Phoenix exempts a like-for-like window swap from permit, but the exemption is narrower than it first reads and the handout most people find online predates the current code by a decade. Three words in the governing text carry the weight: minor, non-structural, in kind. Enlarging an opening, cutting a new header or turning a window into a door is none of the three, and each of those needs a permit in Phoenix.
Anthem Apache Junction Avondale Carefree Cave Creek Chandler Fountain Hills Gilbert Glendale Laveen Maricopa Mesa Paradise Valley Peoria Queen Creek Scottsdale Surprise Tempe
Art & Antiques Auto Auctions Auto Glass Retail & E-commerce Salvage Yards Scrap Metal Recyclers Towing Urgent Care
Phoenix adopted the 2024 Phoenix Building Construction Code by Ordinance G-7397, effective 1 August 2025. Its administrative provisions exempt "minor repair or replacement in kind of non-structural components such as, glass or glazing materials, sash, doors, patching walls or ceilings and replacing pieces of siding, soffits or facia." The residential amendments mark section R105 reserved and point back to those same provisions, so the rule reaches houses.
Three words carry the weight: minor, non-structural, in kind. Enlarging an opening, cutting a new header, or converting a window to a door is none of those.
Phoenix also publishes a standalone "Work Exempt from Permit" sheet listing the same glazing language at section 105.2.1 item 18. That sheet is revision 07/14 and predates the 2024 code by a decade. It happens to agree with the current provisions on windows. It isn't the governing document, and anything else on it is worth checking against the code amendments instead.
Phoenix contains an urban village called Paradise Valley. The Town of Paradise Valley is a separate incorporated municipality with its own building department. An address in one is not governed by the other, and the two are easy to confuse when booking work.
The exemption in Phoenix turns on whether the work is minor, non-structural and in kind, so these questions test each of the three.
Not for a like-for-like swap. The 2024 Phoenix Building Construction Code, adopted by Ordinance G-7397 effective 1 August 2025, exempts minor repair or replacement in kind of non-structural components including glass or glazing materials, sash and doors. The residential amendments mark section R105 reserved and point back to the same provisions, so it reaches houses.
Anything that is not minor, not non-structural or not in kind. Enlarging the opening, cutting a new header, or converting a window to a door each fail at least one of those three tests.
Because it is old. Phoenix publishes a standalone Work Exempt from Permit sheet at revision 07/14, which predates the 2024 code by about a decade. It happens to agree on windows, but it is not the governing document and anything else on it should be checked against the code amendments.
Both exist. Phoenix contains an urban village called Paradise Valley, and the Town of Paradise Valley is a separate incorporated municipality with its own building department. An address in one is not governed by the other, and the two are easy to confuse when booking work.