Many people are considering modular construction when embarking on a light commercial or new home construction project. Modular construction has evolved by leaps and bounds in recent decades, the days when modular construction was just another name for trailers are long gone. Today, when a modular building project is completed, most people will find it difficult to distinguish between a modular building and a “stick-built” building.

Modular construction offers many benefits over traditional construction, including an accelerated construction program; Traditional construction requires the foundation to be installed first before the building can be constructed. With modular construction, you would be constructing the building on the ground floor at the same time that the foundation is installed in the field; Once the building modules are delivered, the main structure is completed in a matter of days instead of weeks in traditional construction. Other benefits include reduced weather delays, site vandalism, and theft, to name a few.

Those who take the modular concept one step further and decide to use shipping containers as the basis for their modular can find even greater advantages, if they are careful.

Modular container buildings use the 40 ‘x 8’ and 20 ‘x 8’ shipping container architecture as the basic building blocks for your project. While standard modular building modules can be built in almost any desired dimension and the modules are linked together for a complete structure of any dimension, modular container buildings are somewhat limited to 20 foot and 8 foot increments.

The other considerations are building codes. Local building officials should be consulted early in the design portion of your project and involved throughout the process. It is your job to know now that you are building a safe building that meets all applicable building codes. Some of these codes can be problematic in your design process. For example, in most northern climates, the International Building Code (IBC) adopted by most states will require an R-19 insulation package on the exterior walls, this means you need 5 ½ “of insulation from fiberglass plus ½ “siding or plaster to achieve the R 19 R value. Taking 6” out of an 8 foot wide room can start to become a lot of valuable real estate when you consider standard mattress sizes and distances you need to walk around the sides of your bed.

Another potentially problematic area is the height of standard shipping containers. Shipping containers have an outside dimension of 8 feet and high cube containers are 9 feet 6 inches high. Once you calculate the required roof insulation package based on local codes and proper covering, you can lose up to 12 inches in ceiling height, reducing the finished ceiling height to 7 feet above the finished floor. This may or may not be accepted by the local building official, otherwise you will need to purchase the more expensive “high cube” shipping containers to comply with the energy code.

Shipping containers will make a great foundation for a modular construction project, but you need to start the process with the understanding that you will have some tradeoffs to consider. You and your design professional will need to understand the building codes and speak with any building authority that will inspect and approve the final product.