Call or visit the City, they are very helpful and can provide the detailed information you need. Go to the Building and Safety Division at the City.

Have a great day,
Heather Paul, Realtor
Coldwell Banker
310-586-0364

This question pops up a lot where a seller has converted their garage to some sort of living space. The City of LA has very specific guidelines but generally speaking each single family home must have a minimum of two covered parking spaces. A homeowner can't convert the garage without providing alternate on-site/covered parking (i.e. carport or new attached garage). Additionally, if the garage is converted the City may not allow plumbing fixtures and will most likely disallow any kind of cooking facilities. When purchasing a property with an illegal conversion be aware going in that someday you may be asked to convert it back.

Hi Yc,
Great question. The city where you live has a building and safety department that is responsible to insure that all buildings "meet" the minimum of building standards to provide safety. If you do any work on your home, you should first purchase "building permits" from the city. An inspector from the city will come to your home after the work is complete to inspect this work.
When you "meet code" you are making sure the work done on your home meets the "minimum" standards. These codes are for your protection. Unpermitted work is poor work.

It depends on when the home was built, yet check with Building and Safety....that is the answer that I would give as a professional. Yes I know it sounds vague. If your home was built with a two (2) car garage, then two (2) covered spaces would more than likely be required. Check with building and safety and play it safe, maybe take a few minutes to pull up the information online. If this is in the City of LA (Pacific Palisades)

Bulletins on this issue.....
1. I.B. ST-10 Attached Carport & Patio Cover (conversion is under work) P/BC 2002-005
2. I.B. ST-11 Detached Carport P/BC 2002-006

Detached and Attached Carports:

http://www.ladbs.org/faq/info%20bulletins/index/complete_inf… (pages 133 and 155)

Hello Yc,

I can't find the specific code, but I recall every home needs permanent vehicle parking. Exceptions would include areas of Topanga and Laurel Canyon where homes were built without garages or carports.