Container Home Building Codes & Permits

Container Home Building Codes & Permits

As you become more familiar with container homes, it's natural to start asking questions about their legality and the steps to get approval for building them. In most cases, you can't just build a container home anywhere you want, and there is a lot of confusion about the applicable rules and how to get started.

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Instead of asking, "Are containers legal in my location?", you should ask, "What rules affect a shipping container home, which parts of my design might those rules impact, and who makes these rules in my area so I can find out more about compliance?"

Understanding this Article

In writing this article, we aim to help you answer the questions above. You must start by acknowledging that regulations, permits, and codes surrounding container building are complex. It is impossible to sum them up simply because different areas have their distinct rules, building permit requirements, zoning requirements, and more.

Therefore, our goal is to examine the types of regulations that surround storage container development and provide as much detail as possible. Usually, to get the true scope of the rules in your area, you need to know how to do the research yourself, which we will help you prepare to do.

By providing you with a basic guide to understanding how regulations apply to this type of building, we hope to equip you with the tools to ensure you are always operating legally with local authorities and beyond. It's not only the right thing to do, but it will also save you time and money in the long run.

Everything we discuss here is based on where you build your project, and ultimately, where to build has a lot to do with you as the owner.

When people ask us where we recommend building a shipping container home, they are leaving out information about themselves and their personal preferences. A perfect location for one person might be terrible for someone else. With that said, there are still factors applicable to everyone.

We'll approach the subject of regulations by clarifying the scope of what is regulated, then breaking the rules down into three sections: How, What, and Who.

• How: Different types of building regulations and how they can impact your container house project
• What: Specific container home design choices that are commonly regulated
• Who: Various regulating entities you may have to deal with

After that, we'll touch on the future of container building regulation, talk about best practices for getting started, and share a few thoughts on US states that may be especially good candidates for shipping container homes.

Scope of Shipping Container Building Regulations

Before we dive into the details about the regulations, it's important to understand the scope to which the regulations may apply. Although the primary focus here is on container homes, many people are planning to use containers for temporary or permanent storage.

Storage Containers

It's fairly common for people to inquire about having a shipping container on their property as they make an excellent place to store things. When we say storage containers, we're referring to a shipping container used for the storage of tools, materials, or equipment and NOT for occupation by humans. Since containers used for storage aren't designed for habitation, they typically fall under a different set of rules.

It's important to know that there may still be regulations for this type of cargo container usage, even though it's not set up for habitation. The procedures discussed later in the article should still apply.

Container Homes

The term 'container home' is surprisingly open-ended and can mean different things to different people. You may have even encountered this when describing your interest in container homes to friends and family.

Some people picture something similar to a simple cabin, while others envision a custom-built architectural masterpiece. Right now, we don't really have universally agreed-upon terminology to describe these differences, which leads to confusion.

Imagine if a friend tells you that they're thinking about getting a cat, then the next time you see them, they have a full-grown tiger! You're likely going to be surprised and terrified because what you pictured when hearing 'cat' was not the same thing that your friend pictured.

Why is this important? When we start talking about regulations, first impressions are important as they anchor someone's thinking around a topic, and they can be difficult to overcome. When you first mention that you're planning to build a container home, you want the person on the other side of the table (or the other end of the phone) to have a clear vision of what you're talking about.

So if it's clear that you need to be specific when communicating about your container, you may be wondering about potential ways to describe it. In addition to size, another factor is occupancy. For instance, will the home be a primary dwelling, a weekend home, a short-term rental, or something in between?

The planned usage and occupancy can affect which regulations apply, so it's important to discuss all of these factors when describing your plans to regulators.

Types of Building Regulations You Might Encounter

Regulation is an umbrella term that covers different types of rules that can affect shipping container houses. Collectively, they determine both what you can build and where you can build it. It's important to understand how each of them can impact your project.

Property Zoning

Zoning breaks up large swaths of urban land into different types of zones that determine the types of things that can be built there. Zoning is used by city governments to plan the growth and development of a city in advance in order to keep similar types of buildings grouped together and control density.

If you've ever noticed how some cities have industrial areas contained in one area, or that 'adult stores' and liquor stores are usually not located near residential neighborhoods and churches, you've observed the effects of zoning.

Other than the notable exception of Houston, Texas, most American cities have zoning laws, though they are less common in other countries. Typically, zones are broken into categories like residential and commercial, then further subdivided from that. For example, here's the R-1 through R-5 residential zoning that applies in Tallahassee, Florida.

The zoning of a property can be changed through rezoning or variances, but doing so would require robust documentation and potentially the buy-in of neighbors. Zoning changes usually face resistance because existing property holders don't want to see their property values decline.

Building Codes and Permits

The next type of common shipping container regulation is building codes and permits. Building codes stipulate the standards of construction that will be applied, meaning how homes are to be built. Building permits are what you typically apply for to prove your compliance with applicable building codes and gain approval to continue construction activities.

In the US and several other developed countries, most codes are based on the International Code Council's International Residential Code (IRC) and International Building Code (IBC). These codes are updated annually or biennially, denoted by the year they were published.

The IBC and IRC incorporate related codes by reference, such as the International Plumbing Code, the International Mechanical Code, the National Electric Code, and the National Fire Protection Association standards. In turn, most cities incorporate the IBC and IRC into their own codes with occasional amendments.

Some US states have their own codes as well, such as the Massachusetts State Building Code. A great place to see which codes are used in which state (and city) is the ConstructConnect Building Code Tool. Other countries have diverse code requirements, which we can't cover specifically here.

In order to get approved permits for shipping container homes, you need to prove, via your permit application, that you've complied with the applicable building codes and possibly other regulations.

As you probably understand, these rules vary widely from place to place. But what applies to someone else doesn't really matter; you just need to be concerned with the regulations that pertain to your area.

Finding and understanding these rules before you begin construction is the most important part of this message. If in doubt, consulting a professional like an architect or general contractor in your area might be a good idea.

Ignoring the rules will certainly be at your peril. Depending on the case, you could end up with penalties, additional fees, stopped work, or even orders to tear down and start over.

Playing by the rules is the best option. We know it's hard to play by rules when you can't figure out what the rules are, and that's why we've written this article!

Remember that while some of the rules you'll encounter have to do with appearances, many of them relate to having a safe and healthy home. That's undoubtedly something you want as well, so keep the intentions of the rules in mind when their implementation becomes frustrating.

Mobile, Manufactured, and Modular Building Codes

The differences between mobile homes, manufactured homes, and modular (prefabricated) homes can be hard to distinguish. However, since different building standards apply, it's important to understand which is authoritative for a particular case and how that might relate to shipping container construction.

A manufactured home is a new name for what was originally called a mobile home. The name was changed in 1976, but both names refer to homes mounted on a permanent trailer chassis.

These homes are covered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards (commonly known as the HUD code). This code is the only federally-regulated national building code in the US and applies to homes that are built entirely in a factory and shipped to the building site on a permanent chassis for installation.

Modular homes (in which building modules are built in a factory, then transported to the site and assembled on a permanent foundation) usually fall under the IBC, not the HUD code.

Recreational Vehicles (RVs) are similar to manufactured homes but are exempted by federal law in §3282.8(g) and instead fall under the RV Industry Association's (RVIA) Standards.

We mention all of this because there is some confusion about which category certain container homes fall under. For instance, some container home builders sell both 20-foot and 40-foot container homes permanently mounted on a trailer chassis.

In the US, the regulations have lagged behind both the tiny home and container home movements (which have some overlap), but in January 2019, HUD released some clarifying guidance. Essentially, the builder of a home-on-a-trailer-chassis can choose whether the home is intended for part-time recreational use or full-time occupancy. That, along with some size restrictions, determines whether RV or HUD codes are appropriate.

For the majority of container homes intended for installation on a permanent foundation, the IRC will apply just like any other house. This is spelled out in this HUD FAQ which we'll quote here:

I would like to convert shipping containers into homes. Can they be listed or sold as manufactured housing?

All manufactured homes are built to the Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards, 24 CFR Part 3280. Manufactured homes are transported in one or more sections on a permanent chassis and display a red certification label on the exterior of each transportable section.

Shipping containers that are converted into housing units are subject to state and local building codes like modular and site-built homes. Converted shipping containers cannot be accepted as a HUD-code manufactured home unless they are provided with a permanent chassis and are transported to the site on their own running gear and otherwise comply with all HUD Standards and Regulations for manufactured homes.

Deed Restrictions (Restrictive Covenants) and HOA Rules

So far, the regulations we've described have mostly been government-created or government-enforced. However, there's one last category of rules that we need to discuss.

Deed restrictions (sometimes called Restrictive Covenants) are specific requirements included in the deed for a property. Typically, deed restrictions are added by the original developer of a land parcel to maintain a uniform appearance for a neighborhood that protects property values.

Deed restrictions are similar to and may coincide with, but aren't the same as, homeowner's association (HOA) rules. In short, deed restrictions are permanently fixed to the deed and usually require a court order to remove, while HOA rules can be voted on and changed at will.

Although deed restrictions are placed on the property deed, they are private agreements and not directly enforced by the government. HOAs usually attempt to enforce deed restrictions through legal action in the court system, although individual nearby property owners could also do so.

Due to their private nature, deed restrictions can restrict almost anything about the property's use as long as it's legal. Common types include use restrictions, lease restrictions, and mandatory architectural reviews.

For these and other reasons, we recommend using a lawyer familiar with real estate transactions if there are any serious questions about deed restrictions on a property you already own or are thinking about purchasing. Deed restrictions will be uncovered by the title company as part of the property purchasing process, and you'll need to review these carefully for anything that might affect your container home project.

Common Container Home Items that Get Regulated

There is a ton of variability in who regulates what concerning buildings. So rather than try to describe the specific regulatory practices of hundreds of different entities, we'll start by listing the types of things that might get regulated in a shipping container home project and examples of each.

Depending on where you live, all, some, or none of these would apply to you. And the rules may be from any combination of property zoning, building codes, restrictive covenants, and others.

• Appearance: Color, style, and material used for walls, roof, and other externally viewable parts of the house
• Accessibility: Requirements related to making your home accessible to people with disabilities
• Size: Square footage, number of bedrooms, maximum allowable height, etc.
• Site Offsets: Distance from the property line to the edge of the house, distance from neighboring structures, etc.
• Foundation: Type of foundation, depth, height over ground level for flooding, etc.
• Landscaping: Types of plants that are allowed, the number of trees that can be removed for construction, etc.
• Means of Egress: Size and number of exterior exits, number of rooms that can be transited through before getting to an exterior exit, size of interior passageways, etc.
• Fire and Smoke Protection: Number, type, and locations of smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, etc.
• Electrical, Mechanical, and Plumbing: Details around materials, design, and installation of these systems
• Energy Conservation: Specific requirements regarding windows, insulation, sealing around penetrations, appliances, etc. to reduce energy usage
• Structure: Requirements for compliance with wind and snow loads, structural reinforcements, etc.

Once again, the applicability of these types of rules depends completely on where you live. It reiterates the importance of familiarizing yourself with the rules pertaining to your area. You can't look at this problem strictly from a national or even state level. A localized approach to development is best as we discuss in the next section.

Regulating Entities

Each region of the United States (not to mention the rest of the world) is different with regards to which level of government has jurisdiction. We can't discuss how every single piece of land is treated, so instead, we'll discuss the different levels of government you may need to work with: municipal, county, state, and federal. Typically, the regulations from higher-order entities apply as well as those of the lowest level having jurisdiction. For example, in a city, all four types of regulations would apply.

Municipal Government Regulation

When we say municipal government, we mean cities and towns. They create rules that pertain to the land area within their bounds, but more rural areas may exist outside city limits. Cities occasionally annex new land into the city, but they typically 'grandfather in' existing structures so you wouldn't be required to comply with new regulations that didn't apply to you when you originally built your container home. However, it's best to inquire about this when purchasing land to find out if there is a rumor of future annexation.

The majority of building codes and almost all zoning in the United States are enforced at the municipal level.

County Government Regulation

County government is the next step up from municipalities. While many properties aren't in a city, EVERY property in the United States is in a county. Depending on how urban the county is, it may be more or less regulated regarding building regulations. In other countries, there is usually something similar to a county that subdivides a country into sub-regions.

State Government Regulation

In the United States, most state governments don't have much involvement in building regulations for the most part. There are notable exceptions for things like hurricane requirements in Florida, earthquakes in California, etc. There are also a handful of states that have statewide building codes for uniformity, although your primary interface will still be at the local level.

Federal Government Regulation

Other than the HUD Code previously discussed for manufactured homes that include a trailer chassis, the US Federal Government doesn't really have any building regulations. In other countries, it's possible that almost all regulations are made at the federal or national level.

As you can see, the rules and restrictions tend to be more detailed and relevant on a local (municipal) level. You would be best served by working your way up from the bottom.

First, familiarize yourself with the municipal guidelines in your area before expanding your scope to consider county, state, and federal rules. While all of these are usually equally applicable, there tend to be many more building codes and zoning requirements that affect you at the municipal level.

The Future of Shipping Container Homes Regulations

The growing popularity of container homes with consumers has led to increasing familiarity on the part of regulating entities. The more they see the spectrum of what's possible with shipping container homes, the more accepting they will be of them.

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