General Contractor in West Hollywood

Green Design and Build is a licensed general contractor (CSLB #1110975) based at 16120 Sherman Way in Van Nuys, about 12 miles north of West Hollywood over Laurel Canyon. We are a full-service residential general contractor and design-build remodeler for projects of every size — kitchens, bathrooms, ADUs, room additions and whole-home renovations — serving homeowners across Los Angeles County, Orange County, Ventura County, western Riverside County and western San Bernardino County. Led by Dekel Sofer, we have completed hundreds of projects and hold a 4.7-star rating across 146 Yelp reviews.

West Hollywood is the most tightly regulated city we work in, and the reason is its housing. Roughly 88 percent of the city’s homes are in multifamily buildings and about 80 percent of occupied units are rented — so rules written to protect tenants govern a great deal of ordinary construction work here. Add historic review across a large share of the apartment stock, a ban on crews parking on the street, and a city split between two water utilities, and it is a place where knowing the process is most of the job.

The Tenant Habitability Plan: the rule that stops permits

If you own rental property in West Hollywood, this is the most important thing on this page.

Under Chapter 17.30 of the Municipal Code, “Tenant Protection During Construction,” a Tenant Habitability Plan must be filed and approved before permits are issued for work on occupied residential rental property in several situations. The one that catches ordinary renovation is broad: any improvement to more than one dwelling unit or the common area(s) at a multi-family residential rental property within a twelve-month period that would materially increase rental value.

The other triggers are work under the city’s seismic retrofit chapters, work that would make a unit uninhabitable under housing, health, building or safety laws, work at a property where the landlord has engaged in conduct listed in the harassment provisions, and work leaving all elevators inoperative for more than 72 consecutive hours.

The city states the consequence plainly: “No construction permits will issue until the plan has been approved by the Rent Stabilization Division.” Not Building and Safety — the Rent Stabilization Division, a different department, with its own review clock of roughly 10 business days and a filing fee. The plan is filed against a pending permit number, so the sequence has to be right.

Tenant notice runs on a tiered clock: at least 10 days before permitted construction starts, at least 30 days if the plan involves temporarily relocating anyone, and at least 24 hours before interrupting services. Mitigation measures the city expects to see addressed include dust barriers, sound mitigation, alternative parking, temporary replacement services and, where appropriate, rent reduction for affected tenants.

Which buildings are rent-stabilized: the ordinance applies in full to multifamily rental units built before 1 July 1979, and to tenancies that began before 1 January 1996 in single-family homes and condominiums built before that same date. Just-cause eviction protections apply more broadly. As of August 2026 the city had 15,788 registered rental units under the ordinance, which has been in place since 1985.

One timely note: the city is running an update to the Rent Stabilization Ordinance, with community sessions through September 2026. Rules in this area may change, and we confirm the current requirement at the start of every job rather than relying on how it worked last year.

Permits in West Hollywood: how we run it

Building and Safety sits in the Community Development Department at 8300 Santa Monica Boulevard. The public counter runs Monday to Friday, 8 AM to noon and 1 PM to 5 PM, and appointments are limited to 30 minutes and a single property address — so we go in prepared, with one address per slot.

Submission is online only. All applications go through the city’s Permitting and License Portal, which also handles inspection scheduling. The city says applications are processed within 3 business days and that plan check staff typically make contact within 4 to 6 weeks of submittal. Applications stay valid for a year, with extensions available in 180-day increments.

Contractors need a West Hollywood business tax certificate even with no address in the city. The city is explicit that contractors working on projects within city limits must apply, within 30 days of starting work. We hold ours; it is a common reason an out-of-area contractor gets stopped at the counter.

The substantial-remodel trigger. For any structure other than a single-family home or duplex, removing 50 percent or more of the exterior wall area — walls, doors and windows — or 50 percent or more of the supporting members counts as a substantial remodel, which requires a demolition permit and a development permit rather than a straightforward building permit. On an apartment or condominium building, that changes the entitlement path entirely.

The parking trigger. Single-family and duplex additions need no additional parking if no new units are created. But buildings of three or more units must comply with current parking standards once cumulative floor-area increases exceed 25 percent over a rolling ten-year period — and on a fully built-out West Hollywood lot, that is often impossible to satisfy. It is usually what actually kills an apartment addition, not the design.

One small thing that surprises people: a building permit is required to replace windows on every building in West Hollywood, historic or not, with additional Community Development review for all replacement windows.

Historic review covers more than you would expect

The city’s Cultural Heritage Preservation ordinance is Chapter 19.58, adopted in 2001 and most recently amended in June 2024, with West Hollywood’s first preservation ordinance dating to 1989. There are more than 80 designated cultural resources, including six historic districts, and 14 properties listed on the National Register.

A Certificate of Appropriateness is required for the alteration, demolition or removal of any individual cultural resource, or any contributing resource within a historic district. “Alteration” is defined broadly — any act that changes character-defining or significant physical features or architectural appearance, including architectural details and landscaping. Crucially, that review also extends to potential cultural resources, not only designated ones.

That last point matters right now. The city carried out a reconnaissance historic resources survey of more than 2,000 properties in the multi-family R2, R3 and R4 zones built before 1984, with Historic Preservation Commission review completed in January 2025. A very large share of West Hollywood’s apartment stock has now been evaluated, and buildings that were not on anyone’s radar may appear on the potential-resources list. We check a property’s status before scoping exterior work, because a Certificate of Appropriateness is a different timeline from a straight permit.

West Hollywood housing stock

Type	Units	Share
Multifamily, 5+ units	20,529	79.4%
Multifamily, 2–4 units	2,338	9.0%
Single-family detached	2,237	8.7%
Single-family attached	704	2.7%
Mobile homes	45	0.2%

Occupied units run about 19.8 percent owner-occupied and 80.2 percent renter-occupied.

The practical read: most West Hollywood remodel work is inside a condominium or an apartment, on a small lot, in a building somebody else also owns part of. That changes what is possible. Beyond the city permit, expect the association or owner to be part of the approval — the city limits who may even file an application to owners, lessees with written owner consent, and agents authorised in writing, and in a condominium the association owns the common area. Under California’s Davis-Stirling Act an association must give you a fair, reasonable and expeditious review with prompt deadlines and a written decision, but that is a separate track from the city and it runs on its own clock.

Zoning heights vary sharply by district: 15 feet and one storey in R1-C, 25 feet and two storeys in R1-A, R1-B and R2, 35 feet and three storeys in R3-B and R4-A, and 45 feet and four storeys in R3-C and R4-B. We confirm your district and its current standards with Planning before drawing anything.

What we build in West Hollywood

• Bathroom remodeling, including full shower rebuilds in condominiums and apartments.
• Kitchen remodeling within the constraints of an existing multifamily building.
• Whole-unit renovations of condominiums and apartments.
• Single-family remodels and additions in the R1 areas.
• ADUs, including the multifamily conversions described below.
• Seismic retrofit work under the city’s mandatory programmes.
• Flooring, painting, windows and doors — windows always by permit here.
• Plumbing and electrical upgrades as part of remodels, performed by licensed tradespeople.

ADUs in West Hollywood

ADU permits are ministerial, decided by the Community Development Director under Chapter 19.43, with standards in section 19.36.310. A single-family lot may have one ADU and one JADU.

The multifamily rules are the interesting ones here, given the housing stock. On a multifamily lot the city allows converted ADUs up to 25 percent of the existing number of dwelling units — created from non-livable space such as storage rooms, boiler rooms and garages — plus up to two detached ADUs on a lot with a proposed primary multifamily dwelling, or up to eight detached ADUs on a lot with existing primary multifamily dwellings. For an owner of an older West Hollywood apartment building with underused basement or garage space, that is a substantial and often overlooked option.

Sizes run from a 150-square-foot minimum to 850 square feet for a studio or one-bedroom and 1,200 square feet for two or more bedrooms. Detached ADUs are capped at 18 feet, attached at 25 feet. Side and rear setbacks are 4 feet, with front setbacks by zone. No off-street parking is required. ADUs created on or after 1 January 2020 carry no owner-occupancy requirement; JADUs still do. The city also runs a pre-approved ADU plan programme.

Note that where the building is occupied rental property, ADU work touching common areas can bring the Tenant Habitability Plan requirement with it. Our ADU rules calculator shows the state-law floor for your lot.

Working on a West Hollywood street

This is where jobs go wrong for contractors who have not worked here.

Construction hours under Chapter 9.70 are Monday to Friday 8 AM to 7 PM, Saturday interior work only 8 AM to 7 PM, and no construction at all on Sundays or holidays.

Crews may not park on the street. The ordinance requires workers to park in off-street locations, and construction vehicles may not block neighbouring properties. On West Hollywood’s narrow, permit-parked residential streets that is a genuine logistics problem, and it is a code requirement rather than a courtesy. The city operates 11 preferential parking districts and offers no contractor or construction parking permit — curb space runs through the encroachment permit process, not the parking permit system.

Construction mitigation plans are required before permits issue. Minor sites file a minor construction mitigation plan; larger sites file construction parking plans, haul route plans and detailed schedules.

The public right-of-way rules are unusually restrictive. An encroachment permit covers temporary equipment, materials, barricades, scaffolding and debris containers — but the city expressly prohibits moving and storage containers, construction trailers, portable toilets, and overnight storage of heavy equipment or materials in the right-of-way. Encroachment review takes around 10 business days per submission, and applications left inactive for two weeks are cancelled.

We plan staging, deliveries and welfare facilities around these rules before mobilising, because there is no improvising your way past them mid-project.

Seismic retrofit programmes

West Hollywood has two mandatory retrofit programmes: soft, weak or open-front wood-frame buildings, effective April 2018, and non-ductile concrete and pre-Northridge steel moment frame buildings, effective August 2018, with compliance deadlines extended by council resolution in November 2024. A voluntary programme covers cripple walls and sill plate anchorage. Because Chapter 17.30 names the retrofit chapters directly, retrofit work on an occupied building always requires a Tenant Habitability Plan.

Utilities

Southern California Edison provides electric service in West Hollywood — not LADWP — so a panel upgrade is coordinated with SCE alongside the city’s electrical permit. Gas is Southern California Gas Company.

Water is split between two agencies. The east side of the city is served by LADWP; the west side by the City of Beverly Hills Water department. Which one serves your address determines who you apply to for a meter or service change, and it is one of the first things we establish.

Sewer mains are city-owned, with wastewater treated at the Hyperion plant in Playa del Rey. Private sewer laterals, including the point of connection to the city main, are the property owner’s responsibility — worth knowing before a bathroom remodel uncovers a failing lateral. Work in the right-of-way requires an encroachment permit, an A or C-34 licence and a $1,000,000 policy naming the city as additional insured.

What homeowners say

From our Google reviews:

I recently hired Green Design and Build for a complete bathroom remodel. The project was a success, the team’s communication was outstanding, making sure the job was done efficiently and to a high standard.

Lielle Kotel

Drake showed up he was professional. He helped us choose the color and style we like. They finished the job on time and made sure to leave everything clean. Nicole and Drake checked the work everyday until the work was done.

Ely Giat

More on our About page.

Frequently asked questions

What is a Tenant Habitability Plan and do I need one?

It is a plan filed with West Hollywood’s Rent Stabilization Division under Municipal Code Chapter 17.30 before permits are issued for certain work on occupied residential rental property. The broadest trigger is any improvement to more than one dwelling unit or to common areas at a multi-family rental property within a twelve-month period that would materially increase rental value. Others include seismic retrofit work, work making a unit uninhabitable, and work leaving all elevators out for more than 72 hours. The city states that no construction permits will issue until the Rent Stabilization Division approves the plan. Review takes about 10 business days, and tenants must be given at least 10 days’ notice, or 30 days if anyone is being relocated. Green Design and Build files the plan and builds the notice periods into the programme.

Can I remodel a condominium in West Hollywood without HOA approval?

Not for anything touching the common area. West Hollywood limits who may file a permit application to owners, lessees with written owner consent, and agents authorised in writing — and in a condominium the association owns the common area, so it has to be part of the application. Separately, under California’s Davis-Stirling Act your association must give you a fair, reasonable and expeditious review with prompt deadlines and a written decision. That runs on its own timeline alongside the city’s, and Green Design and Build sequences the two rather than starting one after the other.

Is my apartment building historic?

It may be, and it may be under review even if it has never been designated. West Hollywood requires a Certificate of Appropriateness for alteration, demolition or removal of designated cultural resources, contributing resources in historic districts, and potential cultural resources. The city recently completed a reconnaissance survey of more than 2,000 properties in the R2, R3 and R4 multi-family zones built before 1984. Green Design and Build checks a property’s status before scoping exterior work, because that review is a different timeline from a straight permit.

Why can’t my contractor’s crew park outside?

Because West Hollywood’s construction management ordinance requires workers to park in off-street locations, and construction vehicles may not block neighbouring properties. The city operates 11 preferential parking districts and offers no contractor parking permit; curb space for construction goes through the encroachment permit process. The right-of-way also may not be used for storage containers, construction trailers, portable toilets or overnight equipment storage. Green Design and Build plans staging and welfare facilities around those rules before starting.

How many ADUs can I build on a West Hollywood apartment property?

More than most people expect. On a multifamily lot the city allows converted ADUs up to 25 percent of the existing number of dwelling units, created from non-livable space such as storage rooms, boiler rooms and garages, plus up to two detached ADUs on a lot with a proposed primary multifamily dwelling or up to eight detached ADUs on a lot with existing primary multifamily dwellings. No off-street parking is required. Where the building is occupied rental property, a Tenant Habitability Plan may also be needed.

Are you licensed to work in West Hollywood?

Yes. Green Design and Build holds California General Building Contractor licence CSLB #1110975 and is licensed, bonded and insured for residential work in West Hollywood and throughout Los Angeles County. We also hold a West Hollywood business tax certificate, which the city requires of contractors working in the city even without a local address. The licence can be verified on the Contractors State License Board website. HVAC, plumbing and electrical work on our projects is performed by licensed tradespeople.

A recent West Hollywood project

A bathroom remodel in West Hollywood, finished in 2026 — the shower rebuilt end to end, with a navy vanity, stone counter, mirror, sconces and oak shelving. See the full set on our West Hollywood bathroom remodel page.

Plan your West Hollywood remodel

Tell us the address and what you want to build, and we will schedule a free site visit, tell you whether a Tenant Habitability Plan or historic review applies, and give you a written, itemised estimate.