That is five separate logins, five different search boxes, and results that do not cross-reference each other. A property near a jurisdiction’s edge can look like it has zero permits simply because you searched the wrong system — a ‘Tucson, AZ’ mailing address is used well outside the actual city limits, in unincorporated Pima County.
This guide walks through each system in turn — City of Tucson, Pima County, Oro Valley, Marana, Sahuarita — with the exact steps and the specific quirks of each, then covers how to read what you find once you have it. If you would rather skip the logins, our lookup below merges the systems we can read into one report with a permanent address of its own.
Which jurisdiction is your parcel in
A ‘Tucson, AZ’ mailing address does not always mean the property is inside Tucson city limits — plenty of addresses with a Tucson ZIP code sit in unincorporated Pima County, and the reverse happens near Oro Valley, Marana, and Sahuarita. The county assessor’s parcel map shows the jurisdiction directly. So will trial and error: search City of Tucson first — it’s the largest system by far — then Pima County, then the nearest incorporated town.
The table below is the map. Each section after it is the turn-by-turn directions for one row.
| Jurisdiction | System | Link | What it holds | The gotcha |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of Tucson | PRO + GIS permit layers | pro.tucsonaz.gov | Permit detail back to about 2006 in PRO; structured GIS records from 2022 on; plan sets and documents linked from individual permit pages | Two systems, not one — check both. GIS alone misses everything before 2022 |
| Pima County (unincorporated) | Accela | Pima County Accela | Building permits for parcels outside every incorporated city and town | Parcel searches can miss older records — search by street address too, just in case |
| Oro Valley | SmartGov | Town of Oro Valley permit portal | Town building permits; parcel numbers with no dashes | Enter the parcel number in full — a partial or mistyped entry may not return what you're after. Some older records may carry a migration-batch date rather than the true permit date |
| Marana | eTRAKiT | maranaegov.com/eTRAKiT | Permit number, address, parcel, or subdivision search | Parcel searches typically need the number entered without dashes |
| Sahuarita | Accela (TOS) | Town of Sahuarita Accela | Town building permits | Results may not display for anonymous searches — try a free account, or call the town's permit desk |
City of Tucson: PRO and the GIS layers
pro.tucsonaz.gov is the city’s permit records search. It reaches back to roughly 2006; anything older usually predates digital recordkeeping and may only exist on paper. The city’s own records page explains the broader Planning & Development Services process if you need it.
- Open PRO and enter the parcel number in the parcel search box — there is no address search on PRO itself, so get the parcel number from the county assessor or our lookup first.
- The result list shows every permit on file for that parcel; older entries are often thin on detail, more recent ones link out to a full detail page.
- Open a permit’s detail page for status and permit type, plus a documents link — plan sets and inspection sheets are held in a separate document system and open from there.
- Since January 2022, the city’s GIS permit layers add a second, structured record of the same permits and more — 20,630 permits city-wide since Jan 1, 2022 alone. The two sources overlap for recent years and each catches a few things the other misses.
Pima County, unincorporated: Accela
Unincorporated Pima County — anything outside Tucson, Oro Valley, Marana, and Sahuarita city limits — runs its permit records through Accela, under the county’s Development Services department.
- Open the Accela portal and choose the Building record type.
- Search by parcel number first.
- Then search again by street address. Parcel-only searches can come back empty for older Pima County records even when history exists, so it is worth checking both ways.
- Older permits are only partly online. If a search returns nothing and neighboring parcels clearly have activity, that is usually a records-migration gap rather than proof nothing was ever pulled — call or visit Development Services for anything the portal doesn’t show.
Oro Valley: SmartGov
Oro Valley runs its own SmartGov permitting system, reached through the Town’s Development & Infrastructure Services pages.
- Open the Town of Oro Valley’s SmartGov permit search.
- Parcel numbers use the plain, no-dash format — the same one Pima County and our lookup use. Enter the full parcel number; a partial or mistyped entry may not return the results you’re after.
- If a batch of older records all share the exact same date, that is often a sign the entry was migrated from an older paper file rather than logged the day the permit was actually issued. Treat a repeated date like that as evidence a record exists, not proof of when the work happened.
Marana: eTRAKiT
Marana’s permit records live in eTRAKiT.
- Open the eTRAKiT permit search.
- Choose to search by parcel number, permit number, address, or subdivision — parcel number is usually fastest if you have it.
- Enter the parcel number without dashes, then run the search.
- Results list permit number, address, parcel, and subdivision; open an individual record for status and permit type.
Sahuarita: Accela
Sahuarita’s permit records also run on Accela. The portal’s results may not display for an anonymous search — a free account is often needed before it will show anything.
- Create a free Accela citizen account on the portal — no cost, just an email address.
- Search under the Building module by address or parcel.
- If that still comes back empty, call the Town of Sahuarita’s permit desk directly. Town staff can pull a record the public portal isn’t surfacing.
What Issued, Final, Expired, and C of O actually mean
Each system tends to use its own words for ‘done.’ Tucson’s GIS layers say Issued or Inspections Complete. PRO says Final, C of O (Certificate of Occupancy), or L of C (Letter of Completion). Oro Valley’s SmartGov says Permit Issued, Closed, or COO. None of those systems typically use Expired, Approved, or Fees Paid to mean the work was finished and inspected — those usually describe a permit that was opened, or paid for, and never closed out, which is a different thing entirely.
A permit on file is strong evidence the work happened and was inspected. A permit you can’t find is weaker evidence — it can mean the work predates digital records, sits in a system’s gap, or was genuinely done without one. Treat the first as proof. Treat the second as a reason to ask more questions, not as proof of anything.
A permit record tells you what kind of work was proposed and when it was applied for and closed out — and, on City of Tucson permits with documents attached, the actual plan set behind it. It generally does not tell you the brand or model of what went in, and it does not by itself confirm the person who did the work was licensed. You can check a contractor’s license at the Arizona Registrar of Contractors using the name shown on the permit.
The shortcut: one merged report with a permanent link
Our own lookup does this cross-referencing for you. /property-electrical-lookup takes any Pima County address, works out the parcel and the jurisdiction, and pulls City of Tucson PRO and GIS records, Pima County Accela, and Oro Valley SmartGov records automatically — merged into one report with code cases and a plain read of what each system shows. For Marana and Sahuarita, where we can’t read the underlying system directly (see the table above), the report hands you the exact portal link, your parcel number, and the search steps to run yourself.
Every report gets its own permanent web address, so you can bookmark or share it instead of re-running the search — see a residential example at 7834 E Poinciana Dr or a commercial one at 5151 E Broadway Bl. Comparing a whole area instead of one address? The Tucson neighborhood permit data hub breaks out permit activity and typical construction era for twelve Tucson neighborhoods.
Skip the five logins — check one address here
Enter any Pima County address. We resolve the jurisdiction, then pull City of Tucson PRO and GIS records, Pima County Accela, and Oro Valley SmartGov automatically and merge them into one report with a permanent link.