Electrical work permit checklist — Tempe, Arizona
Assembled from Tempe’s own published permit rules. Every line below is quoted from a city document and linked to it. Nothing here is generated, estimated, or inferred from another jurisdiction.
Do you need a permit?
Tempe requires a permit for electrical work.
City Code Sec. 8-105, 105.2 of the Tempe Administrative Code exempts limited electrical work from permit. In R-3 and R-4 occupancies, detached single-family and two-family dwellings and townhouses, exempt items include temporary cord-and-plug decorative lighting; like-for-like replacement of listed over-current devices in the same location, excluding main over-current devices; and low-voltage wiring and equipment outside hazardous locations that operates below 25 volts and cannot supply more than 50 watts. Exemptions that apply generally include same-size electrode or transformer replacement for signs or gas tube systems, temporary systems for testing or servicing electrical equipment, and Class 2 and Class 3 control and signal circuits not essential to human life. Under 105.2.2, generation, transmission, distribution, metering and related equipment owned and controlled by public service agencies by established right is exempt, but wiring serving a building's own lighting, power or other operations, and the service equipment for a building's electrical service, are not exempt.
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Sources
- electrical — permit rules ↗verified August 2026
Other permits Tempe publishes rules for
Listed because the city publishes a separate rule for each type — not because this project necessarily triggers one. Whether it does depends on your scope of work.
- Deck permit checklist
- Fence permit checklist
- Shed permit checklist
- Water heater permit checklist
- Re-roof permit checklist
- Retaining wall permit checklist
- General building work permit checklist
BuildSpec is a reference, not the authority having jurisdiction. Confirm requirements with Tempe before you build.