Whether a container needs a permit in Mississippi depends on the city or county that governs the parcel and on how the container will be used.
Mississippi leaves land use to local government. For building codes, Section 17-2-4 of the Mississippi Code has a county board of supervisors or city government adopt one of three options as minimum codes. The options are one of the last three editions of the International Building Code, one of the last three editions of the International Residential Code, or other codes such as electrical, plumbing, mechanical, fire and fuel gas codes. A county or city could opt out of that requirement during the 120 days after August 1, 2014. A 2024 Attorney General opinion explains that a city that did not opt out cannot now exempt areas from those minimum codes. Section 17-2-1 sets separate code requirements, including wind and flood rules, for Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Pearl River and Stone counties in south Mississippi and for the cities in them. That Jackson County lies on the coast and does not include the capital city of Jackson. Ask the county or city building department which code it enforces at your address and how it treats a container.
The city rules below treat a container differently when it holds construction materials, helps with a move, provides outdoor storage at a retail site or becomes part of a home.
Delivery is a separate question. Container One's delivery FAQ asks for 110 feet of straight, unobstructed space for a 20ft container and 130 feet for a 40ft one, with a minimum of 15 feet of height for the truck to drive in, 22 feet of height over the whole unloading path and 10 feet of width.
Jackson's zoning ordinance calls a delivered storage box a portable storage container, or POD, and treats it as temporary. Section 202.130(b) allows a POD for up to 30 days. On day 31 the owner needs a permit from the Building Permit Division. That permit runs out 60 days after delivery, and a POD may not stay more than 60 days in a calendar year unless a building permit is issued before the POD permit expires.
The R-1 and R-2 residential districts are stricter. There a POD may be no larger than 130 square feet and 16 feet long, and it may stay longer than 30 days only while the house is rebuilt or remodeled under a valid building permit. A standard 20ft shipping container is about 20 feet long and 160 square feet, so ask the city how it would classify a container on your lot before you order one.
The city's Building Permits page lists portable storage buildings among the items that need a permit, and the city's online permit portal offers a POD permit. The Building Permit Division works from the third floor of the Warren Hood Building at 200 S. President Street and takes support calls at 601-960-1160.
For zoning, the zoning office answers at (601) 960-2037. It also issues a zoning verification letter, which states a parcel's zoning and whether a current or proposed use is permitted there.
Gulfport's zoning ordinance is Appendix A of the city code. Its definitions describe an intermodal shipping container repurposed as a building component for a home and say it is not treated as a mobile, manufactured or modular home. Section IV(A)(11C) allows converted container homes only in shipping container parks, which must be existing manufactured home parks in the R-B residence-business district, with Planning Commission approval, and never on an individual lot.
For accessory buildings, Section IV(A)(2) allows no more than two detached accessory buildings on a lot with a house. They stay out of the area between the front of the house and the front property line, meet the district setbacks and must look consistent with the main building. Whether a storage container counts as an accessory building on your lot is a question for the Planning Division at 228-868-5710.
Where an address lies in one of Gulfport's identified special flood hazard areas, the city's flood damage prevention ordinance, Appendix B, Article 3, requires a floodplain development permit before any development begins. The ordinance's definitions count structures and the storage of materials or equipment as development. The Urban Development Department at 228-868-5790 can confirm whether an address is in one of those areas.
Hattiesburg's Land Development Code, updated March 17, 2026 and linked from the Planning Division page, makes every accessory use and structure subject to a certificate of zoning compliance (Section 5.4.2.4). On a house lot, an accessory structure may not sit in the required front yard or between the street and the rear building line of the house (Section 5.4.2.6). The exceptions are an accessory structure in the A-1 Agricultural District more than 100 feet from the primary street, which may sit in the front yard, and a detached garage, which may sit in a side yard. Accessory residential structures sit at least five feet from the rear and side property lines. Together, structures accessory to a house may not exceed 33 percent of its floor area, apart from agricultural buildings in agricultural districts (Section 5.4.2.5).
Two time limits apply to temporary storage. Storage of materials and goods tied to construction or remodeling may stay up to six months, and the city may grant one six-month extension case by case (Section 5.4.2.7). Moving trailers, vans and POD storage units may stay on a residential lot for up to 90 days while the owners move in or out, at least five feet from neighboring residential property lines (Section 7.12.13.2).
Retail businesses mark any cargo container used for outside storage on the site plan the city reviews (Section 5.4.42.2). The Planning Division at 601-545-4599 handles zoning questions, and the Building Division at 601-554-1003 handles permits and inspections.
A rural mailing address can name a nearby city even when the parcel sits outside its limits, on unincorporated land governed by the county. Look the parcel up in the county tax assessor's records, then ask the county planning or building office what applies to a container on that land.
All sources listed above were checked on October 14, 2026.