Surrey prices permits from a published per-$1,000 ladder, takes most residential applications by email, and posts its processing times every few weeks. Here is the process, what it costs, what to submit and who to call.
Who this is for. Homeowners and small builders working inside the City of Surrey, including Cloverdale, Clayton Heights, Crescent Beach and the rest of the city. White Rock, Delta, the City of Langley and the Township of Langley are separate municipalities with their own permit offices; if the address is near a boundary, confirm it with the Permit Finder. Not sure the job needs a permit? Start with the permit quiz.
Adding a suite? See second suite drawings and permits in BC for Surrey’s registered-suite steps, the suite fee and the BC Building Code rules your plans must show.
Is my project allowed? Zoning decides setbacks, height, lot coverage and whether a suite is allowed on your lot. Check it before you draw or apply for the permit: look up your address on the map, then read your zone in the bylaw.
Checked October 26, 2026 (City of Surrey): COSMOS map · Zoning By-law 12000 (PDF)
| Item | What Surrey publishes |
|---|---|
| Permit fee | $64 for the first $1,000 of value, then $15.00 / $11.74 / $10.64 per $1,000 (Bylaw 17850, Schedule A) |
| Paid when you apply | Non-refundable initial payment of $50 to $25,000 by declared value, credited to the permit fee |
| Processing time | Residential (new single family and duplex): 4.5 weeks; additions and renovations: 3 weeks (30-day averages, updated October 5, 2026) |
| How to apply | Email to permitapplication@surrey.ca, or in person at City Hall; MySurrey Portal only for new houses on recently subdivided lots |
| Trade permits | Plumbing and electrical from the City of Surrey, after the building permit is issued; gas from Technical Safety BC |
| Inspections | Online through MySurrey, or 604-591-4231, option 1 (before 3:00 pm for next business day) |
Surrey Building Bylaw No. 17850 says a permit is required whenever regulated construction is done (s.20), and an owner must get one before construction, before moving a building, before installing mechanical equipment, before moving or removing soil not covered by a soil permit, and for a change of use (s.21). The City’s residential permits page says a permit is usually needed to build a house, finish a basement, build an addition, a detached garage or an accessory building, or do interior renovations. Decks, retaining walls, secondary suites, coach houses and garden suites, houseplexes, swimming pools, solar panels and demolition each have their own page.
No building permit is needed, according to the City, for replacing flooring, minor exterior repairs, most fences and some small storage sheds:
Checked October 9, 2026: City of Surrey residential building permits · Building Bylaw No. 17850 (PDF) · Zoning By-law No. 12000 (PDF)
If you are not sure, call the Building Information Line at 604-591-4366. Our deck and shed rules by city table compares Surrey with 13 other places.
Surrey charges by building value: everything the job is worth, including foundations, framing, finishes, roofing, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, design and consulting fees, labour, contractor profit and overhead, sales taxes, insurance and contributed labour and materials. The City says it checks the declared value against Marshall & Swift valuations during plan review (fees page). Schedule A, section A.1 sets the permit fee:
| Building value | Permit fee (Schedule A, s.A.1) |
|---|---|
| First $1,000 (minimum fee) | $64.00 |
| Over $1,000 up to $200,000 | + $15.00 for each $1,000 or part |
| Over $200,000 up to $500,000 | + $11.74 for each $1,000 or part |
| Over $500,000 | + $10.64 for each $1,000 or part |
Confirm with the City: these rates are copied from the bylaw. The dollar figures on this page are our own estimates worked out from that table, not City quotes. Surrey sets the final fee during plan review (Client Services 604-591-4086).
By our arithmetic, that makes the running total $3,049 at $200,000 and $6,571 at $500,000. Schedule A says all fees are subject to applicable taxes, and each building on a lot needs its own permit and fee (s.23).
Initial payment when you apply. Since August 1, 2025, every application must include a non-refundable initial plan processing payment based on the declared value. It is credited toward the permit fee, and the balance is due before the permit is issued (Schedule A, section B). Where letters of assurance from a registered professional are required, the initial payment is cut by 10%, up to $500.
| Declared value of construction | Initial payment (non-refundable, credited) |
|---|---|
| $0 to $19,999.99 | $50 |
| $20,000 to $99,999.99 | $150 |
| $100,000 to $999,999.99 | $700 |
| $1,000,000 to $4,999,999.99 | $5,500 |
| $5,000,000 and over | $25,000 |
Worked examples: our estimates from the Schedule A fee table, not City quotes. Confirm the actual fee with the City. A $15,000 deck: $64 + (14 × $15) = $274, of which $50 is paid at application. A $60,000 basement finish: $64 + (59 × $15) = $949, with $150 up front. A $250,000 garden suite: $3,049 + (50 × $11.74) = $3,636, with $700 up front. An $800,000 new house: $6,571 + (300 × $10.64) = $9,763, with $700 up front. Taxes, plumbing and electrical permits, the damage deposit and development charges are extra.
Other 2026 lines from the City’s Fees Summary (effective April 14, 2026):
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Damage deposit, before issuance, when the building value is over $20,000 or for a demolition (Bylaw s.60) | $2,500 per permit, up to $10,000 per lot; refundable |
| Revisions to approved plans (one hour minimum) | $333 per hour |
| Minor field design or construction revision | $66 |
| Re-inspection, and each further re-inspection | $240 |
| Demolition permit | $601 |
| Alternative solution review | $676 |
| Permit extension / transfer | $361 / $192 |
| Letter of inquiry (comfort letter), residential | $300 |
| Construction without a permit | Double the permit fee (an extra 100%, Bylaw s.101) |
Development Cost Charges, school site, sewer, water, parkland and TransLink charges and Community Amenity Contributions are collected before issuance where they apply. Fees can be paid by cash, cheque or debit, by credit card up to $15,000, or online once City staff request payment.
Surrey’s fees page no longer links an online fee estimator, only the fee schedule. For a planning figure, our BC permit fee estimator applies the same Schedule A ladder.
Checked October 9, 2026: Building Bylaw No. 17850, Schedule A (PDF) · Fees Summary (PDF) · building permit fees page
Surrey publishes 30-day averages for building permits against its own targets. From the permitting timelines page, last updated October 5, 2026:
| Permit type | Current average | City target |
|---|---|---|
| Building permit: residential (new single family and duplexes) | 4.5 weeks | 10 weeks |
| Building permit: residential addition and renovation | 3 weeks | 6 weeks |
| Rezoning: residential (6-month average) | 12.9 weeks | 12 weeks |
The timeline does not start when you submit. For a single family dwelling it starts after referrals and a complete site servicing review, and only complete applications meet the targets. Compare other cities on our BC building permit wait times page.
Email rules that trip people up (digital submission guide): put the project address and application type in the subject line and the address, type and payment method in the body; send each document as its own PDF (no JPGs, ZIPs, download links or combined PDFs); send one application per email, labelling multi-part emails “Part 1 of 2”; and send forms unlocked. Sealed professional drawings need a Notarius digital signature; scanned seals are refused.
MySurrey Portal. The online permitting portal currently takes building permit applications only for new single family dwellings on recent subdivision lots. You need a MySurrey account plus a one-time access code from Planning & Development (604-591-4086). The same portal handles plumbing and electrical permits, inspection requests and payments. Technical problems: PermitPortalSupport@surrey.ca. The City also offers AI PreCheck, a tool that checks new building permit drawings for zoning compliance.
Checked October 9, 2026: digital submission guide · permitting portal guide · residential permits · Bylaw 17850 s.52 to 53
More on packaging files: how to submit building permit drawings in BC.
The setbacks and heights below are from the R3 Urban Residential Zone (Zoning By-law 12000, Part 15), which replaced the old RF and RF-SS single family zones. Other zones (RA, R1, R2, R4, R5, R6 and the 4,600+ CD zones) have their own numbers, so check your lot’s zone first.
The City says a deck added to a house needs a building permit “in most cases” and, unlike Richmond or Coquitlam, publishes no height below which a deck is exempt (deck permit page). The Zoning By-law defines a deck as a platform attached to the principal building more than 0.6 m above existing grade, and decks and balconies may project up to 0.6 m into a required setback. The City’s deck guide asks for a site plan with lot-coverage calculations, foundation and floor plans, a cross section, elevations showing deck height from average grade, and guard and stair details. The Trees and Landscape section also reviews deck applications. Use our deck inspection checklist or the free deck plan maker to prepare.
Outside the shed exemption above, an accessory building needs a permit. In R3, accessory buildings over 10 m² cannot go in the front yard and need a 1.2 m rear setback with lane access (1.8 m without), a 1.0 m side setback and 3.6 m on a flanking street. Those 10 m² or under need an 18 m front setback and 1.8 m on a flanking street; zoning sets 0 m at the side and rear, but the building-permit exemption still needs 1.5 m. Accessory buildings are capped at 4 m tall, or 5 m if the roof slope and materials match the house, and the area over 10 m² counts toward floor area ratio. Our shed checklist covers the build.
New residential garages need a permit (detached garage page). Expect to supply a topographic survey no older than six months, an engineered truss layout where used, and drawings sealed by a Registered Professional where required. In R3 a detached garage must be at least 5 m from the house, regardless of height; that drops to 3.0 m only for stairs and a deck or patio of up to 10 m².
A legal suite needs a building permit, with a site plan and floor plans (secondary suite permit page). Every suite must also be registered: Surrey bills a $893 a year Secondary Suite Service Fee plus suite utility charges, and $1,000 for each unregistered suite it finds (secondary suite fees). The City notes that the BC Building Code permits one secondary suite per house, and the R3 zone does not allow a suite in a houseplex. Building a suite before getting the permit is not fixed by the 2024 zoning changes: the City says they do not legalize existing unpermitted suites. See our secondary suite permit how-to.
All residential zones that allow detached houses, duplexes and houseplexes also allow a coach house (above or attached to a detached garage) or a garden suite. Each must be 35 to 75 m², or up to 120 m² in RA, R2, R2-O and R3 if the house has not used its maximum floor area. Coach houses on smaller lots (R3, R4, R5, R5-S, R6) need lane access, both need one extra parking space, and an arborist report is needed if the lot has more than five trees (coach houses and garden suites). In R3 they need 5.0 m separation from the house and are limited to two storeys and 7.0 m (8.3 m to the peak) with a sloped roof.
Surrey adopted its provincially required small-scale multi-unit housing zoning on July 8, 2024, replacing its single family and duplex zones with 9 new zones (RA, R1, R2, R2-O, R3, R4, R5, R5-S, R6). Inside the urban containment boundary, lots under 4,050 m² can have up to 3 units (under 280 m²), 4 units (280 m² or more), or 6 units on eligible lots within 400 m of a frequent bus stop. Houseplexes (triplex or fourplex) are allowed only in R3, on a corner lot, a through lot or a lot with lane access, outside Transit-Oriented Areas (houseplexes). Hazard lands, protected heritage sites and lots without City water or sewer can be exempt. On July 27, 2026 Council approved a comprehensive review of the program, so rules may change (SSMUH zoning page).
Checked October 9, 2026: Zoning By-law 12000, Part 1 definitions and Part 15 (R3) · deck · garage · suite · coach house · SSMUH pages
Request inspections online through the MySurrey portal, or by phone at 604-591-4231, option 1. Phone requests made before 3:00 pm are booked for the next business day; have the permit number, inspection type, site address, your name and phone number ready. To cancel, email buildinginspectionrequests@surrey.ca before 9:00 am on the day with the civic address and “cancellation” in the subject line (building inspections). The City’s guideline order:
Plumbing and electrical approvals must be granted by the day before the building inspection. Approved plans must be on site for every inspection, and work not ready can be charged a $240 re-inspection fee. Your own trade order is printed on the back of the yellow copy of the permit.
Trade permits. Surrey issues its own plumbing and electrical permits (plumbinginfo@surrey.ca, electrical@surrey.ca). A homeowner can apply for a homeowner electrical installation permit by emailing the form to electrical@surrey.ca; it stays active 180 days after issuance and for another 180 days after the first inspection (homeowner electrical permits). Gas permits come from Technical Safety BC.
Cloverdale is a community inside the City of Surrey, not a separate municipality, so building permits, inspections and zoning work exactly as above, through Planning & Development at City Hall, 13450 104 Avenue. Two Cloverdale-specific layers can matter:
Checked October 9, 2026: Cloverdale Town Centre Plan · Heritage Register & Protected Sites · Cloverdale land use plans
Removing a tree for your project? Our BC tree-cutting permit checker shows when Surrey’s Tree Protection Bylaw needs a permit, with fees and official links.
| Purpose | Contact |
|---|---|
| Planning & Development Client Services Centre (applications, portal access codes) | 604-591-4086 · planningdevelopment@surrey.ca |
| Building Information Line (do I need a permit?) | 604-591-4366 |
| Submit a building permit application | permitapplication@surrey.ca |
| Addressing Clerk (address and zoning information) | 604-591-4448 · addressingrequests@surrey.ca |
| Building inspections | 604-591-4231, option 1 · cancellations: buildinginspectionrequests@surrey.ca |
| Electrical / plumbing permits | electrical@surrey.ca · plumbinginfo@surrey.ca |
| Survey certificates on file | buildingfileregistry@surrey.ca |
| Portal technical support | PermitPortalSupport@surrey.ca |
| Unpermitted construction complaints | 604-591-4370 · bylawcomplaint@surrey.ca |
| City Hall | 13450 104 Avenue, Surrey, BC V3T 1V8 · Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm |
Checked October 9, 2026: fees page · residential permits · inspections · portal guide · construction without permits
Planning a deck, shed or fence as well? The deck, shed and fence checklists and the deck, shed and fence materials calculator help you price and prepare the job. Use the Permit Finder to confirm the right office for an address. Comparing nearby cities? See New Westminster, Burnaby and Richmond.
Surrey Building Bylaw No. 17850, Schedule A charges $64 for the first $1,000 of building value, then $15.00 per $1,000 (or part) up to $200,000, $11.74 per $1,000 from $200,000 to $500,000 and $10.64 per $1,000 above $500,000. By our arithmetic a $60,000 basement finish is $949 and a $15,000 deck is $274. The non-refundable initial payment ($50 to $25,000 by value) is credited toward that total.
Surrey publishes a 30-day average. On its page last updated October 5, 2026, residential building permits (new single family and duplexes) averaged 4.5 weeks against a 10-week target, and residential additions and renovations 3 weeks against a 6-week target. The clock starts only after referrals and a complete site servicing review, not on the day you submit.
Most residential permits are emailed as a complete package to permitapplication@surrey.ca, with each document as a separate PDF, or dropped off at the 2W counter on the 2nd floor of City Hall. The MySurrey Portal currently takes only new single family dwellings on recently subdivided lots, and you need an access code from the City first.
The City says a deck added to a house needs a building permit in most cases, and it publishes no height-based exemption. A storage shed needs no building permit only if it is 10 m² or less, at least 1.5 m from neighbouring property lines and 3.0 m from other buildings on the lot, and it still has to meet the Zoning Bylaw.
Yes. Cloverdale is a community within the City of Surrey, so permits, inspections and zoning go through the City of Surrey at City Hall, 13450 104 Avenue. Cloverdale has its own Town Centre Plan (2019, now being updated) and several protected heritage buildings, which can add steps.
The City of Surrey issues both, separately from the building permit, and only after the building permit is issued. Gas permits come from Technical Safety BC.
Check with the City before you build. This is independent information, not the City of Surrey. It is a planning aid, not legal, engineering or building-code advice. Bylaws, fees and processing times change, and the building official for your address has the final say. Confirm every requirement with Surrey Planning & Development before you design, apply or dig.
This guide relies on the official pages below. Rules, fees and processes change, so check the authority before you apply or spend money.
Links checked October 9, 2026. Found an error or a broken link? Report it.