Coach House & Garden Suite Builder in Surrey, BC

Both. Kyrax Developments builds coach houses and garden suites on site in Surrey as the general contractor, and does the site work for Kyrax Homes’ factory-built units: the foundation, the services and the crane set. Either way Surrey treats the unit as its own structure. The City’s electrical permit page says new construction sites need a building permit for each structure, naming the house, coach house and garden suite, and its single family and duplex checklist says a separate application is required for each structure. Kyrax Homes describes its factory-built models and what Surrey’s zoning allows on its Surrey garden suite page. Sources: City of Surrey, Electrical Contractor Installation Permits and the Single Family & Duplex Dwelling Building Permit Application Checklist, verified September 2026.

Yes, unless the owner builds it as an owner builder. The Homeowner Protection Act defines a new home to include a detached self-contained dwelling unit, and a municipality must not issue a building permit for a proposed new home without evidence that it is covered by home warranty insurance and will be built by a licensed residential builder, or that it will be built by an owner builder. An owner builder must intend to use the home personally for at least a year after first occupancy, and personal use does not include renting it out. Surrey’s coach house page lists the New Home Registration Form among the application documents, its checklist says a separate form is required for a coach house, and BC Housing charges a $40-per-unit licensing fee when a new home is registered. Kyrax Developments Ltd. holds BC Housing Residential Builder Licence #57802, in good standing, as a General Contractor and Developer; verify it on the BC Housing Licence Registry. Sources: Province of British Columbia, Homeowner Protection Act, sections 1 and 30(1), and Homeowner Protection Act Regulation; BC Housing, Register a New Home; City of Surrey, Coach Houses & Garden Suites and the application checklist, verified September 2026.

A full new-building package. Surrey’s coach house and garden suite page lists the building permit application form, a state of title certificate or title search, a Schedule B from each registered professional and a Schedule A where there is more than one, the pre-construction BC Step Code compliance checklist, certificates of insurance from each registered professional and the energy advisor, the New Home Registration Form, a builder with a valid Surrey or intermunicipal business licence, a damage deposit form, and an arborist report where the property has more than 5 trees. It wants one complete set of drawings with the civic address on every page, structural plans signed and sealed by a professional engineer, a topographical survey sealed by a BC Land Surveyor within 6 months where no lot grading plan exists, and a site plan showing the limiting distance between the new unit and the house where they face each other. A property in a development permit area may need a development permit before the building permit application, and plumbing and electrical permits come only after the building permit is issued, with a separate electrical permit for each building permit. Sources: City of Surrey, Coach Houses & Garden Suites, Residential Building Permits and Electrical Contractor Installation Permits, verified September 2026.

Mostly in the drawings. Surrey defines a coach house as an accessory dwelling unit located above or attached to a detached garage, and a garden suite as an accessory residential building separate from the principal dwelling. For a coach house, the City’s drawing requirements add a one-hour fire and sound separation detail for the floor between the garage and the dwelling above. Otherwise the two follow the same permit package and inspections, and Surrey’s amenity cost charge bylaws set the same per-unit charge for each. Sources: City of Surrey, Coach Houses & Garden Suites, Amenity Cost Charge General Bylaw No. 21993 and Newton Community Centre Amenity Cost Charge Bylaw No. 21994, Schedule B, verified September 2026.

A hard path the firefighters can use. Surrey Fire Services’ access and water supply guideline, in effect since November 2025, asks for small-scale multi-unit housing sites to give firefighters an unobstructed path of travel from the fire truck to the entrance of each dwelling unit of no more than 45 metres, and a hardscape path at least 1.2 metres wide from the primary response point to each coach house or garden suite, including through the rear yard. It also calls for an illuminated, continuous hard path 1.2 metres wide from the street to all units, civic addresses or unit numbers posted beside each unit’s entrance door in contrasting numbers at least 100 millimetres high, and a principal entrance within 100 metres of a hydrant. Source: City of Surrey, Surrey Fire Services Access & Water Supply Guideline for Development, verified September 2026.

Amenity cost charges now, and development cost charges pending. Council adopted Surrey’s amenity cost charge bylaws on June 15, 2026, both applying to every area of the City: the general bylaw sets $7,423.86 per coach house or garden suite and the Newton Community Centre bylaw $1,488.72, $8,912.58 in all, payable when the building permit is issued. The City says community amenity contributions were superseded as of the same date. For development cost charges, Council gave third reading on May 11, 2026 to the Surrey Development Cost Charge Bylaw, 2026, No. 22021, which would charge $10.85 per square foot of building area for a coach house or garden suite without a secondary suite, to a maximum of $8,680 per unit, at building permit issuance, even though the Local Government Act otherwise exempts buildings with fewer than four units; a July 27, 2026 City report lists the updated development cost charge bylaw as pending provincial approval. We check which charges are in force when the permit issues. Sources: City of Surrey, Amenity Cost Charge General Bylaw No. 21993, Bylaw No. 21994, Amenity Cost Charges, Community Amenity Contributions, Corporate Report R098, Council minutes of May 11, 2026 and Corporate Report R162, verified September 2026.

The bylaws count connections per parcel, not per unit. Surrey’s Waterworks Regulation By-law allows one service connection with one meter for each legal parcel unless the General Manager, Engineering approves otherwise, and requires a water meter where an application is made to redevelop a parcel or add a secondary suite; the meter fee is $520 for a single family dwelling or duplex. The Sanitary Sewer Regulation By-law requires a separate connection for each parcel abutting a sewer, and where two buildings on one parcel could be legally separated by subdivision, one for each building unless the owner registers a covenant against future subdivision. Surrey’s coach house page says to weigh the cost and feasibility of service connections with its Engineering front counter before applying and to ask BC Hydro for its requirements and an estimate of connection costs, and the City’s engineering review confirms the age and condition of the existing connections and whether they need renewal. Sources: City of Surrey, Waterworks Regulation By-law No. 16337, sections 19a and 52 and Schedule E, Sanitary Sewer Regulation By-law No. 16611, sections 33 and 34, Coach Houses & Garden Suites and Engineering Requirements for Building Permits, verified September 2026.

Yes, and the changes are coming through bylaw amendments. On July 27, 2026, Council endorsed changes to the servicing requirements for small-scale multi-unit housing and directed staff to bring amendments to the Subdivision and Development By-law. The staff report says coach house and garden suite applications would need road dedication and the typical building permit requirements, while duplexes and houseplexes would also need works and services, and its list of requirements includes dedication on arterial and collector road frontages and sidewalks on fronting and flanking roads for all small-scale multi-unit housing applications, one 150 mm storm service or a renewed one, and on-site stormwater measures, with a detention tank above 65% imperviousness. Staff expect the amendments to be adopted in October 2026, so we check the rules in force when an application goes in. Sources: City of Surrey, Corporate Report R162 and the Council action items of July 27, 2026, verified September 2026.

Step 3 of the Energy Step Code and EL-1 of the Zero Carbon Step Code, the same as a new house. Surrey’s Step Code page lists coach houses and garden suites with houses, duplexes and houseplexes at those levels, and says the City requires all Part 9 buildings to pass a mid-construction blower door test before the building can proceed to its insulation inspection, while the Province requires a final airtightness test before an occupancy permit. The application carries the pre-construction Step Code compliance checklist and the energy advisor’s certificate of insurance. Sources: City of Surrey, BC Energy Step Code and Zero Carbon Step Code and Coach Houses & Garden Suites, verified September 2026.

They are protected before any permit issues. Surrey’s Tree Protection By-law protects trees of 30 cm diameter at breast height or more, and no demolition, building or tree cutting permit is issued until the tree protection barrier has been installed and approved. Securities for retained trees are $3,000 per protected tree, $5,000 for a specimen quality tree and $10,000 for a significant tree, with the total capped at $15,000 for a single family dwelling on an existing lot of record. A tree cutting permit is $108 plus $42 for every tree removed, replacement tree securities are $550 each, and the City says tree fees and securities must be paid before the building permit is issued. Sources: City of Surrey, Tree Protection By-law No. 16100, sections 46 and 64, and Trees & Landscape: Building Site Requirements, verified September 2026.

A run from the foundation to the final. Surrey’s inspection list covers the foundation, the radon subfloor depressurization system, the subgrade, sheathing where applicable, framing, wall insulation and final building approval, and the final requires the plumbing and electrical finals and Engineering approval, including a boulevard damage inspection. Surrey’s Building By-law says no one may use or occupy a building until an occupancy permit has been issued. Construction that disturbs the neighbourhood is barred before 7:00 and after 22:00, and construction for profit or gain is barred on Sundays. Sources: City of Surrey, Building Inspections, Building By-law No. 17850, section 73, and Noise Control By-law No. 7044, Part C, verified September 2026.

A suite service fee and a waste charge, once it is registered. Surrey’s secondary suite service fee bylaw counts a dwelling unit in a separate building on the same lot as a single family dwelling as a secondary suite and charges $893 per suite, starting six months after the building permit is issued for new construction, and the waste bylaw adds $172.04 a year for a house with a secondary suite, garden suite or coach house. The City says all secondary suites must be registered with its Secondary Suite Declaration Form, and its 2026 tax guide says owners must declare their additional dwelling units, including garden and coach house suites. Sources: City of Surrey, Secondary Suite Service Fee By-law No. 17356, sections 1, 3 and 8, Waste Management By-law No. 18412, Schedule A, Secondary Suites and the 2026 Tax Matters guide, verified September 2026. For a new house on the same lot, see our Surrey custom home page.