Guides
Guides for multifamily practices
Notes from the drawing side of multifamily: sheet lists, plan check, code, standards and the cost of a set.
GuideLos Angeles multifamily permits, 2023 to 2026, in numbersAn analysis of 1,726 multifamily new-building permits in the City of Los Angeles: how many were filed and issued, how long they took, how tall they are and where they stand today.GuideHow to answer an LADBS plan check correction sheet on a multifamily setThe correction sheet, the response letter, the revised sheets and the verification, from the side of the office that has to answer them, with the rules that set the clock.GuideLADBS clearances on a multifamily permit, department by departmentThe clearance worksheet decides when a multifamily permit can be issued. What each department reviews, what it reads from the drawings, and a sequence that keeps the clearances moving with plan check.GuideWhat a drafter costs a small practice in 2026The BLS wage figures for drafters in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago, what a hire costs once benefits and idle weeks are counted, and the hours at which a salaried seat pays for itself.GuideResponsible control in California when someone else draws the setWhat California's Architects Practice Act and the Board's regulations require when a team outside your office draws the set your architect of record signs and stamps.GuideThe title-block check, 14 items every sheet passes before issueFourteen items every sheet in a construction set passes before it leaves the office, why each one matters to a plan checker or a contractor, and how to check it in Revit.GuideHanding your Revit template to an outside production teamWhat to send a production team outside your office before the first sheet, what a template review checks, and a handoff checklist your office can reuse on every project.GuideThe 5-over-1 podium building and the code rules the set is drawn aroundThe horizontal separation of IBC 510.2, the height, story and area limits for wood frame over concrete, and the sheets where each rule has to be drawn.GuideWhat a multifamily construction document set containsThe sheet list for a mid-rise podium building, series by series in National CAD Standard order, with what each sheet shows and how the list changes from a 10-unit walk-up to a 150-unit building.GuideCBC 11A and 11B on a multifamily setWhen California Building Code Chapter 11A governs a multifamily building, when Chapter 11B does, the many projects where both apply, and where each one is drawn on the set.GuideWhat a California density bonus changes in the drawing setThe State Density Bonus Law from the drawing side: the bonus chart, the incentives and waivers, the parking ratios, and the tables and diagrams a bonus project puts on its sheets.GuideWhat construction documents are, and what a full set includesThe phase names, the drawings and specifications a full set holds, the sets that come out of it, and who prepares and signs the documents.GuidePermit drawings and construction drawings, and how they differThe set a building department approves and the set a contractor builds from start as the same drawings. Here is what separates them, and how to keep them from drifting apart.GuideA design development checklist for multifamily buildingsWhat a multifamily DD set holds, sheet by sheet and decision by decision, and the short list of questions that must be closed before construction documents begin.GuideTitle 24 energy compliance on a multifamily setThe 2025 Energy Code for multifamily buildings, the certificate of compliance forms, who prepares and signs them, and how the drawing set and the forms are kept in agreement.GuideFire separation in multifamily buildings, drawn on the setDwelling unit walls and floors, corridors, shafts and exit stairs: the ratings the International Building Code sets for an apartment building, the reductions sprinklers allow, and where each lands on the drawings.GuideAccessible and adaptable units on a California multifamily setThe enlarged unit plan is where California accessibility is won or lost at plan check. Here are the 2025 CBC clearances for doors, kitchens and bathrooms in covered multifamily units, and how 11B mobility units differ.