Fountain Hills Building Inspections for New Homes: The Sequence Through Final and CO

The Town of Fountain Hills checks a new home at set points during construction, and each point has to pass before the next crew hides its work under concrete, drywall, or stucco. The last check is the final inspection, and clearing it releases your Certificate of Occupancy, the document that legally lets you move in. Here is the order, how Fountain Hills wants each inspection scheduled, and how the final leads to the CO.

The inspection sequence

The inspector follows the build from the ground up and catches each stage while the work is still exposed. A new home moves through roughly this order:

1. Foundation. After the footing excavation and rebar are set, before concrete is poured.
2. Under-slab. When the plumbing, electrical, and mechanical runs below the floor are in, before the slab buries them.
3. Roof and framing. When sheathing, tie-downs, walls, fire blocking, and the rough plumbing, electrical, and mechanical are complete, before any of it is covered.
4. Insulation. Before drywall.
5. Lath. Before stucco or plaster.
6. Final. When the home is finished and all fixtures are set, before anyone occupies it.

The order is not optional, because an inspector cannot approve work that is already buried. Picture a 3,000 square foot Fountain Hills house where the framers finish and the drywallers hang board before the framing inspection is requested. With the wiring, plumbing rough-in, and fire blocking now sealed behind board, the inspector has nothing to verify, so the inspection fails. The crew opens the new drywall back up, re-inspects, then re-patches, adding a week and labor cost. The Town of Fountain Hills is the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) , and its Building Safety Division coordinates plan review and runs these inspections. Because the Town's adopted codes are the 2024 I-codes, the inspection points follow the 2024 IRC.

How scheduling and the final tie to your CO

You schedule each inspection through TOPPS, the Town's Online Permitting and Planning System, at fountainhillsaz.gov/TOPPS. The Town requires it:

All applicants who have created an account and had a permit issued through the TOPPS (Town's Online Permitting and Planning System), or have an existing permit transferred to the new system, must schedule inspections using TOPPS.

Inspections are conducted Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. If you have questions about a request, Building Safety answers at 480-816-5123 or 480-816-5177. Request the inspection in TOPPS against the right permit, and have your permit number on hand.

The final inspection is the last lock between you and the keys. A passing final on a new home is what lets the Town issue the Certificate of Occupancy, the record that the house meets code and is cleared for living in. Until that final passes, no crew should conceal wiring, plumbing, or framing, because a failed inspection means cutting the cover back open and re-doing the patch.

When this comes into play

This process spans the entire construction phase:

• Pour days. A footing or slab cannot be poured until the foundation or under-slab inspection passes, so the inspection schedule sets the concrete schedule.
• Close-in. Framing, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical are all inspected before insulation and drywall. A failure here stops the close-in.
• Move-in. The final inspection and Certificate of Occupancy are what legally clear you to occupy. A closing or mortgage often needs the CO first.

What this means for you

Build your schedule around the inspection calendar, not the other way around. Each stage has to pass before the next trade covers its work, so a missed inspection drags everything after it. Set up your TOPPS account early, request inspections there, and plan around the Monday-to-Friday inspection window. Never let a crew bury wiring, plumbing, or framing before the inspector signs off. Hold off on moving in until the Certificate of Occupancy issues, because occupying without it is a code violation.

This entry closes the Fountain Hills module loop. The codes your work is inspected against are in Fountain Hills Adopted Building Codes , and the permit that authorizes the build is covered in Fountain Hills Residential Building Permit Requirements . To place inspections in the wider timeline, follow the steps to building a custom home in Arizona .

Source

The inspection scheduling rule and TOPPS requirement are published by the Town of Fountain Hills: Building Safety on fountainhillsaz.gov . For permit applications and forms, see Permits and Applications .

Read this as a general guide, not a binding code interpretation. The Town can update its TOPPS workflow and CO requirements, so check the current steps with Fountain Hills Building Safety before you request an inspection.