What protections do you have when you buy a new build in Scottsdale, Arizona?

The protections you have when you buy a new build in Arizona come from four places. They are an implied warranty that Arizona courts read into every builder's contract, a repair process the builder gets to use before you can sue, the Registrar of Contractors, and a public report the developer has to give you before you sign. I'll go through each one with you and read the builder's contract for the items below.

I'm Jen Keene, a REALTOR® with eXp Luxury in Scottsdale, AZ, helping people buy and sell homes across Arizona. Everything here comes from the Arizona statutes, the Arizona Supreme Court's opinion in Zambrano v. M & RC II LLC, and the Registrar of Contractors and Department of Real Estate websites, all checked October 30, 2026. It is general information and not legal advice, so have a licensed Arizona attorney read the builder's contract before you sign it.

If you are still choosing a builder, here's my guide to new construction in Scottsdale.

Arizona courts read a warranty of workmanship and habitability into every contract between a builder-vendor and a homebuyer. According to the Arizona Supreme Court, the builder guarantees that it built the home in a workmanlike manner and that the home is habitable. The court says the warranty is limited to latent defects, meaning problems a reasonable inspection before purchase would not have found, and that later owners can enforce it too without a contract with the builder.

The warranty itself comes from court decisions, which the Supreme Court describes as common law, and not from a statute that lists what it covers. A.R.S. 12-552 and 12-1362 both refer to it. In Zambrano, 254 Ariz. 53, 517 P.3d 1168, decided September 28, 2022, the court held that public policy prohibits enforcing a disclaimer and waiver of the warranty, even when the builder and the buyer replaced it with an express warranty. The court said an express warranty can sit alongside the implied one. That means a builder's own warranty document cannot take the place of the implied warranty, and your attorney can read the covered items and the number of years in the builder's warranty against it.

The Arizona Supreme Court says a lawsuit to enforce the implied warranty is subject to the six-year statute of limitations for contract actions, A.R.S. 12-548(A). The eight-year statute of repose is in A.R.S. 12-552(A), which bars a contract action against a developer or seller once eight years have passed since the home was completed, and 12-552(F) applies that limit to claims based on implied warranties of habitability, fitness or workmanship. Under 12-552(E), a latent defect found in the eighth year gives you one more year to sue, and an action may not be brought once nine years have passed since the home was completed.

Those are deadlines for a lawsuit, and they do not mean the builder has to fix anything for that long. Section 12-552(G) also says it does not shorten an express written warranty, and because the six years and the eight years are measured from different events, your attorney can tell you which dates apply to your home. The Legislature can change these deadlines, and the statute I checked on October 30, 2026 still says eight years.

Arizona's Purchaser Dwelling Action statutes, A.R.S. 12-1361 to 12-1366, set a process you follow first, except for a defect that is an immediate threat to the life or safety of the people in the home. Under 12-1363 you send the builder written notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, and the statute defines reasonable detail as an itemized list of each defect, where you saw it, the damage it has caused or is likely to cause, and the street address. The builder can inspect the home and run reasonable tests, and you make the home available within 10 days of its request.

The builder then has 60 days to send a good-faith written response by certified mail. It can offer to repair or replace, to pay money, or to give other compensation, and a repair offer has to describe the work and estimate a completion date. Under 12-1363(C) you can accept or reject an offer of money, and if you reject it you may file suit once any repairs the builder planned are finished. If the builder does not answer within 60 days, 12-1363(D) says you can file. Under 12-1363(F), the time limits for suing are paused during this process and for 30 days after the repairs are finished. If a buyer skips the process, the statute says the lawsuit must be dismissed, so keep your notice and the return receipt.

According to the Supreme Court, the implied warranty is what gives you the claim, and the Act sets the steps you follow before bringing it.

The Arizona Department of Real Estate's buyer checklist says you may wish to look up the homebuilder with the Registrar of Contractors regarding their contractor status, and the Registrar's page points you to its Contractor Search. Look up the company named on your contract, because the Recovery Fund described below requires the contractor to have been appropriately licensed on the date of the contract, the date of the first payment, or the date work began.

Under A.R.S. 12-1365, the seller responsible for building a new home must put a notice in the sales contract, or give it as a separate document, that you can file a written complaint with the Registrar against the homebuilder. You initial that notice, and you are not treated as having received it unless you do. For new construction, A.R.S. 32-1162 and the Registrar's complaint page both put the filing window at two years from the earlier of close of escrow or actual occupancy. The Registrar's Compliance Department investigates alleged violations, and under A.R.S. 32-1155 it may direct the licensee to show cause why its license should not be suspended or revoked. A complaint goes to the contractor's license and is separate from a lawsuit under the warranty.

The Residential Contractors' Recovery Fund is administered by the Registrar and pays claimants damaged by a licensed residential contractor's violation of the licensing law. The statute I checked on October 30, 2026, A.R.S. 32-1132.01(D), sets the maximum individual award at $30,000, and the Registrar can tell you if that has changed. The Registrar's site also says every licensed residential contractor either pays into the fund or posts a second $200,000 bond, which A.R.S. 32-1152 confirms.

Both the statute and the Registrar say an individual claimant must own the damaged home and live in it, or intend to live in it, as a primary residence, and a revocable living trust qualifies when all of its trustors do. On the Registrar's administrative route, the contractor's license must have been suspended or revoked as a result of a complaint against it, you must first pursue the contractor's license bond, and the claim is due within two years after the Registrar's final order proceedings end (A.R.S. 32-1133.01). If the home will be a second home or will be held in an LLC, ask the Registrar and your attorney how the fund applies (32-1132 and 32-1133.01 are where the eligibility rules are), and here's my guide to buying a second home in Scottsdale. Confirm limits and deadlines with the Registrar before you rely on them.

The public report is a disclosure the Arizona Department of Real Estate issues for a subdivision. A.R.S. 32-2183 says the subdivider must give each initial buyer a copy before the buyer signs an offer to purchase and must take a receipt, and the Department's buyer checklist says the same and adds that you sign a receipt. The Department lists the contents as flooding and drainage, adjacent land uses, utility providers, common facilities, assurances that improvements will be completed, local services, taxes and assessments, and property owners association details. A.R.S. 32-2181 adds the condition of title, sales terms, access, the nearest schools, use restrictions and liens.

The cover sheet says the Department has not verified all of the information, so read it against what the sales office told you and confirm the facts before you sign anything. A subdivision that creates six or more lots is subject to the requirement, with the exceptions listed in 32-2181. If a sale happens before the report is issued or without the report being delivered, 32-2183 says the sale can be rescinded by the buyer, who has three years from signing to bring that action. According to the Arizona Department of Real Estate's checklist, the seven-day right to cancel in writing applies to raw undeveloped land and does not apply to new or previously owned homes, which matches A.R.S. 32-2185.01 exempting improved lots, so ask your attorney what the builder's contract itself gives you.

The Arizona REALTORS® publish standard purchase forms for resale transactions. A builder's purchase agreement is the builder's own document, like the preprinted agreement in Zambrano, so what it says controls and every builder's is different. These are the items I'd read for.

• Arbitration or other dispute resolution. A.R.S. 12-1366 lets a home sale contract include commercially reasonable dispute resolution procedures that apply after the repair process, and requires them to appear in bold capital letters, with a twelve-point bold capitals disclosure on the face of the contract saying where they are.
• The warranty wording. After Zambrano, a waiver of the implied warranty cannot be enforced, so see how the contract treats it.
• The Registrar notice. Find the notice you initial under 12-1365 and note the date your two years start.
• Your deposit and your exits. The Department of Real Estate says to note where the builder places your earnest money, and that you initial a separate paragraph if it is not placed in escrow. Read what happens to the deposit if you cancel or the builder is late, and what inspection rights you get.
• The public report receipt. Confirm you have the report before you sign.

On a resale the inspection period works in a way buyers already know, and here's how the inspection period works on a resale in Arizona.

You can ask the builder whether an independent inspector may visit before the walls are closed, and again before closing. Ask before you sign and get the answer in the contract. You pay the inspector, and I can give you the questions to ask.

At the final walk-through you can go room by room, write down every item you want corrected, and photograph each one. That list is the punch list, and it helps to date it. If a defect shows up later and you use the notice process, 12-1363 asks for an itemized list with the location of each defect, and your list and photos are where you start. An item you can see at the walk-through is one to get fixed in writing before you close.

I'll register you with the builder before your first visit, read the builder's contract and the public report with you, flag the items above for your attorney, come to the final walk-through if you would like, and help you keep the dated punch list. I'm not an attorney, so the legal reading belongs to yours. Here's why you still want your own agent on a new build, and how builder incentives work.

Here is an example with made-up dates. A buyer receives the public report and signs the receipt before signing the purchase contract, initials the Registrar notice in that contract, closes escrow on March 1 and moves in on March 15. The two-year window for a Registrar complaint starts March 1, because the statute counts from the earlier of the two dates. A year later a hidden defect shows up, so the buyer sends the certified-mail notice, makes the home available within 10 days of the builder's request to inspect, and the builder has 60 days to respond. The lawsuit deadlines are measured from other dates.

If you are weighing a new build against another home, call me at (480) 203-6605 or get in touch, and I'll go through the builder's contract and public report with you.