Straight answers
Can you live in a park model year-round?
Usually not as your permanent home, and the thing that stops it is the rules, not the insulation. In the US, a park model escapes the federal manufactured home code only because it is designed for recreational use and not as a primary residence or for permanent occupancy, and the manufacturer has to put that in writing to the buyer before the sale is complete. In Canada, CSA describes units built to the Z241 park model standard as recreational living units, and local zoning decides where one can be lived in: one BC regional district counts park models as recreational vehicles and prohibits using them as dwellings in every zone, even temporarily. Staying at a resort or park through the winter, where that park allows it, is a different question from making a park model your address.
Figures verified against the sources below · September 16, 2026
01 — The longer answer
Why a park model is treated as recreational
What is a park model home?
A park model is a recreational unit built on a single chassis, delivered on wheels, and set up on a site where it usually stays. In the US it is built to ANSI A119.5. Florida's statute shows how a state defines one: a transportable unit no wider than 14 feet, designed to provide seasonal or temporary living quarters when connected to utilities, with no more than 400 square feet in set-up mode when built to ANSI A119.5. In Canada the standard is the CSA Z241 series, whose parts cover vehicular, construction, plumbing, propane and electrical requirements. The current edition prohibits lofts, and its electrical part covers units connected by a cord and plug to a supply of no more than 50 amps. It can look like a small house. In law it sits much closer to an RV.
Why US rules say it is not a primary residence
The federal HUD code governs manufactured homes, and a park model is exempt from it only as a recreational vehicle. Under 24 CFR 3282.15 the exemption covers a unit that is not certified as a manufactured home, is designed only for recreational use and not as a primary residence or for permanent occupancy, and is built and certified to NFPA 1192 or ANSI A119.5. For an ANSI A119.5 unit, the manufacturer must deliver a notice before the sale is complete, and display it in the kitchen, certifying that the unit is not for use as a primary residence or for permanent occupancy. So a seller who calls a park model a full-time home is contradicting the notice that comes with it.
Why Canadian zoning treats it as an RV
Zoning bylaws usually settle it in their definitions. The Thompson-Nicola Regional District's Zoning Bylaw No. 2400 lists park model recreational units among recreational vehicles, excludes them from the definition of a building, and at section 3.18.2 prohibits recreational vehicles from being used as dwelling units in all zones, including on a temporary basis. Its own information sheet says a manufactured home certified to CSA Z240 can serve as a permanent or seasonal residence and a park model cannot. That is one regional district, not a national rule, but it shows where the answer lives for your land: the definitions section of the local bylaw.
Wintering at a park is a separate question
Many park models sit in resorts and campgrounds, and whether you can stay into the cold months is set by that park's own rules and the zoning of its land, which can limit when a site may be occupied. Ask the park for its occupancy rules in writing before buying a unit for a site. If the plan is a permanent address, a mortgage, or a backyard suite, a park model is the wrong format no matter how well it is built.
The format to choose if you want to live there all year
The dependable route to living in a small home all year is a format a municipality treats as a dwelling: a modular home built to CSA A277 in Canada, or to the IBC or IRC under a state modular program in the US, set on a permanent foundation. It is also the format that finances as real property. A tiny home on wheels is still recreational by certification, and whether you can live in one depends on local rules. Our Vista is a park model, built to CSA Z241 for Canada and ANSI A119.5 for the US, and we sell it as one: a home for a resort lot, campground, or recreational property. For a year-round address, we point people to the Cove and the Zenith, our modular models.
03 — Sources
Each figure above links to the authority it came from.
24 CFR 3282.15, exemption for recreational vehicles: a unit not certified as a manufactured home, designed only for recreational use and not as a primary residence or for permanent occupancy, built and certified to NFPA 1192 or ANSI A119.5; for an ANSI A119.5-15 unit a Manufacturer's Notice to that effect must be delivered before the sale is complete and displayed in the kitchen
ecfr.govFlorida Statutes s.320.01(1)(b)7 (2026): a park trailer is a transportable unit with a body width not exceeding 14 feet, built on a single chassis, designed to provide seasonal or temporary living quarters when connected to utilities, not exceeding 400 square feet in set-up mode when constructed to ANSI A-119.5
leg.state.fl.usCAN/CSA-Z241 Series-18 (R2023), park model trailers: six parts (definitions and general safety, vehicular, construction, plumbing, propane, electrical); described as recreational living units; the edition prohibits lofts; the electrical part applies to units connected by cord and plug to a supply of not more than 50 A
csagroup.orgTNRD Zoning Bylaw No. 2400, consolidated to 13 August 2026: RECREATIONAL VEHICLE includes park model recreational units; BUILDING excludes a park model recreational unit; s.3.18.2 prohibits recreational vehicles from being used, including on a temporary basis, as dwelling units in all zones
tnrd.civicweb.netTNRD information sheet, RV Dwelling Use: a CSA Z-240 certified manufactured home can serve as a permanent or seasonal residence, a park model cannot
tnrd.civicweb.net
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