Flagstaff, AZ Swimming Pools & Spas: Pool Permits (2026)

The City Council adopted the 2018 ISPSC by reference under Flagstaff City Code Section 4-01-001-0002, and Section 4-10-001-0001 amends the code's own definitions section to spell out what triggers ISPSC permitting at a house. A residential swimming pool is defined as a pool intended for use that is accessory to a residential setting and available only to the household and its guests, including any structure intended for swimming or recreational bathing that contains water over eighteen (18) inches in depth, expressly covering in-ground, above-ground and on-ground pools, hot tubs, spas and fixed-in-place wading pools.

Anything larger or open beyond a single household is treated as a public pool and reviewed under the ISPSC's public-pool provisions instead. Community Development's Building Safety Division issues the permit before construction, and the same Section 4-01-001-0002 adoption text that authorizes the ISPSC also authorizes permits and penalties for the codes it adopts. Because the ISPSC's own appeal chapter is amended locally, orders or determinations the Building Official makes under the pool code go to the Building and Fire Code Board of Appeals created under City Code Title 2, not to the ISPSC's default appeals board.

As with the other adopted model codes, work started before a permit is pulled draws the Building Code's investigation fee of $94 or twice the permit fee.