Pima County, AZ Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)
Key Facts
- Code adopted
- 2024 International Property Maintenance Code
- Adopting ordinance
- Ordinance 2025-15, Exhibit H
- Violation type
- Civil infraction, § 15.04.050
- Enforcement forum
- Hearing officer under A.R.S. § 11-815
- Appeal path
- Building official, then Board of Appeals
- Applies to
- Unincorporated Pima County only
Summary
Pima County Code § 15.04.020(A)(1) adopts the 2024 International Property Maintenance Code by reference for the unincorporated county, giving the building official authority to cite a deteriorated or unsafe structure as a civil infraction rather than leaving upkeep to voluntary compliance.
A. The Pima County building code, codified in this chapter, adopts by reference the 2024 International Building Code, published by the International Code Council, Inc., Country Club Hills, IL, in 2023, as amended by the local amendments attached to and incorporated into Ordinance 2025-15 as Exhibit A together with the following national and international codes: 1. The 2024 International Property Maintenance Code, as amended by Exhibit H attached to Ordinance 2025-15;
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-64: Contains Supplement, with local legislation through Ordinance 2026-9, passed 7-28-2026, current through 7-28-2026).
Full Breakdown
020(A) adopts the Pima County building code's package of national model codes; the first item on the list is the property maintenance standard, quoted below. That single sentence pulls the full text of the International Property Maintenance Code, with Pima's local amendments in Exhibit H to Ordinance 2025-15, into force as county law, covering minimum upkeep for exterior structure, plumbing, electrical and mechanical systems, and unsafe or unsanitary conditions on any building in the unincorporated area. 040 and authorized to name a chief plans examiner, chief building inspector and other technical staff, administers and enforces the whole building code including this adopted property maintenance standard.
§ 11-815 allows. § 11-862 to interpret the code and decide appeals; the board's written decisions are final. Three copies of the adopted code sit on file for public inspection at Development Services, 201 N. 030.
Violations & Fines
Letting a structure fall into the disrepair the International Property Maintenance Code prohibits is a civil infraction, not a misdemeanor, under Section 15.04.050, enforced through a hearing officer under A.R.S. § 11-815 with penalties capped at that statute's maximum. Compliance is still required regardless of any fine paid: a violator remains obligated to correct the condition, and the county can pursue the hearing-officer process again for continuing noncompliance.
Frequently Asked Questions
What code governs a rundown or unsafe house in unincorporated Pima County?
Is a property maintenance violation a criminal charge in Pima County?
How do I appeal a Pima County property maintenance citation?
Does this property maintenance code apply to homes inside Tucson?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Pima County
Compare Pima County to another location·View the Arizona property maintenance overview
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