Project details
| Status | Completed: budgets delivered August 2025. Nothing has been built from them |
| Type | Preconstruction budgets for two CMHC Housing Design Catalogue designs |
| Scope | Construction management, preconstruction budgeting |
| Designs | FOURPLEX 02 (4,485 SF finished, 4 units) and ADU 01 (600 SF) |
| Budget totals | About $1,184,000 for the fourplex and about $226,000 for the ADU, including Summit’s fee and a 10% contingency |
| Basis | Budget estimates, not tender prices, in August 2025 dollars |
| Service | Small multi-family construction in Winnipeg |
Pricing a catalogue design before there is a lot
CMHC’s Housing Design Catalogue publishes ready-made residential designs, each with architectural, structural and energy documentation. In August 2025, Summit Design Build built budgets for two of them: FOURPLEX 02, at 4,485 square feet finished, and ADU 01, an accessory dwelling unit of 600 square feet.
These are budget estimates built up from trade costs. They are not tender prices, and nothing has been built from them. The value is the early answer: what a catalogue design is likely to cost to build, before a buyer has committed to a lot.
What the budgets show
| Fourplex 02 | ADU 01 | |
| Finished area | 4,485 SF | 600 SF |
| Trades subtotal | $1,020,926 | $191,718 |
| Trades per SF | $227.63 | $319.53 |
| Summit management fee | 6%: $61,256 | 8%: $15,337 |
| Contingency | 10%: $102,093 | 10%: $19,172 |
| Budget total | About $1,184,000 | About $226,000 |
| Total per SF | About $264 | About $377 |
The ADU costs about 43% more per square foot than the fourplex. Small buildings usually cost more per square foot: a kitchen, a bathroom and the mechanical systems are spread over much less floor area.
What changes when there is a site
These are August 2025 figures for the designs as drawn. A real site moves the number: soil and foundations, servicing, the permit route and whatever the lot allows. We price those once there is an address. If you have a catalogue design and a lot in mind, that is the conversation to have before you buy.
Have a catalogue design and a lot? We can tell you what it costs to build, and what it needs to fit, before you commit. See small multi-family construction in Winnipeg or talk to us.
Related reading: Canada’s Housing Design Catalogue Is Live: How Summit Builds Faster in Manitoba