Provo, UT Accessory Structures: Garage Conversions (2026)

Provo allows an accessory apartment to be created over a garage, inside the dwelling, or by an addition, as stated in the city's Accessory Dwelling Unit Requirements handout and Section 14.30.030 of the Provo City Code (location standard (2)(a) allows an ADU "over an attached garage, provided the ADU has access to required parking and does not otherwise disrupt required covered parking"). Under Utah Code 10-9a-530, an internal ADU created within a primary single-family detached dwelling - which expressly includes a garage that is habitable space and connected to the primary dwelling by a common wall - is a permitted use in any area zoned primarily for residential use, and the municipality may not impose size, lot-size, frontage, or internal-connectivity restrictions on one such unit. The state statute does allow Provo to require one additional on-site parking space (unless four off-street spaces are already required, as Provo's ADU rules require) and to require replacement of parking spaces lost when a garage or carport is converted into habitable space. Converting a garage in Provo requires a building permit and an interior building inspection; previously created units must meet minimum health and safety standards including a minimum 7-foot ceiling height, smoke detectors in each bedroom and adjacent hallway, GFCI protection within six feet of a water source, emergency egress windows in each bedroom, and handrails on stairways with more than three steps. The home must continue to appear as a one-family dwelling with only one front door visible from the front yard, and an Accessory Apartment deed restriction is recorded with the Utah County Recorder.