Shipping containers have a limited life expectancy to other buildings. Whether the shipping container is a building depends on its intended use.

A container can be considered a building if

  • the purpose of the container is to store hazardous substances or gases as defined in regulations made under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, or
  • a container is on a property for any other purpose and is temporary or permanent, movable or immovable, including structures intended for occupation by people, animals, machinery or chattels.

A container on a property (other than a freight forwarding company) to temporarily store household goods until a house is built is an outbuilding with a specified intended life.

Some considerations that make it more likely to be a building

  • if the purpose of the container is not for transporting goods
  • if the container came from a company that repurposes containers
  • the longer the container has been or will be on site
  • dependant on what is in the container – eg if it has gardening tools hanging on the walls.

For more information and examples see our guide on shipping containers [PDF, 302 KB].