A.R.S. 9-802: How an Arizona City Adopts a Building Code by Reference

The building code that governs your Arizona custom home usually is not written by your city at all. Your city adopts it. A.R.S. 9-802 is the procedure behind that. It lets a town take a model code someone else wrote, like the International Residential Code, and make it local law. One ordinance does the job, with no retyping of hundreds of pages. Knowing how that works tells you where your code actually comes from and how to read it.

What adoption by reference means

A city does not have to reprint an entire model code inside its own municipal code. This section lets it point to the code instead.

A municipality may enact the provisions of a code or public record theretofore in existence without setting forth the provisions, but the adopting ordinance shall be published in full.

In plain terms, the city writes a short ordinance that says, in effect, we adopt this named code, this edition, with these local changes. The named code, the International Residential Code for one- and two-family homes for example, is the document you and your builder actually design to. The ordinance is the legal hook that pulls it into force inside city limits. The city can amend a code it adopted this way, using the same process. That is how local changes get layered on top of the base model code.

The filing and public-copy rule

Because the full code is not reprinted, the statute makes the city keep copies the public can read.

At least three paper copies or one paper copy and one electronic copy ... of the code or public record shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the municipality and kept available for public use and inspection.

That filing requirement is your access point. The exact edition and the local amendments that apply to your build are on file with the city clerk and the building department, not hidden. The ordinance itself has to be published in full, even though the code it adopts does not. So the adopting law is public even when the several-hundred-page code sits at the clerk's office rather than inside the ordinance text.

What this means for you

When someone says Scottsdale uses the 2018 International Residential Code, or Phoenix amended the energy code, 9-802 is the mechanism behind that sentence. Each Valley city runs its own adopting ordinance, which is why the base code can match across town lines while the local amendments differ. Before you finalize plans, get two things from the city: the exact code edition adopted, and the list of local amendments. A local change to a setback, a wall-bracing rule, or an energy requirement can move your design.

For example, Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Cave Creek each adopt the International Residential Code by reference, then add their own amendments. Our building-codes pages capture what each adopted: see Phoenix adopted building codes, Scottsdale adopted building codes, and Cave Creek adopted building codes. The edition and amendments there all trace back to an ordinance passed under this statute.

How this connects to the rest of the law

9-802 is the general adoption-by-reference tool, and building codes are one of its biggest uses. Once a city adopts a code this way, other statutes limit what that code can contain. A.R.S. 9-807 blocks a mandatory home-sprinkler provision. A.R.S. 9-467 governs the permit you pull to build under the adopted code. Counties use a parallel adoption power in A.R.S. 11-861. The code your city adopts is usually the International Residential Code, enforced by your authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) during plan review. For the city-by-city answer, see what building codes apply in Phoenix and what building codes apply in Scottsdale.

Full text and source

Read the current section on the legislature's site: View A.R.S. 9-802 on azleg.gov. FindLaw carries the same text at codes.findlaw.com.

The model code advances on a three-year cycle. The adopting ordinance does not. A city can sit years behind the newest published book, so ask which edition it has actually adopted before you design to the current one.