Shipping

How is it Transported?

It is built on a chassis; a permanent steel frame with three axles on wheels. That means it can be towed on any major roadway without a police escort or any special requirements or permits anywhere in North America (it is complete with electric brakes, running lights, etc).
 We are also currently looking into rail options for longer distances. The miniHomes are not designed for recreational travel – this is something that you keep on a site for a while – that being said, it is still easy to move most of the models. ↑

How is this method shipping units sustainable?

A smaller building, with simple – or no foundations, and minimal impact on the land – such as the miniHome – uses 1/10th the materials and resources to construct as a larger, site-built home or cottage (depends on the size of the house or cottage of course, but generally, we refer to a 2000sf dwelling w. basement). Housing manufactured in factories is designed for production efficiency and optimizes materials in the workflow – which means next to no waste. It is very difficult to achieve the kind of quality control, efficient and high performance building assemblies that the miniHome features with conventional, site-built housing.
All construction materials need to be transported to the site for their assembly into buildings – the miniHome just ships its materials to your site already assembled.  ↑

Where will you ship to?

We can arrange for shipping anywhere in North America. We have had many inquiries about shipping overseas – this is outside of our current range for warranty and servicing, but if you can arrange shipping, there is no limit to where our units can travel. ↑

How does Zoning apply to Sustain’s units?

miniHomes can be classified as Trailers, Park Model Trailers, Manufactured Homes and Mobile Homes. Most municipalities permit one or another of these designations, just ask your local building department. Call us for more specific information.

In Ontario, CSA certified vehicles are exempted under section 2.1.1.4 (of the Ontario Building Code) – which means no building permit is required to place on your site. Trailer placement is thus never a question of the building codes, but rather of Zoning Bylaws in effect in various municipalities. All Building Codes have a clause that exempts Travel Trailers from code requirements and refers to these alternate standards, in Canada, the governing standard is CSA-Z240, in the USA, it is ANSI 119.2 and 119.5.

In the USA – you can place a trailer on any land that you own or lease, or in areas designated for mobile-home or trailer dwellings, just as you can park a car or a van anywhere on your own property. In California, to use a trailer as a full-time dwelling there is a process by which the miniHome can receive the equivalent of a building permit to function as a primary and/or secondary dwelling, provided the licence plate is removed and the unit is situated on a municipally approved foundation and connected to servicing, where available.

In Canada, similarly you can put – or park – an RV anywhere a vehicle is allowed to be parked – as that is what the miniHome is classified as (a ‘vehicle’). This means on private property, trailer parks, campgrounds, etc. Most municipal zoning prohibits using trailers as a full-time residence for habitation – except when exemptions are granted, such as while you build a primary dwelling. In most cases where Canadians are living year-round in trailers, these bylaws are ignored, as they are only ever enforced if a neighbour complains for some legitimate reason. While taking the higher moral ground in choosing to live in a miniHome, it is still wise to consult with your neighbours to ensure this won’t be something you would need to contend with down the road. ↑