How tall can a wood-frame apartment building be in Los Angeles?

Type III-A reaches 85 ft and 5 stories, and Type V-A 70 ft and 4 stories, for a building sprinklered to NFPA 13; over a Type I-A podium, the stories above count separately under Section 510.2.

When does a multifamily building become a high-rise in California?

When a floor used for human occupancy is more than 75 ft above the lowest floor level with fire department access.

TECTO GROUP / Guides / Design management

Construction types for multifamily in Los Angeles

Design management, Los Angeles. By Lucas Rebouças, Founder & Principal, TECTO GROUP. Code text verified 29 September 2026.

The construction type follows from the height and stories a pathway permits, and it sets the hard cost more than any other choice. The limits below are the sprinklered Group R-2 (apartment) values of the 2026 Los Angeles Building Code, which adopts the 2025 California Building Code, Tables 504.3 and 504.4.

Height and stories by type

Type V-A, wood frame: 70 ft and 4 stories.
Type III-A, wood frame with noncombustible exterior walls: 85 ft and 5 stories.
Type IV, mass timber: from 85 ft and 8 stories (IV-C) to 270 ft and 18 stories (IV-A).
Type I-B, concrete or protected steel: 180 ft and 12 stories; Type I-A has no limit.

These are the values without the area increase, for a building sprinklered to NFPA 13.

The podium

Section 510.2 lets a Type I-A podium and the building above it be treated as separate buildings for area, stories and construction type, where a 3-hour horizontal assembly separates them. The building above keeps its own story limit, and the total height stays within the limit of the building with the smaller allowable height, measured from grade. That is how five stories of wood frame stand on a concrete podium.

Thresholds that change the building

High-rise: a floor more than 75 ft above the lowest level with fire department access brings Section 403's requirements.
Fire District No. 1 (LABC Chapter 72), which covers Downtown and the Hollywood core among other areas, bars Type V construction.
An elevator is required in the accessible route where a required accessible floor is four or more stories above the level of exit discharge.

Questions

How tall can a wood-frame apartment building be in Los Angeles?: Type III-A reaches 85 ft and 5 stories, and Type V-A 70 ft and 4 stories, for a building sprinklered to NFPA 13; over a Type I-A podium, the stories above count separately under Section 510.2.
When does a multifamily building become a high-rise in California?: When a floor used for human occupancy is more than 75 ft above the lowest floor level with fire department access.

Sources

These guides summarize the code text for general information and are not legal advice. Every site is read under the code, the overlays and the ordinances that apply to it on the day of preparation.

TECTO GROUP takes multifamily sites through these pathways for owners, from the first study through entitlement and design to a permit ready to issue. Send the address of the site under consideration.

Email lucas@tecto.group