Building codes & construction
CBC Chapter 11A
The CBC's housing accessibility chapter for covered multifamily: adaptable units, accessible routes and common areas in apartment and condominium projects.
Definition
Chapter 11A of the California Building Code contains the state's accessibility design standards for covered multifamily housing — generally apartment buildings of three or more units and condominiums of four or more. Covered units (ground-floor units in walk-ups; all units on elevator-served floors) must be accessible or adaptable: an accessible route into and through the unit, usable doors, reachable controls, and kitchens and bathrooms designed to adapt. It operates alongside the federal Fair Housing Act design-and-construction requirements (24 CFR Part 100), and a project must satisfy whichever standard is stricter on each point. Chapter 11B, by contrast, covers public accommodations and public-use areas.
Why it matters in an underwrite
11A and FHA geometry is baked into unit plans at schematic — bathroom clearances, kitchen approach, door widths, entry routes — and cannot be fixed cheaply after framing. Non-compliance is systemic by nature: a defective typical plan repeats the violation in every covered unit, and federal design-and-construction liability follows the building for its life. Have plans reviewed against both standards before permit submittal.
Sources & related guides
See also
See the term in the law itself
Read the controlling text in the Code Library, or ask the AI how it applies to your project.
Last reviewed 2026-07-29. General information, not legal advice.