Plan & Budget

The Plan & Budget section of the website is all about important aspects of project management. Finding and managing the resources needed to design and build effectively is not the most exciting part of a container project, but it’s one of the most important.

Assembling and coordinating the labor, materials, and equipment necessary for successful project execution is a skill set that you can develop. Below are a few different areas in which to focus your learning.

Contract Management

Most prospective container home owners are going to need a least a little professional help when building their project, even if it is primarily a DIY project. And in many cases, you may be outsourcing the entire design and construction phases to a single company.

Before spending thousands of dollars, you have to understand how to find good companies to work with, and how to ensure you’re getting what you want and what you paid for. Shipping Container Home Contractors & Builders: What to Know tackles this is subject that is vitally important for anyone moving forward with a container build.

Cost Management

Cost is often at the top of mind for many people interested in container construction given that it is usually seen as a lower-priced means of building. But it’s important to have visibility into where the costs come from.

Some aspects of container homes can actually be more expensive than traditional construction, while others are much less. And you have quite a bit of control over the cost depending on the decisions you make. Our Shipping Container Home Cost Breakdown and Can I Afford a Shipping Container Home articles are good places to begin understanding the costs of smaller pieces and how they affect your overall budget.

Risk Management

Given that container construction is a bit non-conventional, there is performance and execution risk in completing a project. Even those that have a lot of experience in traditional construction can help themselves by understanding the Mistakes to Avoid With Container Homes.

From maintenance and livability perspectives, there are other risks to keep in mind as well. Take a look at Container Home Rust and Corrosion Treatment as well as Shipping Container Flooring and Pesticides for important information to consider early on in your project.

Schedule Management

No one wants to be involved in a project that drags on forever and seems to never end. And in many ways, time is money when it comes to a large project like constructing a shipping container building.

Therefore, a proper understanding of how to create and manage a project schedule is a crucial thing to know for both your budget and your sanity. Our article on Work Breakdown Structures is a good precursor to understanding how to think about a large project in terms of smaller activities. And Project Scheduling for Shipping Container Homes addresses the overall development of a project schedule.

Construction Site Management

Even the best-designed container building will never come to fruition without an accessible and properly prepared construction site. You need to think through not just the best final placement of your containers, but the movement routes and equipment needed to get them there.

In addition, how to handle important needs like power, water, and sewage treatment need to taken into account as early as possible in your project. In Shipping Container Site Preparation, we discuss all of this and more.

Material Management

It should go without saying but a building is nothing but a dream without the physical building materials. And on a shipping container project, by far the most important material to consider is the empty shipping containers themselves.

We do a deep dive into sourcing your shipping containers in How and Where to Buy Shipping Containers. Then afterward, we recommend reading Shipping Container Delivery and Offloading Costs to understand how to think through getting your container from a dealer’s yard, onto a truck, and finally onto your project site.

Other Plan & Budget Articles

While we covered some of our favorite Plan & Budget articles above, that certainly isn’t all of them. Continue reading below to see all of the important topics we discuss in this corner of the website.

Shipping Container Site Preparation

There is a surprising amount of site work that needs to be completed before you deliver your containers to the building site. If you fail to think through and execute

How To Prepare For A Shipping Container Build

Once you’ve had most of your preliminary questions answered and have committed to building a container home, there are several key items you need to start thinking about and planning for.

Can I Afford A Shipping Container Home?

If you’re living in the US, you know that over the last several years, prices for traditional homes have been on the rise, making it difficult for people to afford

How To Plan Your Shipping Container Home

Planning is the most important part of any project and shipping container homes are no different. The average new home tends to run over budget and time by around 15-20%.

Shipping Container Delivery Costs and Options

Figuring out the logistics of getting a shipping container delivered to your home, business, or project site can be challenging. Not to mention, the complex process of loading and offloading,

How and Where to Buy Shipping Containers

Figuring out how to find and purchase shipping containers is a unique challenge, even if you already know what kind of containers you want.  For first-time container buyers, the difficulty

How Much Do Shipping Container Homes Cost?

In almost every instance, when a person is captivated by incredible examples of container homes, the first question they ask is, “How much do they cost?” The cost of container