A.R.S. 33-1817: HOA Design Review and Architectural Control in Arizona

HOA design review used to be a black box for custom-home buyers, with no fixed process and no guaranteed answer. A.R.S. 33-1817 changed that by putting a real structure around how an HOA's design (architectural) committee reviews your plans, and it is the statute every custom-home buyer in an HOA needs to read before they break ground. The committee must include a board member as chair, hold a final approval meeting you can attend, run at least two on-site reviews during construction, and return your deposit on a set clock. Just as important, it says approval cannot be unreasonably withheld. Here is what the law requires.

What the design committee must do

If your community has design guidelines and you are building a main residential structure, this section sets the rules of the road. The committee that reviews plans must include at least one member of the board, who serves as chairperson. The association can require a security deposit, but it has to be held in trust, not spent. And the review is not a one-and-done paper approval. The statute requires a final approval meeting and ongoing inspections.

The association shall conduct at least two on-site formal reviews during the construction of the dwelling unit... If the on-site review identifies any deficiencies, the association shall provide written notice of the deficiencies to the member within five business days.

So the HOA has to actually come look at the build at least twice and put any complaints in writing within five business days. You also get a final approval meeting that you have the right to attend, at which the association gives written acknowledgment of whether the work complies with the rules.

The deposit clock and the limit on saying no

Your deposit does not disappear into the HOA. After the second on-site review, the association has 30 days to release the deposit if there are no deficiencies, or it may hold the deposit for up to 180 days while you fix and certify compliance. That gives the HOA a window, but a hard outer limit.

The most important sentence for a homeowner is the leash on the committee's power:

Approval of a construction project's architectural designs, plans and amendments shall not unreasonably be withheld.

That means the committee cannot stall or reject your plans on a whim or to play favorites. If it denies something, the denial has to be reasonable and tied to the published guidelines. The statute also makes clear what approval is not: plan approval shall not constitute a representation or warranty that your design meets government building codes or safety standards. In other words, an HOA "yes" is about the look and the covenants, not about whether the home is safe or code-compliant. That is still on your builder, your engineer, and the city.

For example, if you are building in a Cave Creek HOA with a desert-tones palette, the committee can require an approved earth-tone exterior and hold a $5,000 deposit in trust. It must hold a final approval meeting, inspect the build at least twice, and put any deficiency in writing within five business days. It cannot reject your floor plan just because a board member dislikes modern architecture, and its approval does not replace your city permit.

How it connects to the rest of the law

This is the canonical statute behind our FAQ on how HOA design review affects building a custom home . Design review runs through the open-meeting and notice rules of A.R.S. 33-1804 , and if the committee denies your plans, you can pull the minutes and the guidelines it relied on under your records right in A.R.S. 33-1805 . One thing the committee cannot do is ban your panels: the solar protection in A.R.S. 33-1816 overrides design rules. All of it flows from the recorded CC&Rs defined in A.R.S. 33-1802 .

Full text and source

Read the current version, including any amendments, on the legislature's site: View A.R.S. 33-1817 on azleg.gov .

How design review applies to a specific build depends on your community's guidelines, so confirm your situation with a qualified attorney before relying on it.