Build Up, Nevada

Housing · Policy

Two building-code fixes, right-sized elevators and single-stair mid-rise, that make attainable housing cheaper to build with no loss of safety. Both have been fixed elsewhere. Neither makes a building less safe.

Nevada has a housing shortage and a cost-to-build problem. Two outdated rules quietly push developers away from the building type the state needs most: the mid-rise apartment near jobs and transit.

The good news is that both rules are fixable, both have been fixed in other states and countries, and neither change makes a building less safe. Washington signed elevator reform into law in 2026. At least 14 states have passed single-stair reform since 2023. Nevada has done neither yet. This is the case for doing both, together.

Where this started. This push began with a podcast on why American elevators cost roughly three times what they do in Europe, featuring Stephen Smith of the Center for Building in North America. It left us with one question: what would it take to apply this in Nevada, concretely, in the 2027 legislative session? This page is the start of that answer. Listen to the episode.

The Two Reforms

One idea, two fixes

Both reforms unlock the same efficient building form, the point access block: a compact floor with a few units clustered around one stair and one elevator.

Right-size elevators

The same elevator costs about 3x more here than in Europe. A basic four-stop elevator runs about $158,000 in New York vs. about $36,000 in Switzerland. U.S. code mandates oversized cabins and never harmonized with the global ISO 8100 standard, so cheaper certified models are never sold here. Adopt the globally standard allowances, as Washington did, so smaller, cheaper, equally safe elevators can go into mid-rise buildings.

Allow single-stair mid-rise

A second stairwell costs roughly $200,000 and eats leasable space, forcing long, dark, double-loaded units. Permit one highly protected stair up to six stories, paired with full sprinklers, a pressurized stair, non-combustible construction, and four units per floor. This is the Seattle model, proven for decades.

Deep dives: Courtyard urbanism · Why American elevators cost three times too much · The second staircase Nevada does not need

The Numbers

What it saves on one Reno mid-rise

A representative 5-story, 24-unit Midtown Reno building, the same scale Washington's reform targets.

Conservative estimates assembled from published cost data, not a verified project pro forma.
Source of savings	Per project	Per unit
Elevator reform (cab, hoistway, smoke curtains, comms)	$50k to $80k	$2.1k to $3.3k
Single-stair (eliminated second stair, conservative)	$150k to $250k	$6.3k to $10.4k
Combined	$200k to $330k	$8.3k to $13.7k

Using the Pew and National Apartment Association method (6% to 13% of total build cost for single-stair) puts combined savings higher. The discrete-line number above is the conservative figure to lead with. The savings flow to project feasibility, lower rents, or more family-sized units.

The Part That Wins The Room

Why it is safe

This is not deregulation. Each reform trades one decades-old redundancy rule for a modern system of overlapping protections that performs as well or better.

The research is clear. The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Center for Building in North America found single-stairway buildings up to six stories are at least as safe as other housing when modern systems are required.
The record holds up. Across 4,000-plus single-stair buildings of four or more stories in New York City, researchers found no fire fatality attributable to the lack of a second exit. A review of fatal fires in Seattle reached the same result.
The world already does this. Europe and Asia, where single-stair mid-rise and right-sized elevators are standard, post lower fire-death rates than the United States.
The safety package is non-negotiable. Full NFPA 13 sprinklers, a pressurized stair and elevator hoistway, non-combustible construction, four units per floor, and a short path to the exit. Right-sized elevators keep emergency access through a technical advisory group, the approach Washington used.

Why Now

Nevada is ready for this

The 2025 Legislature passed a bipartisan housing package: AB 540 (roughly $133M for attainable housing plus faster review), AB 241 and AB 121 (multifamily and infill), and SB 114. The appetite for pro-housing reform is current and real.

Washington just proved the elevator bill can pass (Chapter 145, 2026 Laws). Nevada has no elevator-code reform on the books and still follows the default two-stair rule embedded in the building code. The path is open, and the savings land on the exact housing the state says it wants.

Nevada's Legislature meets next in 2027. That is the window. The work of drafting a Nevada bill, recruiting a sponsor, and bringing the fire service and the elevator trade to the table starts now.

The Ask

Adopt both, together.

One mid-rise modernization package, paired with the proven safety floor, so Nevada can build the attainable, family-sized housing it needs. Right-sized elevators on the technical-advisory model, single-stair on the Montana and Colorado model.

The cost figures on this page are defensible estimates assembled from the Center for Building elevator report, the Pew single-stair findings, and Washington's working-group numbers. They are directional, not an audited pro forma, and will be tied to a real Midtown Reno project before any formal use.