What the county actually requires, who to call, and where people get caught out.
Standard IRC rules with a clearly published small-structure path: one-story detached tool/storage sheds and playhouses are exempt if the ROOF area (outside wall to outside wall) does not exceed 200 sq ft, and the county publishes bulletins on keeping detached accessory buildings permit-exempt; no owner-builder opt-out, and enforcement is real in this fast-growing county.
Call the office above and describe your actual build. Two things catch dome builders out in every Arizona county, whatever the permit light says: septic is regulated by the state regardless of what the county does about buildings, and no permit means no certificate of occupancy — which usually means no conventional mortgage and no standard homeowner's insurance, and a cash-buyers-only sale later.
Snow load is the other one. At elevation in Arizona it is a real engineering number, not a formality — the calculator works it out for your site.
Work out your dome's struts, hubs and cost →
This is a plain-English summary of published county rules, gathered for Tom & Courtney's Desert Domes — it is not legal advice, and codes change. The county office above is the authority; confirm with them before you buy materials.