Flagstaff, AZ Building Safety: Electrical Permits (2026)

The City Council adopted the 2017 NEC by reference in Section 4-01-001-0002 alongside the other model codes, giving Building Safety authority over permits and penalties for electrical work. Chapter 4-11 then amends specific NEC articles: Section 4-11-001-0001 rewrites Article 110.5, Conductors, so that conductors used to carry current shall be of copper only, and where the NEC doesn't specify a material, the sizes given in the code apply to copper conductors, with aluminum wire approved only for feeders and service entrance conductors and barred entirely from branch circuit wiring.

The same chapter adds a testing requirement at Article 110.7 for large services: equipment rated at 1,000 amperes or more must pass a certified high-potential insulation test, witnessed by a City Building Inspector and performed for one minute at 60 hertz with a potential of 1,000 volts plus twice the equipment's rated phase-to-phase voltage, before the equipment is energized. Because electrical work is one of the trades named in the Building Code's amended annual-permit provision (2018 IBC Section 105.1.1), a contractor doing recurring minor electrical work on already-approved installations can apply for a single annual permit rather than pulling a new permit for each job, with application and renewal fees set by the City's fee schedule. Starting electrical work before a permit is issued draws the Building Code's $94-or-double-the-fee investigation charge.