South Carolina runs one mandatory building code for the whole state and then leaves placement to 46 counties and every city inside them. Here is how to read that split before your container arrives.
Shipping container permits in South Carolina are not one permission. They are two separate questions answered by two different offices.
The first question is a building code question: does this structure need a building permit and an inspection? South Carolina answers that at the state level. Section 6-9-50 of the South Carolina Code names the mandatory codes, the Building Codes Council adopts the editions, and local governments enforce that set. Municipalities and counties are not free to write their own building code or to enforce a different one (S.C. Code Title 6, Chapter 9). The current mandatory package is the 2021 editions of the International Building, Residential, Fire, Plumbing, Mechanical and Fuel Gas Codes with South Carolina modifications, which took effect for local jurisdictions on January 1, 2023 (ICC NTA summary of the Council's adoption). The Council adopted the 2024 editions on 26 August 2025, with an implementation date for local jurisdictions of January 1, 2027, so confirm which edition your reviewer is working from (SC LLR Building Codes Council).
The second question is a zoning question: is a container an allowed thing to put on this particular lot, in this district, in this position? South Carolina does not answer that at all. Zoning authority is delegated to cities and counties under the Local Government Comprehensive Planning Enabling Act at S.C. Code Section 6-29-710 and following, and the answers differ. Charleston, Columbia and Greenville each name shipping containers in their adopted ordinances, and each says something different.
So the short answer to "do I need a permit for a shipping container in South Carolina" is: expect a zoning approval from the local office and a building permit depending on size and use. In some districts a container is not an allowed use regardless of paperwork.
A standard 20ft container is 8 feet wide by 20 feet long, a 160 square foot footprint, and 8 feet 6 inches tall. A 40ft container is 320 square feet. A 40ft high cube is 9 feet 6 inches tall. Size limits in these ordinances are written in feet and square feet, so these are the figures a zoning reviewer measures against.
The City of Charleston spans three counties. Most of the city is in Charleston County, Daniel Island and Cainhoy are in Berkeley County, and part of the West Ashley and Ashley River corridor reaches into Dorchester County. Mount Pleasant, North Charleston, Summerville, Goose Creek, Hanahan and each island town are separate jurisdictions again. The rule that governs your container is the rule belonging to whoever issues your permit, so the first thing to establish is which office that is.
The City of Charleston Zoning Ordinance handles a container used for on-site storage under Sec. 54-204.2, Restrictions on portable storage units. That section states that for its purposes the trailer portion of a tractor trailer, boxcars and shipping containers are considered portable storage units when used for on-site storage in residential districts. The requirements apply in all zoning districts except BP, LI and HI, and they are worth reading closely:
A standard 20ft container is twenty feet long and eight feet six inches tall, which is longer and taller than the envelope in the third bullet. That mismatch is the question to put to the Zoning Administrator with your parcel address in front of you, before the truck is booked rather than after.
On the coast, plan how a container leaves the site as well as how it arrives, because the hurricane clause applies even within the time limits.
Charleston draws a line at three. Sec. 54-120 defines Shipping Container Storage Uses as outdoor storage of three or more shipping containers that are not attached to a truck trailer chassis and may or may not be used for storage of materials. Under Sec. 54-207.o, that use is permitted only within the LI and HI zoning districts as a conditional use, on staff review of a site plan showing location, stacking limitations and required buffer improvements. The conditions include:
The practical lesson is that one or two containers on a commercial or industrial site is not a Shipping Container Storage Use under the city's own definition. That distinction is worth raising by name when you call, because it changes which set of rules applies to you.
Outside the city limits, the Charleston County Zoning and Land Development Regulations run a two-track system: temporary units and permanent units.
Temporary Portable Storage Units, ZLDR Sec. 6.5.17. Permitted on the same lot as the principal structure, with a maximum size of 160 square feet of indoor storage and a maximum of 160 square feet per lot in residential zoning districts. Allowed for a period not to exceed a total of six months in one calendar year. A zoning permit is required for any unit that remains on a property more than fifteen consecutive days. Units may not be placed in any right-of-way, street, retention area, septic field, easement or on public property, and may not be used for hazardous or flammable substances, live animals or human habitation.
Permanent Storage Units, ZLDR Sec. 6.5.18. A Permanent Storage Unit is defined as any manufactured housing unit, modular building unit or pre-manufactured container unit exceeding 120 square feet used solely for nonresidential or office purposes. These may be established as an accessory use to any principal use in the RR, AGR, AG-8, AG-10, AG-15, RM, CC, RI or IN districts, in the rear yard only, with a zoning permit from the Director. Screening from adjacent properties and the street is required, by the principal structure with buffering, a minimum Type A land use buffer, or a minimum six foot masonry wall. The building footprint may not exceed 500 square feet, height may not exceed 12 feet, and units must be installed, underskirted and anchored in the same manner as the principal building.
Then Sec. 6.5.18 adds the line that changes a container project:
"Bare, unfinished metal is prohibited as an exterior building material."
That is not a prohibition on containers. It is a specification. A container that stays permanently on unincorporated county land under this section needs a finished exterior, and that cost belongs in your budget from the start rather than as a surprise at inspection.
Charleston has one more item to check with the Zoning Division. The peninsula and parts of the surrounding city sit inside Old and Historic District or design review boundaries, which add architectural review on top of base zoning. Ask whether your address is in one.
Our Charleston container delivery page covers site access and placement.
Columbia handles containers as a temporary use, with one set of standards for the whole city.
The city replaced its old planning and zoning chapter with a Unified Development Ordinance, implemented alongside a new official zoning map on August 30, 2021. The UDO names the equipment directly. Its definitions section reads:
"PORTABLE SHIPPING CONTAINER. A large metal or wooden container, typically intended for transport by large truck, train, or ship, that is used for the temporary storage and or transport of personal property."
The operative standards sit at Sec. 17-4.4(c), Standards for Specific Temporary Uses and Structures, under the heading Storage in Portable Shipping Container. They apply regardless of which zoning district the container sits in:
The 160 square foot cap is exactly the footprint of a 20ft container, so a 20ft box fits the area limit precisely and a 40ft box does not fit it at all. The eight foot height limit sits below a standard container at eight feet six inches. Raise both by name when you call, because the answer depends on how the Zoning Administrator reads a standard on your parcel.
Construction sites are exempt only from the thirty day clock. The other standards above still apply.
Separately, Columbia's general accessory structure standards at Sec. 17-4.3(c) apply to accessory structures that stay in place. Accessory structures may not be erected closer than three feet to any side or rear property line, may not be within five feet of any main building unless open on all sides, may not be in a required front yard, and may not be established before the principal structure exists.
See our Columbia container delivery page for access detail across the Midlands.
Inside its own limits, Greenville's code names shipping containers directly and allows them for outdoor storage in only a few districts.
The city adopted a new Chapter 19, Development Code and Zoning Map, effective July 15, 2023, replacing the former Chapter 19, Land Management. The Development Code was amended following its 30-month code review on April 13, 2026. It addresses shipping containers by name in two places.
The accessory outdoor storage standard, Sec. 3.5.2.I.5, states that shipping containers are not permitted for outdoor storage except in the BH, IX and IG districts, where they must not be visible from the primary street or multi-use trail, and that in all other districts shipping containers must be unloaded and removed within 48 hours. The same subsection caps the share of a lot that may be used for outdoor storage at ten percent in the MX, MXS, BG, IX, CV and CM districts, twenty percent in BH and forty-five percent in IG.
The temporary use standard, in Div. 19-3.6 under the heading Use of Motor Vehicle, Trailer, or Shipping Container for Sales, Service, Storage, or Other Business, goes further. The use of any motor vehicle, trailer or shipping container in which, out of which, or from which any goods are sold or stored, services are performed, or other businesses are conducted is prohibited in all zoning districts, with three exceptions: the sale of food products at a City-approved event, construction authorized by a building permit, and the temporary loading and unloading of goods provided no individual trailer or container is in place longer than 48 hours. The subsection then states that shipping containers are prohibited except when used for outdoor storage in BH, IX and IG.
If your address is inside the City of Greenville and your parcel is not zoned BH, IX or IG, the adopted code does not give you a path to keep a shipping container on the property for storage.
Greenville treats portable storage units as a separate category from shipping containers, with their own more permissive standards on count, area and duration. The two terms are not interchangeable to a Greenville reviewer, so use the one that matches what is actually being delivered. Many Greenville addresses are not inside the city limits. Greer, Simpsonville, Mauldin, Fountain Inn, Travelers Rest and the large unincorporated county are separate jurisdictions with separate rules.
Greenville's general accessory rule is also worth knowing: a permit is required for any accessory use or structure exceeding 100 square feet of gross floor area. Both container sizes are above that threshold.
Our Greenville container delivery page covers grade, driveway approach and access in the foothills.
South Carolina has 46 counties plus every incorporated city and town inside them. All of them enforce the same state building code and each writes its own zoning. Four patterns show up across the three jurisdictions covered here.
There is also one statewide provision worth knowing. Under S.C. Code Section 6-29-1145, a local planning agency must ask in a permit application whether the parcel is restricted by a recorded covenant that is contrary to, conflicts with or prohibits the permitted activity, and where the agency has actual notice of such a covenant it must not issue the permit unless the applicant shows the covenant has been released or voided.
Read that section's own definitions before drawing conclusions, because they are narrower than the headline. "Actual notice" expressly excludes constructive notice from documents filed in the local records office, and the agency is not obliged to go searching for covenants. "Permit" in that section does not mean an authorization to build or place a structure on a tract or parcel, and "restrictive covenant" does not mean a restriction concerning a type of structure that may be built or placed on a tract. The practical lesson still holds: in South Carolina a recorded covenant can reach a permit counter, and the City of Greenville applies this section to accessory dwelling units by name in its own code. Ask your planner how it bears on the specific approval you are seeking.
Every South Carolina jurisdiction in this guide draws the same fundamental line, even though they draw it in different places.
Temporary means the container supports a specific, time-limited activity: a renovation, a build under a valid building permit, a move. Charleston allows thirty days in a calendar year. Columbia allows thirty consecutive days with one extension and two occurrences a year on a residential site. Charleston County allows six months in a calendar year with a zoning permit past fifteen consecutive days. Greenville allows forty-eight hours outside its business and industrial districts. Construction sites are treated more generously in Columbia and Greenville alike.
Permanent means the container stays. That is when district lists, setbacks, screening, height caps, footprint caps and exterior finish requirements come into play, and in some districts it is when the answer becomes no. If you intend permanence, plan for it at the zoning counter rather than discovering it from a code enforcement notice.
Call the office that has your address, with the parcel in front of you, and ask these in this order:
Write down the name of the person who answered, and ask for the answer in writing before you schedule delivery. If the answer later turns out to be wrong, that record is worth having.
South Carolina Storage Containers sells containers that Container One supplies and delivers. We are not your permit office, we do not file applications for you, and we do not interpret your ordinance. What we can provide is specifications for the zoning conversation: exact external dimensions, footprint, height, weight, door swing, and the delivery footprint the truck needs.
As of 6 August 2026, South Carolina delivered pricing starts at $2,078 for a 20ft wind and water tight container delivered in Charleston. Columbia is close behind, and Greenville runs higher.
| City | 20ft WWT | 40ft WWT | 40ft High Cube WWT | Serving depot |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charleston | $2,078 | $2,401 | $2,454 | Savannah, GA, 109 mi |
| Columbia | $2,097 | $2,563 | $2,590 | Charleston, SC, 104 mi |
| Greenville | $2,559 | $3,026 | $3,052 | Charlotte, NC, 120 mi |
Every price above includes delivery. If you would rather spread the cost, ask about rent-to-own when you call.
If you are thinking beyond storage, our companion guides cover insulating a shipping container in South Carolina and container homes in South Carolina.
This guide is general information about how South Carolina jurisdictions handle containers, not legal advice, and ordinances change. Confirm current requirements with the planning and zoning department that has your address before you order.
Tell us the size you are considering and a Container One sales representative can provide exact dimensions, footprint, height and delivery clearance for your planner's questions. South Carolina delivered pricing: starting at $2,078 for a 20ft wind and water tight container delivered in Charleston.