Arizona statute requires any insurer writing comprehensive auto coverage to make no-deductible glass coverage available, which is where the idea of a free windshield in Arizona comes from. The obligation runs to the offer. Whether the policy you actually hold carries the option is a separate question, and the only way to find out is to ask your insurer or the agent who wrote it before you book the work rather than after.
A.R.S. § 20-264(A) applies to any insurer writing private passenger automobile insurance that includes comprehensive coverage for motor vehicle damage. Those insurers must provide, at the option of the insured, complete coverage for the repair or replacement of all damaged safety equipment without regard to any deductible. Subsection (B) defines safety equipment as the glass used in the windshield, doors and windows, plus the glass, plastic or other material used in the lights.
The phrase doing the work is "at the option of the insured". The statute sets what an insurer has to make available, and nothing more. It gets called a free windshield law. The text doesn't say that, and what any particular policy covers is a question for the insurer or the agent who wrote it.
A.R.S. § 28-957.01 requires an adequate windshield on passenger vehicles, motor trucks and truck tractors, with exceptions that include implements of husbandry and fully autonomous vehicles. The statute never defines adequate. No crack length, no chip count.
The section that reaches a replacement job is A.R.S. § 28-959(D), which bars replacing glass or glazing material in a motor vehicle with anything other than safety glass. Subsection (E) defines safety glass as a product manufactured, fabricated or treated so that it substantially prevents shattering and flying of the glass when struck or broken, and that meets applicable federal safety standards. Subsection (A), the one that ties safety glass to sale and registration, applies to new vehicles.
The Arizona Registrar of Contractors licenses glazing under R-65, C-65 and the dual CR-65. All three cover buildings: glass products, window film, window treatments, and the steel and aluminum members that hold glass. None extends to vehicles. Technician training here comes from ANSI/AGSC/AGRSS 005-2022 rather than from a state license.
The first two decide who pays, and in Arizona that is settled by your policy rather than by the shop. Everything after that is about the work itself.
Not automatically. A.R.S. 20-264 requires an insurer writing comprehensive coverage to make no-deductible glass coverage available at the option of the insured. It has to be offered. It does not have to be on your policy, so check with the insurer before you book.
No. A.R.S. 28-957.01 requires an adequate windshield and never defines adequate. There is no crack length and no chip count anywhere in the statute, so the call rests with the technician and with you.
No. A.R.S. 28-959(D) bars replacing glass in a motor vehicle with anything other than safety glass, which subsection (E) defines as material that substantially prevents shattering and meets applicable federal safety standards.
Not for vehicle work. The Registrar of Contractors licenses glazing under R-65, C-65 and CR-65, and all three cover buildings rather than vehicles. Technician credentials here come from the ANSI/AGSC/AGRSS standard instead of from the state.
A.R.S. 20-264(B) defines it as the glass used in the windshield, doors and windows, plus the glass, plastic or other material used in the lights of the vehicle. Headlight and taillight lenses sit inside the same provision as the windshield.