Phoenix Adopted Building Codes: The 2024 PBCC Editions That Apply to Your Build

Your house in Phoenix is checked against a stack of national model codes that the City Council voted to adopt, then edited for local heat and soil. Knowing the exact edition matters, because a 2018 detail and a 2024 detail can call for different framing, wiring, or energy specs. This page lists the codes Phoenix actually enforces today, when they took effect, and where the local edits live.

Which codes Phoenix enforces

Phoenix adopted the 2024 family of International Codes (often called I-codes) for almost everything, plus the 2023 electrical code. The whole package is bundled as the 2024 Phoenix Building Construction Code (PBCC). Here is the current list:

• 2024 International Residential Code (IRC): one- and two-family homes and townhouses. This is the main code for a custom house.
• 2024 International Building Code (IBC): larger and commercial structures.
• 2024 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC): insulation, windows, duct sealing, and HVAC efficiency.
• 2024 International Plumbing Code (IPC): water supply, drains, and fixtures. Phoenix also adopts the 2024 Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC) as an alternate path.
• 2024 International Mechanical Code (IMC): heating, cooling, and ventilation.
• 2024 International Fuel Gas Code (IFGC): gas piping and gas appliances.
• 2023 National Electrical Code (NEC): all wiring and electrical work.

The IRC is the one a single-family builder lives in day to day. The City of Phoenix is the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) that adopts, amends, and enforces these codes, so its building officials, not the state, have the final word inside city limits.

What the city says

Phoenix is direct about when the new code took over:

On June 18, 2025, the Phoenix City Council approved the adoption of the 2024 Phoenix Building Construction Code (PBCC). The City of Phoenix is transitioning to this updated code with an effective date of August 1, 2025.

The 2024 PBCC was adopted by Ordinance G-7397, and each model code carries its own Phoenix amendments. Accessibility follows the referenced ICC A117.1-2017 standard as scoped in the amended 2024 IBC, plus the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design. So the rule you build to is the published 2024 edition as changed by Phoenix's amendment document for that code.

When this comes into play

The edition controls real decisions from day one of design:

• Your energy compliance path (insulation R-values, duct leakage testing, window U-factors) is set by the 2024 IECC as amended, not an older energy code. A plan drawn to a 2018 energy spec can get bounced in review.
• Outlet spacing, arc-fault and ground-fault protection, and panel sizing follow the 2023 NEC. An electrician working off a 2017 code book may miss newer required protections.
• Anything the model code says, a Phoenix amendment can override. The amendment documents are the tie-breaker, so they get read alongside the base code.

Here is a concrete example. Suppose you submit a custom home plan in Phoenix in spring 2026. The plan reviewer checks your wall insulation against the 2024 IECC as amended, your wiring against the 2023 NEC, and your framing against the 2024 IRC. If your energy sheet was copied from an older 2018 project, the duct-leakage and insulation numbers may not match, and the plan comes back with corrections before a permit issues.

Timing is the wrinkle in Phoenix right now. The prior code was the 2018 PBCC (Ordinance G-6463) with the 2017 NEC. If you pulled a permit before August 1, 2025, your project may still run under that 2018 edition. Edition is tied to when the permit was issued, not the calendar today.

What this means for you

Hand your designer, structural engineer, and trades one clear instruction: build to Phoenix's 2024 I-codes and the 2023 NEC, with the city amendments applied. That single sentence prevents the most common and expensive plan-review correction, which is a sheet drawn to the wrong edition. When you compare bids, confirm each contractor is quoting current-code work, because retrofitting to code after a failed inspection costs far more than doing it right the first time.

This entry is the anchor for the rest of the Phoenix building-codes module. From here, see Phoenix Residential Building Permit Requirements for how these codes get checked during plan review, and Phoenix Building Inspections for New Homes for how they get verified in the field. For the bigger picture, see the steps to building a custom home in Arizona .

Source

The adopted codes, effective date, and amendment documents are published by the City of Phoenix: Building Construction Codes on phoenix.gov . Arizona's broader adoption picture is tracked by the code authors at ICC Code Adoptions for Arizona .

This page is general information, not a code interpretation. Editions and amendments change, so confirm the current adopted code and any project-specific amendment with Phoenix Planning and Development before you rely on a specific edition.