Before You Build in Glendale, AZ: Permit & Rule Checklist (2026)

Glendale exempts most fences from needing a building permit, but only up to seven feet high. Section 9-17's amendment to the International Building Code's permit-exemption list carves out two exceptions that always need a permit regardless of height: swimming pool barriers and perimeter subdivision fences.

Glendale treats any wall holding back eighteen inches of earth or more as a retaining wall subject to City Engineer review, and any wall over six feet tall, retaining or not, needs stamped structural calculations from a licensed engineer. UDC § 35.4.204 also forces terracing once retained soil tops four feet.

Glendale caps fences at six feet in side and rear yards and three feet in front yards, with taller decorative columns and arched entries allowed in narrow doses. UDC § 35.4.206 also carves out visibility triangles at corners and driveways where fences over thirty inches are barred so drivers can see cross traffic.

Glendale requires every residential swimming pool, spa or hot tub to have a barrier at least 60 inches high, with self-closing, self-latching gates. City Code Sec. 9-25 amends the 2024 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code with local barrier and secondary-protection standards.

Every swimming pool planned for construction in Glendale must have its plans submitted to the city, and the city withholds final inspection and approval until every requirement of Chapter 32 is met. That chapter also mandates a five-foot barrier, self-latching gates and a buyer safety notice.

Glendale allows one attached and one detached accessory dwelling unit per single-family lot under Section 35.3.204(A), rising to two detached units on lots of an acre or more if one is deeded affordable. An ADU needs a 5-foot side and rear setback, tops out at 1,000 square feet, and cannot be sold apart from the main house.

Glendale's Unified Development Code sets exact size, height and setback limits for sheds and other accessory buildings under Section 35.3.203. Structures up to 7 feet tall need only a 3-foot side and rear setback, height in the R1, RR and SR districts tops out at 16 feet, and floor area cannot exceed 50 percent of the main house's footprint.

Maricopa County Air Quality Department (MCAQD) Rule 314 governs all outdoor burning in Glendale. Burning household and yard waste is strictly prohibited. No-burn days prohibit wood burning in fireplaces, fire pits, and chimeneas.

Glendale requires owners of trees overhanging a street or right-of-way to prune them so they don't block intersection sightlines or the sidewalk, and lets the Administrator prune or remove hazardous limbs at the owner's expense if they don't.

Glendale requires all water customers to curtail usage during declared droughts under a City-adopted Drought Management Plan. A first violation brings a written warning and conservation materials, but a second violation adds a fine tied to the drought stage, and a third or later violation doubles the previous fine.

No one may plant, remove, cut above ground or disturb a tree in a Glendale street right-of-way, park or other public place without first getting a permit from the City's urban forestry administrator.