Shipping Container Housing Permits

A common question that comes through from our customers is, "which states allow shipping container housing?", and the answer is unfortunately vague – all of them, for the most part, sort of.

The main purpose of a building permit is safety, both during and after the construction of the structure. It also helps with insurance and possibly the resale value of your container home. The building permits required to build a house in most areas are either set by the township, or in some cases the county. The best thing to do is either research it on the internet, or contact your local government and work your way up from the bottom.

Once you determine if you need a permit, then you can work on collecting what is required to obtain the permit. Most likely, you’ll need full plans of what you’re going to do, and possibly a stamp from an engineer to ensure the safety of the container home as well as external elevation images so they know that it won’t be an eye sore to existing neighbors. It may also require a little bit of work to educate the permitting person as well as the inspector as they may not be familiar with shipping container homes and how they work.

During construction housing permits may require periodic inspections to make sure the work is being completed properly. Many times there is an inspection once the foundation is completed, then again when the framing, or in our case the container is delivered and structured, and again once the construction is complete prior to inhabiting the container home. Again, all of this extra work is to insure that the structure is safe to live in and won’t collapse at any point in the near future.

ContainerAuction.com is an online marketplace for new and used shipping containers of all sizes. The companies selling on the site are experienced professionals and can help you find the right shipping container for a modular housing project, portable storage, or shipping domestically or over-seas.