If you want to build a shipping container house, you will need to know where they allow them, what to consider when choosing the state to build and where communities exist with the same mindset that you have about living in a modified shipping container.
Zoning laws, building codes, aesthetic review boards, and deeds have various restrictions that dictate what type of home construction you can build in certain areas.
While all 50 states in America will allow shipping container homes, lenient zoning laws, non-restrictive building codes, sympathetic aesthetic review boards and proximity to shipping ports help make parts of Texas, New York, California, Louisiana, Oregon, and Alaska popular to build shipping container homes.
With the limited exception of inland Rocky and Appalachian mountain areas, states that are near shipping ports and waterways tend to be the most popular states to build shipping container houses. This is because it is less expensive to transport the shipping container a shorter distance from those ports.
Popular Container Home Cities in All States and Shipping Port Locations
Living near the water is a desire of many homeowners. Looking at a map of the USA, we can pinpoint the port cities and get a quick overview of where we might want to build our shipping container house.
Check out the map above. It has a container ship placed near ports all along the US shorelines.
The green circles on the map above denote popular areas to build shipping container homes. Notice that most of the popular areas in all of the states are near waterways such as along the Mississippi River, the Great Lakes, Oceans, and the Gulf of Mexico (with only a few exceptions).
22 USA Shipping Port Cities
| Seattle, WA | Portland, OR |
| Oakland, CA | Los Angeles, CA |
| Corpus Christi, TX | Houston, TX |
| Beaumont, TX | New Orleans, LA |
| Mobile, AL | Tampa Bay, FL |
| Miami, FL | Jacksonville, FL |
| Savannah, GA | Charleston, SC |
| Wilmington, NC | Hampton Roads, VA |
| Philadelphia, PA | New York, NY |
| Boston, MA | Portland, ME |
| Valdez, AK | Honolulu, HI |
Let’s look at the types of zoning laws, building codes and the aesthetic guidelines you need to know about. This will help you decide where it would be best to build your shipping container house.
Zoning Regulations Can Restrict Where to Build Shipping Container Homes
Going back at least to the early Roman Empire, there have been zoning regulations that control where buildings can be built. Modern day towns and cities have adopted their own zoning regulations to meet the character they want their community to enjoy.
Zoning Regulations and Building Codes Controls:
- Set backs:
- Floor Area Ratio
- Building Height
- Buildings Considered to be Towers
- The Bulk of the Building
- Building Use
- Size of the property.
- Historic Districts
- Aesthetic Parameters
- Type of Construction
- The Allowed Number of Stories
- Size Limitations of Each Floor
Towns that are less restrictive will welcome shipping container homes more than those with a more narrow focus on what they want buildings in their community to look like.
Let’s take a look at what these restrictions are and how they can affect your decision of building your shipping container house in cities with strict zoning laws and building codes.
The Setback from the Property Line
The Setback requirements in a zoning law controls how close a building can be to the front, side, and back property lines. The set back dimensions of the building at the ground level can often be different than the setback dimensions of the building at higher floors.
Borrowing from the ancient Romans, modern day zoning laws often require a building to be gradually further away from the front property line as the building gets higher so sunlight can reach the street level.
For example, you might have been in the Wall Street area of the southern part of Manhattan. This area was built before adopting the current set back requirements. The result is a maze of cavernous streets that hardly ever gets sunlight at the street level.
Later, zoning laws required buildings to set back further from the street as it climbed higher and higher. This is why tall buildings along Park Avenue, north of Grand Central Terminal, look like a row of wedding cakes.
If you were to stack shipping containers in certain cities, for multi-family units as an example, you might be required to set them back as they are stacked far above the street level.
Floor Area Ratio Limits How Much Land is Covered by a Building
Floor Area Ratio, FAR, is used in zoning laws to control how densely a property is built.
For example, a property of a FAR 50 would mean that up to 50% of the land can be built upon. The other 50% would need to be landscaping.
Each town has their own definition of what the built surface is. Some include anything that is not permeable, such as sidewalks, porches, patios, and decks. You might need to be a bit clever with your landscape design and have permeable walkways defined by crushed stone and driveways with pavers that allow plants to grow in between them.
Be sure to understand the FAR of the property you want to build your shipping container house upon. That way, you will know in advance how large your home will be and how much land on the property will remain as landscaping.
Height of the Building is Regulated
Zoning laws, building codes, and some aesthetic boards control how high a building can be on a property. Zoning laws are often written to control the character of the community.
Taller buildings can often block sunlight from reaching the pedestrian spaces on the street.
Tall buildings that are called “Towers” in the NYC Zoning Laws are required to have a lot of landscaping, sometimes as plazas, around the building. This allows the tower to be built without blocking too much sunlight to the street.
Some towns will not allow buildings to be taller than their central municipal buildings. Other towns do not want their skyline to appear too overpowering. Other towns want to limit the height of the buildings in order to protect views to important natural or built landmarks will not be blocked.
Most shipping container houses are not very tall anyway. So, unless you are building a high-rise made of stacked shipping containers, as discussed later in this article, this restriction should not affect your dream house design.
Buildings that are Bulky by Taking Too Much Land are Sometimes Restricted
The limitation of the building’s bulk is related to the FAR and setback requirements. These factors control the massing of the building on the property.
How the Property is to be Used is Also Controlled by Zoning Laws and Aesthetic Review Boards
Residential, Commercial, Manufacturing are the three use categories per the NYC zoning laws.
Other cities may also include transportation, institutional, public buildings, and industrial.
Zoning Districts controls the proximity of one use to another. It is common to see a school placed a distance away from nightclubs. This is because the zoning regulations state what can and cannot be built adjacent to one another.
Obviously, your shipping container house will need to be built in a residential zoning district or in a special district that is created for buildings like a shipping container house.
The Zoning Maps and Tables will Show How Large a Property is Allowed
When the city planners determines where they want certain types of uses to be placed, they also will restrict how large the lot and block is to be.
This will affect what size of property you will be able to acquire when choosing the best place to build your shipping container home.
Review Boards Might not Allow Shipping Container Homes in Historic Districts
Community Aesthetic Review Boards may have restrictions that prohibit shipping container buildings to be in their communities. For example, a historic community filled with Gothic Revival and Romanesque homes might not be very welcoming to have a more modern International Style home in the midst of them.
Some towns have historic districts. You might find it hard to build a shipping container in them.
But, in 2006, a developer in New York City was successful at persuading the powerful aesthetic control board to allow shipping containers to be used in a multifamily construction project as discussed below.
New York City has several historic districts. They are controlled by the New York City Landmark Preservation Commission (LPC).
There is an historic district called NOHO (North of Houston Street) in New York City. In this area, at 372 Lafayette Street, an architect named David Wallance got approval from the Landmark Preservation Commission to build a multifamily building that consisted of stacked shipping containers. But, the project was never constructed.
In this area and in other areas near it, there are buildings that were built using factory formed metal facades.
During the presentation of the shipping container multifamily building to the LPC, one of the design points that persuaded the LPC to approve the design was that, like the history buildings built with pre-built factory produced metal facades, the shipping containers are also factory produced and is now being used as a building element for the multifamily building.
The Building Codes Set the Parameters as to the Types of Construction Buildings are Classified
In the International Building Code, there are 5 different construction types.
The construction type 1 is more non-combustible than the wood framed and heavy timber construction type 5. Depending upon the construction type selected for your shipping container home, the number of stories and size of each floor will be determined.
The construction type that your shipping container house will be as per the interpretation of your local building code enforcers.
But,….
Many Building Code Enforcers Don’t have Experience with Shipping Container Home Construction
Since shipping container home construction is not nearly as prevalent at conventional “stick and brick” home construction, the current building codes do not explicitly address shipping containers being used as a home building product. But, that will change in the near future. Here is a link to a rough draft that the ICC is writing that will included shipping containers as a building product in the building codes New Provisions for Shipping Containers in the 2021 IBC Codes.
This leaves a lot of room for the interpretation of the current building codes by the subcode officials in charge of enforcing the codes for their assigned regions.
The more you understand the code and how you can present your design to the code enforcer as being code compliant, the better chances you will have to get your shipping container home built in the state and community you choose.
Your Shipping Container Home Might Fit a Loop-Hole in the Zoning Laws as an Accessory Dwelling Unit
Some zoning laws permit a secondary home that is parked on wheels on property of primary residents. This is commonly referred to as an ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit).
An ADU could be a shipping container placed on blocking or wheels while on a property with a house on a permanent foundation. This ADU might be used to house an elderly family member or an older teenager wanting to enjoy a semi-independent lifestyle while still on the home property.
Permanent Shipping Container Homes Require a Permanent Foundation
In order to be considered as a stand-alone primary residence, shipping container homes are required to be built on a permanent foundation. Most lenders require the house to be on a permanent foundation before approving any mortgage loans too.
To learn more about what type of foundation to use for your shipping container house, go to Shipping Container Home Foundation Types.
The reason communities require shipping container homes to be on a permanent foundation for primary residences is because they want to have a non-transportable tax paying entity on the property.
Another reason shipping container homes are required to be on a permanent foundation is because homes on wheels are considered to be recreational vehicles and not primary residences.
Utility providers, including water, sewer, and electricity, would find it nearly impossible to estimate the yearly usage of recreational vehicles temporarily hooked-up to their services.
In the International Residential Code, Permits are not Required for Some Small Buildings
The International Residential Code does not require building permits for one-story accessory structures less than 200 square feet. A 20 foot long shipping container is 20 ft x 8 ft = 160 square feet. So, it would be within this minimum area requirement for permits.
But, this part of the code is mainly for storage sheds and like. Once you start adding plumbing, electric, and mechanical devices in it, permits will be required.
Check to see if the community you want to build is controlled by the International Residential Code.
If so, be sure you are reviewing the current edition of the code as it is updated every three years.
The International I-Codes are Widely Accepted in USA
In the United State, the codes produced by the International Code Council has been adopted or altered for their own individual codes (like in NYC).
According to the International Code Council, the states that accepted their codes in one way or another include (The list below was copied from this link to the ICC Code Website):
- The International Building Code (IBC) is in use or adopted in 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, NYC, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.
- The International Residential Code (IRC) is in use or adopted in 49 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
- The International Fire Code (IFC) is in use or adopted in 41 states, the District of Columbia, NYC, Guam and Puerto Rico.
- The International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) is in use or adopted in 49 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, NYC and Puerto Rico.
- The International Plumbing Code (IPC) is in use or adopted in 35 states, the District of Columbia, NYC, Guam, and Puerto Rico.
- The International Mechanical Code (IMC) is in use or adopted in 46 states, the District of Columbia, NYC, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
- The International Fuel Gas Code (IFGC) is in use or adopted in 42 states, the District of Columbia, NYC, Guam, and Puerto Rico.
Property Deeds Have Their Own Set of Restrictions
Even if you find a state, city, and property that fits your needs for the perfect shipping container home site, the individual property might have restrictions to prevent you from building the house of your dreams.
More rules written by private parties in terms of covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CCR’s) can limit the use of the property. They can depict how the property is to be improved. Since shipping container homes construction is not main stream, yet, it is possible that the CCR of the property can make it difficult to improve the property with a shipping container as a major construction element.
Be sure to thoroughly know what can and cannot be done to the property you wish to build upon. A lawyer should help you find any CCR that may exists.
CCR’s can be found in a variety of places. Commonly, they are found in deeds, leases and other “instruments of conveyance.”
Decide What Local Restrictions Will be Acceptable When Choosing the State to Build Your Shipping Container House
Individual cities and towns within each state has their own restrictions that determine what is allowed to be built in their communities.
Using the guidelines above will help you determine which city and state you want to live in a container house.
Check out this article about building a shipping container in Texas.
