Surrey has written a guidebook for prefabricated garden suites and put real numbers in it — a cost stack, five stages and the space a unit needs. The numbers are the City’s. What follows is what they add up to, which the guidebook does not say.
Report R196, Council 2026-09-21 · recommended for Council endorsement · checked 2026-09-22
| Component | From |
|---|---|
| The unit itself | $150,000+ |
| Service connections | $50,000+ |
| Transportation and installation | $35,000+ |
| Permits and fees | $35,000+ |
| Site preparation | $30,000+ |
| The five added together | $300,000 |
That total is the same figure the City gives as the bottom of its range — it puts a project at upwards of $300,000 to $500,000. Every line above is marked “plus”. So $300,000 is not what a prefab garden suite typically costs; it is what one costs when every single component comes in at its minimum, which is to say when nothing about the lot is difficult.
The biggest single line is the unit itself at $150,000, but the other four together come to $150,000 — and the City is explicit that those are much the same whether the home is built in a factory or on the lot.
| # | Stage | City's estimate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Initial consultation and designa deposit of usually 10 to 20 per cent of the total cost | 2–10 weeks |
| 2 | Permitting and approvals | 4–12 weeks |
| 3 | Off-site manufacturing and site preparationusually 30 to 50 per cent of the total cost falls due here | 4–16 weeks |
| 4 | Transportation and on-site assembly | 1–2 weeks |
| 5 | Final on-site work | 2–6 weeks |
| Work, added up | 13–46 weeks |
13 to 46 weeks is about 3 to 11 months. The City puts the whole project at 9 to 18 months. The difference is waiting — for a design slot, for a plan check, for a factory queue, for a crane date. Most of the calendar is not work being done, which is worth knowing before a schedule is built around the stage estimates alone.
Either one lets the City issue a building permit. A park model or a tiny home on a trailer is a different thing and does not qualify, however much it looks the part.
Before anything else, there has to be somewhere to put it. The City's minimum is a clear area of 3.5–4 m wide by 10–16 m long, kept at least 1.2–1.8 m from the property lines, at least 5 m from the main house and at least 3 m from any stairs or covered decks — on ground flat enough for a crane to set up, and clear of trees the Tree Protection Bylaw covers.
That is a rule about a rectangle, and whether it fits is a question about one specific back yard rather than about Surrey in general.
The City's own page tells a homeowner to choose a manufacturer themselves, and to check that the company builds to a CSA standard and has delivered in the Lower Mainland. There is no approved-manufacturer list and no catalogue of pre-approved units to order from, which is the single most common thing people expect a guidebook like this to contain.
It has to be built to CSA A277 or CSA Z240 MH and set on a permanent foundation. A park model or a tiny home on a trailer is a different thing, and Surrey cannot issue a building permit for one as a garden suite.
The foundation, the service connections, the permits and the site preparation cost about the same whether the unit is built in a factory or on the lot. Prefab tends to save on labour and then adds delivery and crane costs. The City's advice is to compare full quotes for both routes rather than assume.
R196 was on the agenda recommending that Council endorse the Guidebook. The minutes for that meeting were not published when this page was written, so it says recommended rather than endorsed. If the minutes show otherwise, this line is the one to change.
The City publishes the minimum space a prefab unit needs. The free check reads the zoning and the parcel for one address and tests whether a suite of the size the bylaw permits actually fits behind the house.
The City puts the total at upwards of $300,000 to $500,000. Its own breakdown is the unit from $150,000, service connections from $50,000, transportation and installation from $35,000, permits and fees from $35,000 and site preparation from $30,000. Those five add up to $300,000, which is the bottom of the range — so it is a floor with every line still marked “plus”, not a typical price.
The City says 9 to 18 months. The five stages it lists run 13 to 46 weeks of actual work, which is about 3 to 11 months, so a large part of the calendar is waiting between stages rather than work happening.
No. It has to be built to CSA A277 or CSA Z240 MH and set on a permanent foundation. Surrey cannot issue a building permit for a unit on wheels as a garden suite.
No. The City's own page tells homeowners to choose a manufacturer themselves and to check that the company builds to a CSA standard and has delivered in the Lower Mainland. There is no approved-manufacturer list and no catalogue of pre-approved units.
The City's own page tells a homeowner to choose a manufacturer themselves, and to check that the company builds to a CSA standard and has delivered in the Lower Mainland. There is no approved-manufacturer list and no catalogue of pre-approved units to order from, which is the single most common thing people expect a guidebook like this to contain.
It has to be built to CSA A277 or CSA Z240 MH and set on a permanent foundation. A park model or a tiny home on a trailer is a different thing, and Surrey cannot issue a building permit for one as a garden suite.
The foundation, the service connections, the permits and the site preparation cost about the same whether the unit is built in a factory or on the lot. Prefab tends to save on labour and then adds delivery and crane costs. The City's advice is to compare full quotes for both routes rather than assume.
The rules change at every city line. These pages are built from the same bylaw reads.
This page sets out Surrey’s published figures as they read on 2026-09-22. Surrey's published figures and process, as they read on the date shown. Only the City can approve a build.