# Sidewalk Repair in Phoenix, AZ: Who Pays? | Who Pays the Repair?

> In Phoenix the abutting owner must keep the sidewalk in repair; on default the City repairs and liens the cost to the owner.

**Who pays:** owner

Phoenix: the abutting owner must keep the sidewalk in repair, on default the City repairs and liens the cost to the owner.

**Boundary:** Phoenix City Code § 31-54 makes it the duty of the owner or lessee abutting a sidewalk to keep and maintain it in repair. On a defective sidewalk the Street Transportation Director notifies the owner to repair immediately; on failure the City repairs and taxes the cost to the owner as a property lien (§ 31-56).

**Property owner:** Keep and maintain the abutting sidewalk in repair (§ 31-54); repair immediately on the Director’s notice or the City repairs and liens the cost (§ 31-56).

**City / agency:** On owner default after notice, the City repairs and taxes the cost to the abutting owner as a lien (§§ 31-56, 31-57).

## Sources
- [Phoenix City Code § 31-54 (owner/lessee duty to keep sidewalk in repair)](https://phoenix.municipal.codes/CC/31-54) — "It shall be the duty of the owner or the lessee of any lot or parcel abutting upon any sidewalk now or hereafter constructed in the City to keep and maintain such sidewalk in repair. (Code 1962, § 35-66)" (accessed 2026-09-09)
- [Phoenix City Code § 31-56 (notice; City repair and lien on owner default)](https://phoenix.municipal.codes/CC/31-56) — "Whenever any sidewalk in the City shall become defective, the Street Transportation Director shall notify the owner of the abutting property of such defective condition and shall notify the owner to immediately repair such sidewalk and unless immediate steps are taken by the owner to repair the sidewalk, the City shall proceed to repair the sidewalk and tax the cost of such repair to the abutting property owner and make such cost a lien upon the property abutting on the sidewalk so repaired..." (accessed 2026-09-09)

_Last verified 2026-09-09. Source: Who Pays the Repair? — https://whopaystherepair.com/rules/phoenix-az-sidewalk-repair/ — every claim checked against a primary source before publication (see /methodology/)._