Washington Just Rewrote the Rules for Mid-Rise Apartment Buildings — Smaller Elevators, Scissor Stairs, and Single Staircases Are All Now Legal. Is Oregon Keeping Up?

June 28, 2026

Subheadline: A wave of building code reforms passed by the Washington Legislature in 2026 could fundamentally change how mid-rise multifamily housing is designed and built in the Pacific Northwest — and it comes with a serious fire safety debate and important accessibility questions attached.

Washington state has spent the past three years methodically dismantling the building code barriers that have made mid-rise apartment construction unnecessarily expensive, inefficient, and difficult. In 2026 alone, the legislature passed three landmark reforms — smaller elevators, scissor stairs, and the statewide rollout of single-staircase buildings — that together represent the most significant overhaul of residential building code in the state’s history. For architects, developers, and contractors working in Washington’s multifamily market, understanding these changes isn’t optional. They are already reshaping what gets designed, what gets built, and what gets approved.

Reform 1: Smaller Elevators — Washington Becomes the First State to Act

Senate Bill 5156, sponsored by Senator Jesse Salomon of Shoreline, allows smaller, less expensive elevators in small-scale condo and apartment buildings — specifically in buildings with at most six stories and 24 units — making Washington the first state in the nation to pass meaningful elevator code reform. Oregon Legislature

To understand why this matters, you need to understand why U.S. elevators cost so much in the first place. Research by the Center for Building in North America found that installing elevators in the United States and Canada is at least three times as expensive as in Western Europe or East Asia — with U.S. and Canadian installations starting around $150,000, compared with roughly $50,000 in several high-income countries. Oregonbids

The primary culprit is a uniquely American requirement: U.S. elevators are required to be large enough to accommodate a full-sized stretcher for emergencies — a requirement not found in most other countries, where elevators need only accommodate a seated wheelchair user. The result? Many smaller apartment buildings are built with no elevator at all — which means no elevator access for elderly residents, people with disabilities, or parents with strollers. Senator Salomon put the case directly during the Senate floor debate: “For the growing population of older adults in Washington State, a small elevator is better than no elevator.” Opengov

SB 5156 passed the Senate 41-7 and cuts the stretcher requirement in small buildings at risk of having no elevator at all — up to six stories, 24 units — while ordering the building code council to reconsider the issues of elevator hoistway opening protection and two-way visual communications. The reforms are expected to unlock tens of thousands of dollars of savings for a small apartment building. Oregon Legislature

What This Means for Residents — Including Elderly and Mobility-Impaired Tenants

One of the most common questions about these new elevator standards is whether they create accessibility problems for elderly residents or people with mobility challenges — and whether there are requirements to house such residents on lower floors. The answers are clear and reassuring, but the details matter.

There is no law against housing elderly or mobility-impaired residents on upper floors of buildings using Washington’s new smaller elevator standard. Here is why: Washington’s SB 5156 explicitly includes language to legalize smaller elevators that still meet the federal minimum for accessibility in buildings with up to 24 units or six stories. That phrase — “still meet the federal minimum for accessibility” — is critical. The new smaller elevator removes the stretcher requirement but still accommodates wheelchair users. The accessibility purpose of the elevator is fully preserved. Oregon Legislature

The federal law that governs accessibility in residential buildings is the Fair Housing Act — not the ADA, which primarily covers public accommodations rather than individual residential units. In buildings with elevators, all units on all floors must comply with the Fair Housing Act’s accessibility requirements — meaning in a six-story building with an elevator, every unit on every floor must meet the Act’s adaptability standards, regardless of how large or small the elevator is. Oregon Department of Transportation

Every unit in an elevator-served building must conform to an adaptable standard — though “adaptable” is not the same as “fully accessible” and is generally a somewhat more lenient standard. Units don’t need to look different from traditional units but must be easily modified for wheelchair users if needed. State

Is there a requirement to house mobility-impaired residents on lower floors? There is no blanket requirement — but there is an important reasonable accommodation obligation. Under the Fair Housing Act, a landlord must provide a reasonable accommodation for a disability when necessary to afford an equal opportunity to enjoy a dwelling, including housing assignment. If a disabled person is on an upper floor and a ground-floor unit becomes available, the landlord may be required to offer that lower unit to the disabled tenant upon request. This is a case-by-case reasonable accommodation — not a rule that all mobility-impaired tenants must be assigned to lower floors from the outset. The Source Weekly

The practical bottom line for contractors and developers building under Washington’s new elevator code: all units on all floors still require FHA-compliant adaptable design, the elevator must still meet wheelchair accessibility standards, elderly and mobility-impaired residents have full legal access to any floor, and the only change from prior standards is the elimination of the full stretcher accommodation requirement for qualifying small buildings.

The Emergency Access Concern

The reform hasn’t been without controversy, and the stretcher question is exactly where the opposition has focused. Firefighter groups pushed back hard during the legislative process, arguing that eliminating the stretcher-size requirement creates real risk for emergency responders who need to transport injured residents. A May 4, 2026 Manhattan apartment fire killed three people and injured 14 after residents became trapped in a smoke-filled stairwell that served as the building’s only exit — a tragedy that critics of building code liberalization pointed to as a cautionary tale. Oregonbids

Supporters counter that the comparison is imperfect — the Washington reforms still require sprinkler systems, fire-resistant construction, and enhanced life safety features — and that the greater public safety threat is the status quo: thousands of mid-rise apartment residents with no elevator access at all, unable to safely evacuate without assistance. The debate is legitimate and ongoing. What is clear is that contractors building under these new standards must ensure full compliance with all accompanying safety requirements — they are the counterbalance that makes the smaller elevator approach defensible.

Reform 2: Scissor Stairs — A First for the Entire United States

Washington just passed the United States’ first statewide bill reforming the building code to allow scissor stairs in apartment buildings — a design feature common in other countries but rare in most U.S. cities. House Bill 2228, sponsored by Representative Janice Zahn, passed both chambers with unanimous support. HigherGov

What are scissor stairs and why do they matter? Scissor stairs comprise two interlocking stairways with two separate exits, enclosed and separated by fire-resistance rated walls. They conserve square footage and construction costs, enhance apartments’ light and cross-ventilation, and help buildings fit onto smaller lots — great features for higher-quality, less expensive infill homes. HigherGov

The efficiency numbers are striking. The average core area for circulation in Vancouver, BC’s scissor stair buildings — where the design has been common for decades — is 46 percent smaller than the average in Seattle’s separate-stair buildings and 56 percent smaller than Los Angeles’. Less core area means more living area, which means more units per building, which means more housing production on the same footprint. HigherGov

Countries throughout the world commonly allow scissor stairs, as in Hong Kong and China, and for over 30 years builders in Canada — especially in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Toronto, Ontario — have routinely used scissor stairs in residential towers. Washington is now the first U.S. state to follow suit statewide. HigherGov

Reform 3: Single-Staircase Buildings — Vancouver, WA Already Adopted It

Washington reformed building codes to allow single-stair apartments in 2023, with the State Building Code Council required to adopt the changes by July 2026. The provision allows apartment buildings up to six stories to be served by a single staircase — rather than the two required by conventional building codes — when enhanced safety requirements are met including full sprinkler systems, fire-resistant construction, maximum four units per floor, and pressurized elevator lobbies. HigherGov

And here’s the news that’s directly relevant to Clark County contractors: effective March 2026, the City of Vancouver has adopted Seattle’s single-stair building code option as an approved alternate compliance path for new residential development, allowing architects and builders to begin using the design approach while broader code work continues at the state level. Washington State Department of Transportation

For contractors working in Vancouver’s multifamily market, this is an active, usable code option today — not a future possibility. Projects using the single-stair alternate must meet specific conditions: the building cannot exceed six stories above grade, cannot have more than four dwelling units on any floor, must be of not less than one hour fire-resistive construction, and must be equipped throughout with an automatic NFPA 13 sprinkler system. Washington State Department of Transportation

Where Does Oregon Stand?

Oregon has made some moves but hasn’t gone as far as Washington — yet.

California, Oregon, and Washington each successfully legalized single-stair construction, effective in 2025 or 2026. So Oregon has addressed the single-staircase issue at the state level, aligning with Washington’s direction on that specific reform. Federal Highway Administration

However, Oregon has not passed elevator reform legislation comparable to Washington’s SB 5156. Oregon’s elevator code continues to follow standard ASME A17.3 requirements — meaning the stretcher-size elevator requirement and the cost barriers that come with it remain in effect for Oregon multifamily construction. Oregon’s Building Codes Division administers the elevator specialty code through standard national model code adoption, without the specific reform to smaller elevator standards that Washington has now pioneered.

The scissor stair reform is also not yet in Oregon’s code — Washington’s HB 2228 was the first statewide scissor stair legalization in the United States, and Oregon has not yet followed.

What This Means for Pacific Northwest Contractors

For multifamily contractors working in both states, the practical implications are significant:

In Washington, these code changes create new design possibilities for mid-rise apartment projects on smaller lots — more compact cores, fewer units lost to stairwell and elevator requirements, and the potential for smaller, less expensive elevator installations in qualifying buildings. The changes are particularly impactful for infill development in urban areas where lot sizes have historically made mid-rise multifamily difficult to pencil out.

In Oregon, contractors should monitor the Oregon Building Codes Division closely for any corresponding rule changes in the coming code cycle. Given Oregon’s track record of following Washington’s lead on housing policy — and the pressure on both states to produce more housing — elevator and scissor stair reforms are likely to appear on Oregon’s code agenda in the near future.

For both states, the fire safety debate is real and ongoing. Critics have raised safety concerns, noting that existing rules were shaped by past tragedies and aim to prevent future harm — and that having only one staircase could allow a developer to add another unit or expand the size of units, prioritizing density over safety. Contractors working on projects using these new code options should ensure their teams are fully trained on the enhanced safety requirements that accompany the new design freedoms — sprinkler systems, fire-resistant construction, and proper egress configuration are not optional add-ons under these codes. They are what makes the new approaches safe. Oregonbids

NW Construction News provides general industry information only. Building code requirements are project-specific and jurisdiction-specific. Fair Housing Act and accessibility requirements are summarized here for general education — always consult a qualified architect, building official, and attorney for guidance specific to your project. Always verify current adopted codes with the applicable building department before designing or permitting any project.