Why That Type V Apartment Building Looks Like It Has More Stories Than the Code Allows
1 min readbuilding code, type V construction, multifamily design
Type V wood-frame construction is capped at four stories under California Building Code. But many infill apartment buildings appear to be five or six stories. The reason is mezzanines — partial floors that don't count as a "story" under code, but add usable floor area and the visual height of a full story.
The article explains how mezzanines work in the code, the design constraints that come with using them, and why they're the most underused tool in Type V multifamily design.