How to Start an Assisted Living Home in Arizona: ADHS License, Manager Certificate and Fees

Arizona assisted living facilities are licensed by the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS), not the Arizona Corporation Commission. Most first-time operators miss that split. The Corporation Commission forms your LLC or corporation, but you cannot admit a resident until ADHS issues your facility license. This guide covers the order that works, the fees you can budget for, and the mistakes that slow down an arizona assisted living license application.

This article is informational content, not legal, tax or licensing advice. Assisted living rules, fees and processing times change. Confirm every figure with the agency named before you commit money or sign a lease. For complex ownership structures, purchases of an existing facility or zoning disputes, consult a qualified attorney and a CPA.

What You Need Before You Start

Gather these items before you commit to a property or file anything:

• A decision on facility size: a home (10 or fewer residents) or a center (11 or more residents)
• A target property and written zoning confirmation from the city or town
• Formation documents: Articles of Organization (Form L010) or Articles of Incorporation, plus a statutory agent who has accepted the appointment in writing (Form M002)
• A facility manager who holds a certificate from the Board of Examiners of Nursing Care Institution Administrators and Assisted Living Facility Managers
• A fingerprint clearance card for the manager
• Floor plans, and a plan review submittal if you will build or modify the space
• A staffing plan and a caregiver training plan that meets ADHS rules
• Funds for ADHS fees, Corporation Commission fees, insurance and the first months of operating costs

Step 1: Confirm Your Facility Type and Level of Service

Under A.R.S. 36-401, an assisted living home has 10 or fewer residents, and an assisted living center has 11 or more. That number drives your floor plan, your staffing, your fees and sometimes your zoning. Decide it first.

Next, choose your level of service: supervisory, personal or directed care. You state the level on your application, and an inspector compares it against what you actually staff and deliver. Pick the level your staffing budget supports, not the one that sounds best on a brochure. Confirm the level definitions in the ADHS rules before you finalize your payroll plan.

Step 2: Check Zoning and Spacing Before You Sign Anything

Ask the city or town in writing whether a residential home at the address can operate as an assisted living home. Then ask whether the jurisdiction restricts the distance between assisted living homes.

Under A.R.S. 9-462.09, if a city restricts that distance, it must offer an administrative fair-housing reasonable-accommodation procedure, and it must measure spacing lot line to lot line. Measure the lot lines yourself on the city's parcel map. Do not rely on the seller's description or a house-to-house measurement, because those can produce a different answer. Check with the city planning department for the procedure and any forms it requires.

Tip: Make your purchase or lease contract contingent on the zoning answer. Get the answer in writing.

Step 3: Form the Entity With the Arizona Corporation Commission

Most operators form a limited liability company (LLC). The Corporations Division handles the filing, and the online portal is the Arizona Business Center at arizonabusinesscenter.azcc.gov.

Articles of Organization (Form L010): The filing fee is $50. Expedited review costs $35 more, for $85 total. Accelerated service is an additional fee on top of the filing fee: $100 for next day (received by 5pm), $200 for same day (received by 10am), or $400 for two-hour service (available 8am to 3pm). Accelerated service guarantees examination within the stated window, not approval.

Per the Corporations Division processing times sheet posted December 29, 2025, regular processing runs about 9 to 11 business days and expedited processing about 2 to 4 business days. Check the current sheet before you plan your opening date.

Name rules (A.R.S. 29-3112): The name must include 'limited liability company' or 'limited company', or one of the abbreviations L.L.C., L.C., LLC or LC. It cannot include 'association', 'corporation', 'incorporated' or an abbreviation of those words. It must be distinguishable from existing entity names, reserved names and registered trade names. If the name contains banking or trust terms, you need prior written approval from the Arizona Department of Financial Institutions. You can reserve a name for 120 days for $10 through the Arizona Business Center.

Statutory agent (A.R.S. 29-3115): An individual statutory agent must be a permanent, full-time Arizona resident with a permanent, full-time Arizona address. An entity can serve instead, but an LLC cannot serve as its own statutory agent. The agent must accept the appointment in writing on Form M002. Keep a valid agent and address on record at all times. Failing to do so can lead to administrative dissolution under A.R.S. 29-3708.

Publication: Unless your statutory agent's county is Maricopa or Pima, the LLC must publish notice. Confirm the publication requirement and deadline with the Commission before you file.

Corporation alternative: A for-profit corporation files Articles of Incorporation for $60 together with a Certificate of Disclosure. A corporation must file an annual report each year, currently $45, on the date the Commission assigns. An LLC files no annual report.

Trade name: If you will operate under a name other than your legal entity name, register the trade name with the Arizona Secretary of State at azsos.gov/business/tntm. Trade name registration is optional and separate from the Commission filing. Confirm the fee on that page.

Taxes on the entity: An LLC is usually taxed as a pass-through, so members pay Arizona's flat 2.5 percent individual income tax on their share. An LLC that elects corporate treatment pays 4.9 percent of net income or $50, whichever is greater. Ask a CPA which structure fits your plan.

Step 4: Get the Facility Manager Certificate

Your facility manager must hold a certificate from the Board of Examiners of Nursing Care Institution Administrators and Assisted Living Facility Managers. Under A.R.S. 36-446.04, the certificate requires a board-approved course, an exam and a fingerprint clearance card.

Start this step early. The manager's background check and the course schedule can be the slowest parts of your timeline, and an application without a qualified manager on record will not move forward. Confirm with ADHS and the board whether the certificate must be in hand when you apply or before the facility opens, and confirm the course and exam costs with the board before you budget. Look up the board's current contact details before you call.

Step 5: Plan the Building and Get Plan Review if You Build or Modify

If you construct or modify the space, plan review is required. The plan review fee ranges from $50 to $150, based on the project cost. Submit your drawings before construction begins. Changes made after approval can cost more in time and money than changes made on paper.

Hire a contractor who holds a current Arizona license. The Registrar of Contractors licenses contractors in Arizona, so verify the contractor's license status on the Registrar's site before you sign a contract.

Step 6: Hire and Train Caregivers

Caregivers must complete training under ADHS rules. Confirm the required training topics, hours and timing with ADHS before you finalize your hiring schedule. Ask whether staff must be trained before the license is issued or only before they provide care.

Keep training records in each employee file. Inspectors look for proof of training as well as proof that staff can do what the level of service requires.

Step 7: Submit the ADHS License Application and Pay the Fees

ADHS licenses the facility. Use the figures below as your planning baseline, and confirm the current schedule with ADHS before you pay, since fee structures are set in the Arizona Administrative Code (A.A.C. R9-10-106).

Fee item	Amount	Notes
Application fee	$50	Paid with the application
Base license fee	$280	For 1 to 59 beds
Per licensed bed	$70	For 1 to 59 beds
Higher base tiers	$560 at 60 beds, $840 at 100 beds, $1,400 at 150 beds	Confirm how the per-bed charge combines with these tiers
Plan review	$50 to $150	Only for construction or modification, based on project cost
License fee payment	Annual	Confirm the renewal date and payment method with ADHS

Worked example: For a 10-bed home, the base license fee of $280 plus 10 beds at $70 each comes to $980. Add the $50 application fee, and the initial ADHS total is $1,030. That figure excludes plan review, the manager's course and exam, insurance, furnishings and staffing.

Submit a complete application. Missing forms, missing signatures and unfinished sections are the most common reasons an application stalls, so review the checklist from ADHS line by line before you submit.

Step 8: Register for Taxes and Local Licenses

Arizona has no general state business license. The Transaction Privilege Tax (TPT) license from the Department of Revenue is a tax license, and it costs $12 per location. It is required for retail sales and other taxable business classifications. Ask the Department of Revenue, and your CPA, whether any of your revenue falls in a taxable classification. Apply through the TPT license page.

Counties issue no general business license. Cities and towns commonly require their own business license or TPT license on top of the state license. Ask your city or town clerk what applies at your address. Confirm your employer registrations with the Department of Revenue as well.

Step 9: Keep the License and Entity in Good Standing

• ADHS: Pay the annual license fee on time, keep the manager's certificate current, and report changes to ADHS as its rules require.
• LLC: No annual report is required. Changing the statutory agent or principal address costs $5 for an LLC.
• Corporation: File the annual report each year, currently $45 for a for-profit corporation.
• Statutory agent: Keep a valid Arizona address on record at all times.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Signing a lease or purchase before zoning is confirmed in writing. A spacing rule can end the project after you have already paid for the property.
• Measuring spacing the wrong way. Spacing is measured lot line to lot line, not house to house.
• Confusing the two agencies. The Corporation Commission forms the entity. ADHS licenses the facility. Filing with one does not satisfy the other.
• Choosing an LLC name the rules reject. A name with 'corporation' or 'incorporated' fails, and a name with banking or trust terms needs prior approval from the Department of Financial Institutions.
• Naming a statutory agent who has not accepted in writing. Get Form M002 signed before you file.
• Assuming an LLC files an annual report. An LLC files none. A corporation does.
• Budgeting only the ADHS fees. Plan review, manager training, insurance, staffing and months of operating costs usually exceed the license fees.
• Skipping the tax question. Ask whether the TPT license applies before you open, not after your first invoice.

What Results to Expect

Operators who complete the steps in order are generally better positioned to move through the process without rework. A complete entity filing, written zoning confirmation, a qualified manager and a complete ADHS application are the pieces that most often determine the pace of the project.

No timeline or approval is guaranteed. Your actual timeline will depend on your property, your construction needs, the ADHS workload and your local rules. Use the Corporation Commission processing times as a planning reference, not a promise, and treat every date in this guide as something to confirm with the agency before you rely on it.

Official Resources

• Arizona Department of Health Services: azdhs.gov (search for assisted living facility licensing and confirm current forms)
• Arizona Corporation Commission, Corporations Division: azcc.gov/corporations
• Arizona Business Center (online filing): arizonabusinesscenter.azcc.gov
• Business entity search: arizonabusinesscenter.azcc.gov/businesssearch
• Arizona Secretary of State, trade names: azsos.gov/business/tntm
• Arizona Department of Revenue: azdor.gov
• Arizona Small Business Development Center Network: arizonasbdc.com
• U.S. Small Business Administration, Arizona: sba.gov/district/arizona

Next Steps

Start with the two decisions that shape everything else: facility size and level of service. Then get zoning in writing, form the entity, and line up a qualified manager before you commit to a lease. Confirm each ADHS figure on the agency page before you budget, and bring this checklist to a CPA and an attorney before you sign anything.

Reminder: This article is informational content, not legal, tax or licensing advice.