Owner-Builder, Part Two: The Inspections You Still Get, and What Happens at Sale

Part one covered what the Cochise County Owner-Builder Amendment is, who qualifies, and the list of things it does not waive. This is the part that starts after the permit is issued: who still comes to your parcel, how you get them there, what the clock looks like, and what the arrangement means on the day you sell.

The common misreading is that "no inspections" means nobody visits. Under either option, several county departments do.

What you still get, by option

Note what is absent from Option 1. Footings, foundation, framing, insulation and drywall are not on the list. The four trade inspections are the only building-code inspections the county performs. The structure between them is yours. For Option 2 the county's FAQ is the honest version: "other inspections are required by the County to verify compliance with statewide codes and zoning regulations. The number and timing of these inspections will vary."

Three things the web page does not mention

You can buy extra inspections. Under Option 1, "at anytime during the construction process" an applicant may elect to have an additional building code inspection completed, at the adopted per-hour inspection fee, provided the work is accessible and exposed. If you want a footing or framing inspection for your own peace of mind, or for a future buyer's, you can have one. This changes the Option 1 calculus considerably.

Special inspections can still be required, by Arizona registered design professionals under Section 1704 of the International Building Code, where the building official determines they apply. Unconventional structural systems are the usual trigger.

You can move into part of it. Under Option 1, occupying a portion of the dwelling before the whole is finished is allowed, with approved sanitary facilities on site, after a temporary occupancy inspection.

One more clause matters off-grid: no dwelling built under the amendment is required to be connected to power or wired, and where electrical use is confined to one or more rooms the rest need not be wired. Where wiring is installed, it must meet the adopted electrical code.

How scheduling works

1. Before you start: print and post the Permit Placard and the Inspection Record Card at the job site. Construction may begin only after they are posted. Every required inspection is listed on the card.
2. Requesting: through the Cochise County Permitting Portal, by selecting the active permit, choosing the inspection type, and confirming the appointment. The amendment sets the minimum notice at 24 hours.
3. On the day: the work area must be accessible, the card posted, and the work ready. Work subject to inspection "shall remain accessible and exposed for inspection purposes until approved," and the county is not liable for the cost of removing material to allow an inspection. Cover a rough-in before the inspector has seen it and you open it again at your expense.
4. Closing out: a final inspection is required for all owner-builder permits. Permits are closed only after it is completed and documented.

The 2026 code change, and why it reaches you

The Board of Supervisors approved Resolution 26-23 in July 2026, replacing most of the 2015-edition International codes with the 2024 editions and the 2014 National Electrical Code with the 2023 edition, retaining the 2012 energy code, effective 1 September 2026. Applications submitted before that date follow the old code; applications on or after it meet the new one. The Development Services director said the update keeps "the practical flexibility that matters in a rural county" and continues to "recognize owner-builders, alternative construction methods and conditions specific to Cochise County."

Two consequences. First, the amendment says the limited inspections are completed "in accordance with the adopted Cochise County Building Safety Code." A plumbing or electrical inspection on a permit filed after 1 September is a 2024 plumbing code or 2023 NEC inspection, whatever your plans were drawn to. Second, the county's own FAQ on which codes it uses still listed the 2015 editions and the 2014 NEC at the time of writing. Do not plan from a web page. Ask Development Services which edition your permit date puts you under.

What happens at sale

The recorded notice. Each time a permit is issued under the amendment, the Planning Department records a notice with the County Recorder. A title search will find it. The buyer, the lender and the inspector will all know the house was built under the owner-builder program.

The disclosure form. The Arizona Association of REALTORS Seller's Property Disclosure Statement asks whether you are aware of work performed on the property, whether permits were required, whether they were obtained, and whether the work was performed by a licensed person. An Option 2 house answers honestly as: permitted, no plan review, no building inspections, built by the owner. There is no wrong answer; there is only the answer, and it is already in the public record.

The one-year rule. A.R.S. § 32-1121(A)(5) makes sale, rent, or offering for sale or rent within one year after completion or issuance of a certificate of occupancy prima facie evidence that the project was undertaken for sale or rent, which puts the licensing exemption you built under in question. If circumstances force a sale inside twelve months, talk to a lawyer before listing.

The septic inspection. Separately from the amendment, Arizona requires a transfer-of-ownership inspection of any onsite wastewater system within six months before a property transfer, by a qualified inspector the seller retains, with the report handed to the buyer before closing and a Notice of Transfer filed by the buyer within 15 days afterwards. The University of Arizona's guidance puts the fee at $50 and says the requirement cannot be waived by buyer, seller, agent, lender or title company. Your septic will be inspected at sale even if nothing else ever was.

Rezoning and change of use. Section 27 of the amendment counts a structure built under it against any later rezoning below one dwelling per four acres, and requires a registered design professional to certify code compliance before a conversion to commercial use. A future bed-and-breakfast or a split lot runs into that clause.

Financing, honestly

The county says only this: a conditioned Certificate of Occupancy "confirms that minimum life-safety elements were reviewed but does not certify full code compliance," and "lenders, insurers, or future buyers may request additional inspections or documentation." Option 2 produces no certificate at all.

We could not find any lender's published policy on Cochise County owner-built homes and we are not going to invent one. What we can give you is the questions to put to a lender, an insurer and a title officer before you pour a footing, because the answers decide the option:

• Will you lend, or refinance, on a dwelling with a conditioned Certificate of Occupancy? With none?
• Would a third-party report at footing and framing, bought under the extra-inspection clause, change that answer?
• Will you insure the structure during construction and after, on the same terms as a contractor-built house?
• What does the recorded owner-builder notice do to a future buyer's financing, in your experience?

If the answers are bad under Option 2 and acceptable under Option 1, the four trade inspections and the plan review are the cheapest insurance you will buy on this project.

What we could not confirm

• The current per-hour fee for an elective inspection, or the permit fee itself. The amendment says fees reflect actual costs; the figures are in the Development Services fee schedule and change.
• Whether the Option 2 "final site visit" checks anything beyond the structure's existence and the closure of non-building approvals. The county's wording suggests not.
• Any lender, insurer or title underwriter's actual position on owner-built homes in this county. Ask them, in writing, before you choose.

The short version

Under both options you still get zoning, floodplain, septic, right-of-way and well oversight and a final visit. Under Option 1 you also get mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire inspections against the code in force on your permit date, which since 1 September 2026 means the 2024 editions and the 2023 NEC, plus the right to buy any extra inspection by the hour. You schedule through the portal with 24 hours' notice, keep the work exposed until approved, and have 36 months plus one extension to finish. At sale the recorded notice and the disclosure form tell the buyer everything, the septic gets inspected regardless, and the one-year rule still applies. Ask your lender which option they will finance before you decide which one you prefer.

Tell us the parcel and the job and a licensed local contractor will call you to quote it: start here.