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West Hollywood Remodeling

City planning guide · Local planning for West Hollywood. Confirm the jurisdiction serving your address.

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West Hollywood packs about 26,000 homes into under two square miles, and fewer than one in ten is a detached house. Most remodels here happen inside a condo or an apartment, often in a wood-frame building from the 1950s or 1960s that sits on the city's soft-story retrofit list. The city runs its own permit office, and it issues a separate permit for each trade.

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A freshly renovated condo kitchen in a mid-century West Hollywood apartment building
In this guide

What changes a remodel in West Hollywood.

Only 9.3 percent of West Hollywood homes are detached houses

Census Bureau data for 2020 to 2024 counts 26,079 housing units in West Hollywood. Just 2,428 are detached single-family houses, while 16,773 sit in buildings with 10 or more units. Owners occupy 19.8 percent of occupied homes. The median year built is 1965, and 4,456 units date from before 1940. For a condo owner, that means a remodel plan has to fit the building around it, from shared walls to the plumbing lines that serve the units above and below.

Source: Census ACS 2020-2024, Units in Structure, West Hollywood

753 West Hollywood buildings are on the soft-story retrofit list

West Hollywood adopted a mandatory retrofit ordinance for wood-frame buildings with soft, weak or open-front walls in April 2017, often apartments with parking tucked under the upper floors. The city's open data survey lists 753 soft-story buildings, 583 of them built in the 1950s or 1960s, and 353 show a completed retrofit. Another 74 had plans submitted and 51 had permits issued. The city's FEMA-funded grant program ends with 2026, and it stopped taking new construction grant applications on February 3, 2026.

Source: City of West Hollywood Open Data, Seismic Retrofit Visual Survey

West Hollywood has six historic districts and a preservation ordinance

The city adopted a Historic Preservation Ordinance in 1989 and has designated more than 80 historic and cultural resources, including six historic districts such as the Harper Avenue district. Its Historic Preservation Commission recommends designations, and the city's preservation office lists a Certificate of Appropriateness among its applications for designated properties. Owners of designated buildings can also apply for a Mills Act contract, which can lower property taxes in exchange for maintaining the building.

Source: City of West Hollywood, Historic Preservation

What a remodel costs in West Hollywood in 2026.

$38.60

Processing fee on each permitCharged on every building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, grading, pool and miscellaneous permit in West Hollywood, on top of the permit fee itself

West Hollywood does not publish current permit valuations, but it does publish what the permits themselves cost. Each permit carries a $38.60 processing fee. Plumbing permits are charged $22.60 per fixture, so a bathroom with a new toilet, sink and shower adds three fixture charges, and mechanical permits run $37.60 for each furnace or air conditioner. Because every trade needs its own permit here, a kitchen or bath job pays the processing fee once for each trade involved.

Most homes here sit in buildings of 10 or more units, and the median owner-occupied home was valued at $924,800 in the Census Bureau's latest five-year survey. For the work itself, hired bathroom remodels in Los Angeles and Orange counties had an $11,430 median in the 2023 American Housing Survey. Painting and finish trades carry a local premium as well: metro painters had a median wage of $28.41 an hour in May 2025, while the national median was $23.75.

The numbers behind this section
Processing fee on each permit$38.60Charged on every building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, grading, pool and miscellaneous permit in West Hollywood, on top of the permit fee itself (City of West Hollywood, Building and Safety FAQ)
Plumbing permit charge per fixture$22.60Per kitchen sink, water heater, toilet or shower; mechanical permits are $37.60 per furnace, wall heater or air conditioner (City of West Hollywood, Building and Safety FAQ)
Median home value$924,800Owner-occupied homes in West Hollywood, Census ACS 2020-2024; owners occupy 19.8 percent of homes (Census ACS 2020-2024, Median Value, West Hollywood)
Soft-story buildings with a completed retrofit353 of 753Buildings the city classifies as soft-story in its retrofit survey, by retrofit status (City of West Hollywood Open Data, Seismic Retrofit Visual Survey)
Median professional bathroom remodel$11,430Bathroom remodels paid to contractors in Los Angeles and Orange counties, 2023 survey (Census American Housing Survey 2023, Table 16)
Median painter wage$28.41 an hourConstruction and maintenance painters, LA-Long Beach-Anaheim area, May 2025; $23.75 across the U.S. (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025)

Who issues permits in West Hollywood.

Permits in West Hollywood come from the city's Building and Safety Division at City Hall, 8300 Santa Monica Boulevard, not from Los Angeles or the county. Since August 19, 2024, every application goes through the city's online Permit and License Portal. The city does not issue combination permits, so a kitchen remodel usually means separate building, electrical, plumbing and mechanical permits.

  • All applications go through the online portal and are processed within 3 business days. Each trade needs its own permit, except for solar installations, signs, and pools and spas.
  • The building code exempts a one-story detached shed or playhouse up to 120 square feet of roof area and 12 feet high, fences and walls up to 6 feet, and retaining walls holding back 4 feet of earth or less. The Planning Division must still approve those items first.
  • Replacing lamps, switches and outlets needs no electrical permit, and fixing a leak needs no plumbing permit. Replacing drain or water piping, rather than repairing it, does need a permit.
  • Plans that need plan check are reviewed in the order they arrive, staff usually respond within 4 to 6 weeks, and the city offers no expedited service.
  • A detached ADU can be 18 feet tall and an attached one 25 feet. Rooftop decks are not allowed on ADUs, and an ADU needs fire sprinklers if the main house has them.
  • On a multifamily lot, owners can convert unused space into ADUs up to 25 percent of the existing unit count, and build up to 8 detached ADUs, but no more than the number of existing units.
  • The city offers a free pre-approved plan for a one-story detached ADU. Applications using it are reviewed within 30 days, and resubmittals take about 2 weeks.

What West Hollywood homeowners plan most.

Roofing

Most homes here sit under a shared roof on a multi-unit building, and a reroof permit still comes from West Hollywood Building and Safety.

Bathroom remodel

In a condo, a bathroom job means a building permit plus a separate plumbing permit charged per fixture, because West Hollywood does not issue combination permits.

Kitchen remodel

A kitchen touches every trade, so plan for separate building, electrical, plumbing and mechanical permits, each with the $38.60 processing fee.

Flooring

With most homes stacked in multi-unit buildings, floors are among the most common condo upgrades. Our flooring guide was written for Los Angeles; any permit here comes from West Hollywood.

Read our Los Angeles flooring guide

ADU or garage conversion

On a multifamily lot, unused space can become ADUs up to 25 percent of the existing units, and the city offers a free pre-approved detached ADU plan.

Before you start.

How much does a remodel cost in West Hollywood?

The city does not publish current permit valuations, but it does publish its fees: a $38.60 processing fee on each permit, $22.60 per plumbing fixture and $37.60 per furnace or air conditioner. Regionally, a hired bathroom remodel had a median of $11,430 in the 2023 American Housing Survey. The median owner-occupied home here is valued at $924,800.

Does West Hollywood issue combination permits?

No. The Building and Safety Division says each trade needs its own permit, with exceptions for solar installations, signs, and pools and spas. A kitchen or bathroom remodel usually needs separate building, electrical, plumbing and mechanical permits. All applications go through the city's online Permit and License Portal and are processed within 3 business days.

Is my West Hollywood building on the soft-story list?

Check the city's seismic retrofit survey on its open data site, which lists 753 soft-story buildings by address. Of those, 353 show a completed retrofit. The 2017 ordinance applies to wood-frame buildings with soft, weak or open-front walls, often apartments with parking under the upper floors. The city notes that a listing still needs an engineer's evaluation.

What work needs no permit in West Hollywood?

The building code exempts one-story sheds up to 120 square feet and 12 feet high, fences up to 6 feet, retaining walls holding 4 feet of earth or less, and playground equipment. Swapping switches or outlets and fixing a leak need no permit. Planning Division approval is still needed for the exempt structures before you build them.

Can I build an ADU in West Hollywood?

Yes. West Hollywood caps detached ADUs at 18 feet and attached ones at 25 feet, and rooftop decks are not allowed. Multifamily lots can convert unused space into ADUs up to 25 percent of existing units. The city also offers a free pre-approved one-story ADU plan, reviewed within 30 days after you submit it through the portal.

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