holds pressure during the required test, and later to check the pressure feeding an appliance once the gas is turned on.Monsoon The monsoon is Arizona's summer storm season, running June 15 through September 30. A seasonal wind shift pulls ocean moisture into the state, producing short, violent thunderstorms with blowing dust, downburst winds, and heavy rain. For a build it is the season that tests your grading and every roof flashing.

Natural Area Open Space (NAOS) Natural Area Open Space (NAOS) is desert land that must be left in its natural, undisturbed state as a condition of development. In Scottsdale's hillside and Sonoran Desert areas, a set percentage of each lot is recorded as NAOS, where you cannot build, grade, or landscape.

Owner-Builder An owner-builder is a property owner who builds or improves their own home without holding a contractor's license. Arizona allows this under a narrow exemption, but only if you do the work for your own use and do not offer the structure for sale or rent within one year of completion.

Perc Test (Percolation Test) A perc test, short for percolation test, measures how fast water drains through the soil on a lot. It is used to decide whether the ground can absorb wastewater from a septic system. On rural Arizona lots without a sewer hookup, a passing perc test is often required before you can build.Plan Review Plan review is the step where a city or county building department checks your home's drawings against the building code and zoning rules before it issues a permit. Reviewers confirm the design is safe and legal, request corrections if needed, and only then approve the project to start construction.Plat A plat is the official recorded map that divides land into lots, showing each lot's boundaries, dimensions, streets, and easements. When a subdivision is recorded, its plat becomes the legal description of every lot in it. Your lot is defined by the plat on file at the county recorder.Post-Tension Slab A post-tension slab is a concrete foundation strengthened by steel cables that are tightened, or tensioned, after the concrete hardens. The cables squeeze the slab together so it resists cracking and movement, which is why it is the standard foundation on Arizona's expansive soils.Punch List A punch list is the list of small items a builder must finish or fix before a construction project is considered complete. It is created during a walk-through near the end of the build and covers cosmetic and minor functional defects, like paint touch-ups, sticking doors, or missing hardware.Photovoltaic (PV) Photovoltaic, shortened to PV, means turning sunlight straight into electricity. A PV panel makes direct current, and an inverter converts it to the alternating current a house runs on. On an Arizona custom home, the array carries its own permit and its own review, filed alongside the house.Pool Barrier A pool barrier is the wall, fence, and gate system that has to enclose a swimming pool. Arizona law sets the floor at 5 feet measured on the outside, with no opening a 4-inch ball can pass and nothing climbable on the outer face. That is taller than the model code.Pressure test A pressure test is the check that proves new gas piping holds without leaking before it goes into service. The plumber caps the system, pumps it up with air, and watches a gauge for a set time. If the reading holds steady, the pipe passes and the inspector signs it off.Parapet A parapet is the part of an exterior wall that continues up past the roof surface. On flat-roof desert homes it hides the roof and its equipment behind a clean edge. Because the wall blocks runoff, the roof has to drain through scuppers or canales instead of over an eave.Preliminary Twenty Day Notice A preliminary twenty day notice is the written notice an Arizona subcontractor or supplier must serve to preserve mechanics' lien rights. It goes out within twenty days of first supplying labor or materials. Receiving one is routine paperwork, not a claim that anything has gone wrong.Private Well A private well is a water well that serves one home or a few homes, drilled into groundwater on the owner's own land instead of tying into a city main. The owner pays for the drilling, the pump, the power, the testing, and every repair, and no utility monitors the water.

Qualifying Party A qualifying party is the individual an Arizona contractor's license actually rests on. State law makes this person responsible for the licensee's conduct under the license, and they must either hold an ownership interest in the license or be regularly employed by the licensee.

R-Value R-value measures how well insulation resists heat flow. A higher R-value means more resistance and better insulation. It is the standard rating for attic, wall, and roof insulation, and it drives how much you spend cooling an Arizona home through the summer.Radiant Barrier A radiant barrier is a reflective material, usually aluminum foil, installed in an attic to reflect radiant heat from the hot roof instead of absorbing it. It lowers the heat that reaches your ceiling and ductwork, which cuts summer cooling costs in hot, sunny climates like Arizona.Retention (Retainage) Retention, also called retainage, is a portion of each construction payment, often 5 to 10 percent, that the owner or lender holds back instead of paying out. The held money is released after the work is finished and accepted, giving the builder an incentive to complete every detail.Roof Truss A roof truss is a pre-engineered triangular frame of wood members that supports a roof and ties the structure together. Built in a factory and craned into place, trusses span the home without interior load-bearing walls, carrying the roof load out to the exterior walls.RV Garage (Motorcoach Garage) An RV garage, also called a motorcoach garage, is an oversized enclosed garage built to store a recreational vehicle indoors. It has a tall door and a high ceiling, usually 14 to 16 feet, to fit a motorhome, plus the depth and utilities a large coach needs.Residential Contractors' Recovery Fund The Residential Contractors' Recovery Fund is an Arizona consumer-protection fund, run by the Registrar of Contractors, that can pay a homeowner harmed by a licensed residential contractor. Licensed contractors pay into it. State law caps payment at $30,000 per claim and $200,000 total against any one license.Rough-In Inspection A rough-in inspection is the code check that happens after framing, plumbing, electrical, and mechanical work is in place but before anything covers it. The inspector confirms the hidden work matches the approved plans. Nothing may be insulated, drywalled, or stuccoed until it passes.Rafter A rafter is a single sloped framing member that runs from the ridge at the peak of a roof down to the top of an exterior wall, carrying the roof deck and the roofing above it. Carpenters cut rafters on site, which is why the method is called stick framing or conventional roof framing.Ramada A ramada is a freestanding, open-sided shade structure with a solid roof carried on posts, the Southwest's oldest answer to desert sun. Arizona owners build them over patios, outdoor kitchens, and pool decks. Whether one needs a building permit turns on its size, its utilities, and whether it touches the house.Roof Underlayment Roof underlayment is the water-resistant membrane laid over the roof deck and under the tile, shingle, or panel above it. On an Arizona tile roof the tile sheds water and blocks sun, but the underlayment is what actually keeps rain out, and desert heat ages it out long before the tile.

SEER / SEER2 SEER (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio) rates how efficiently an air conditioner or heat pump cools over a season. A higher SEER means lower cooling bills. SEER2 is the updated federal test that replaced SEER on January 1, 2023, with slightly lower numbers for the same units.Semi-Custom Home A semi-custom home is built from a builder's existing floor plan that you then personalize, choosing finishes and select structural options instead of designing from scratch. It sits between a production home, where choices are limited, and a fully custom home, where every detail is drawn for your lot and needs.Septic System A septic system is an on-site way to treat household wastewater where there is no city sewer. Waste flows to a buried septic tank that separates solids, then the liquid drains into a leach field where soil filters it. Most rural Arizona custom homes rely on one.Setback A setback is the minimum distance your home must sit from a property line, street, or other feature, set by local zoning. In Arizona, front setbacks often run 20 to 25 feet and side setbacks 5 to 10 feet, but the exact numbers depend on your city and zone.Soil Report A soil report, also called a geotechnical report, is an engineer's study of a lot's soil that tells the foundation designer how strong the ground is and how it moves. It comes from drilled or dug test borings and drives the foundation design. Most Arizona custom home permits require one.Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) measures how much of the sun's heat a window lets into a home, on a scale from 0 to 1. A lower SHGC blocks more solar heat. In Arizona's desert sun, a low SHGC window is one of the biggest levers on summer cooling bills.Solar Reflectance Index (SRI) The Solar Reflectance Index (SRI) is a single number that rates how cool a roof or paving surface stays in the sun. It combines how much sunlight a surface reflects with how well it sheds absorbed heat. A higher SRI means a cooler surface, which matters a lot under the Arizona sun.Spec Home A spec home is a house a builder designs and constructs on speculation, meaning before a buyer is under contract, then sells once it is finished or nearly done. The builder picks the floor plan and finishes, so a spec home offers less customization than a true custom build.Spray Foam Insulation Spray foam insulation is liquid polyurethane sprayed onto surfaces, where it expands and hardens into a solid layer that both insulates and air-seals. It comes in open-cell and closed-cell types and is used in walls, roof decks, and attics to cut heat flow and air leaks.Statute of Repose A statute of repose is a hard deadline that bars a lawsuit a set number of years after an event, no matter when the harm is discovered. For Arizona construction, A.R.S. 12-552 bars most defect claims more than 8 years after substantial completion, or 9 with a late-appearing defect.Stem Wall A stem wall is a short concrete or block wall that sits on a footing and raises the house's framing above the ground. Soil or fill is placed inside it, and the floor sits on top, so the living space is lifted off grade. It is one of the two main foundation types used on Arizona homes.Substantial Completion Substantial completion is the point in a construction project when the home is finished enough for the owner to use it for its intended purpose, even if small punch-list items remain. It usually triggers final payment, the start of warranty periods, and the handoff of the keys.Self-Latching Gate A self-latching gate is a pool gate that latches shut on its own every time it swings closed, with nobody touching it. Arizona law also requires that gate to be self-closing, to open outward away from the pool, and to carry its latch at least 54 inches above the ground.Sheathing Sheathing is the layer of panels, usually plywood or oriented strand board, nailed over wall studs and roof framing to form a structural skin. It stiffens the frame against wind, carries the roofing and the water-resistive barrier, and is what makes a braced wall panel actually work.Site Plan A site plan is the scaled overhead drawing of your lot showing where the house and every other structure sit, how far each one stands from the property lines, and where easements, drainage, driveways, and utilities run. Arizona building departments review it before they will issue a permit.Stucco Stucco is a cement-based exterior wall coating, called cement plaster in the building code, applied in coats over metal lath and a water-resistive barrier. Two systems are common on Arizona homes: traditional three-coat stucco, and proprietary one-coat stucco applied over rigid foam board.

Temporary Certificate of Occupancy (TCO) A temporary certificate of occupancy (TCO) is a time-limited approval that lets people move into or use a home before final inspections are fully done, as long as the occupied areas are safe. The building department lists the remaining items and a deadline to finish them.Thermal Mass Thermal mass is a material's ability to absorb, store, and slowly release heat. Dense materials like concrete, brick, stone, and tile have high thermal mass, so they soak up heat during the day and give it back at night, smoothing out indoor temperature swings in desert climates.Title Insurance Title insurance protects against problems with a property's ownership history, like old liens, unpaid taxes, or boundary disputes. A lender's policy protects the bank and is usually required for a mortgage. An owner's policy is optional and protects the buyer's own investment in the home.Thermal Barrier A thermal barrier is the fire-rated layer that separates foam plastic insulation from the inside of a house, so the foam cannot ignite during a fire. Half-inch gypsum board is the standard way to build one. Despite the name it controls fire, not heat, which makes it different from a radiant barrier or a vapor barrier.

U-Factor U-factor measures how fast a window, door, or skylight conducts non-solar heat, usually on a scale from about 0.20 to 1.20. A lower U-factor means less heat passes through and a better insulating window. It is the inverse idea of R-value and a key fenestration rating in energy codes.UL 9540 UL 9540 is the safety standard for energy storage systems, and the listing a home battery has to carry before a building department will approve it. It covers the whole unit: cells, power conversion, controls, enclosure, and cooling. UL 9540A is a separate fire test method, not a listing.

Vapor Barrier A vapor barrier is a sheet of material, usually heavy plastic, that blocks moisture from passing through a floor, wall, or slab. Under a concrete slab it stops ground moisture from wicking up into the home. It protects flooring, framing, and indoor air from damp and mold.

Water-Resistive Barrier (WRB) A water-resistive barrier (WRB) is a water-shedding layer installed behind a wall's exterior cladding, such as stucco or siding, to keep moisture that gets past the surface from reaching the framing and sheathing. The IRC requires at least one layer on most exterior walls.Weep Screed A weep screed is a metal trim strip installed at the base of a stucco wall that gives trapped water a path to drain out and stops the stucco short of the soil. The IRC sets a minimum height: at least 4 inches above grade or 2 inches above paved surfaces.

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