A container home in Arkansas goes through the same steps as any other house: a parcel where a home is allowed, plans that meet the residential code, a foundation designed for the ground, and inspections as the work goes on.
Since August 5, 2025, Arkansas cities regulate land only inside their own limits. Act 314 of 2025 repealed the authority cities had used to apply their planning rules to nearby county land. A lot inside a city answers to the city's zoning and building offices. A lot outside every city answers to the county.
County floodplain offices handle permits for unincorporated land. Faulkner County requires a floodplain permit before any development outside the city limits of Conway, Mayflower, Wooster, Vilonia and Greenbrier, and Craighead County requires one before development in a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area. Our Arkansas permit guide lists the offices and phone numbers for Little Rock, Conway, Jonesboro and their counties.
Arkansas's residential code is Volume III of the Arkansas Fire Prevention Code, 2021 edition, which the State Fire Marshal's office lists with the fire and building volumes. A container home is reviewed as a house. The plans have to show how the containers, the openings cut into them, the foundation, the insulation and the electrical, plumbing and mechanical systems meet the code.
Cutting a large opening into a corrugated wall removes part of the structure, so a design professional should size the framing around each door, window and connection between boxes. Local departments set what the application must include. Jonesboro's Inspections Department asks for foundation, wall and completed roof details with a residential application. Conway's accessory building guidelines say electrical, plumbing, gas and mechanical work must be performed and permitted by Arkansas state licensed tradespeople.
Little Rock. Section 36-252(b) of the city code says cargo containers shall not be deemed appropriate to serve as an accessory building in a residentially zoned district. A container home on its own lot, or a container unit beside a house, starts with a conversation with the zoning office at 501-371-4844.
Conway. The Zoning Code does not name shipping containers. Section 502.2 says a construction, interim or temporary building may not be used as the primary place of business or for habitation, so a container someone will live in goes through the permanent building process. Planning and Development is at 501-450-6105.
Jonesboro. Section 117-225(d) of the city code allows accessory dwelling structures in the RS-1 and RS-2 single-family districts up to 25 percent of the main house's heated area, with a 1,500 square foot maximum. In the RS-3 through RS-8 single-family districts they need a conditional use approval, a separate case-by-case review by the city. The same section requires accessory buildings in the RS districts to sit in the rear yard and to be similar in architectural style and appearance to the house. In the published code, that section was last amended in 2019, before the state law described below. Planning and Zoning is at 870-932-0406.
The 2025 accessory dwelling unit law. Act 313 of 2025 requires a city to allow at least one accessory dwelling unit on a lot with a single-family home by right, meaning without a public hearing, a variance, a conditional use permit or other discretionary review. An attached or detached unit can be up to 75 percent of the house's floor area or 1,000 square feet, whichever is less. A city may not require the unit to match the house's exterior design, roof pitch or finishing materials, and city rules in effect on or after January 1, 2026 that conflict with the law are invalid to the extent of the conflict. City rules that do not conflict with those terms still apply, and so does the Arkansas Fire Prevention Code. Ask the city how it applies the law alongside its own code.
The Arkansas Geological Survey divides the state into a highland area in the northwest and a lowland region in the south and east. In the Ozarks, the Arkansas River Valley and the Ouachitas, many sites have slopes and rock near the surface. In the lowlands, the ground is mostly clay, sand and gravel.
Some Arkansas clays shrink and swell as their moisture changes. The Survey's expansive soils page names the Porters Creek Clay as highly expansive and places it in a narrow belt from just south of Hope to near Arkadelphia, and in patches from Malvern to near Batesville. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Web Soil Survey maps the soils on a specific parcel, and a geotechnical report settles the question for a house.
Arkansas building departments publish how deep footings must go:
Ask the building department that will issue the permit for its current figure before the foundation is designed.
The Arkansas Geological Survey's earthquake page describes the New Madrid seismic zone as an active fault system that extends from Cairo, Illinois to Marked Tree in Poinsett County, Arkansas. The earthquakes of 1811 and 1812 in that zone measured over magnitude 7.5 and changed the land surface across northeast Arkansas. Jonesboro and the farm towns around it sit in that part of the state, so the seismic design values the building department applies can shape the foundation and the connections between containers. Have the design professional confirm them for the site.
A container home has to stay attached to its foundation in high wind. Confirm the site's design wind speed with the building department, then have a design professional size the foundation and anchorage to resist the wind loads at that speed.
All of Arkansas sits in the moist climate zones 3A and 4A, so a container home needs insulation that keeps humid air away from the cold steel, plus shade or a reflective coating on the roof. The state's energy code is the 2014 Arkansas Energy Code, according to the Arkansas Energy Office. The insulation guide covers the roof, walls and floor in detail.
One-Trip containers suit a home build best: they have made a single ocean crossing and have the cleanest floors, paint and seals.
| Size | Jonesboro | Little Rock | Conway |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20ft One-Trip | starting at $3,180 | starting at $3,399 | starting at $3,533 |
| 40ft One-Trip | starting at $5,300 | starting at $5,519 | starting at $5,653 |
| 40ft high cube One-Trip | starting at $3,922 | starting at $4,141 | starting at $4,275 |
On that date the 40ft high cube One-Trip was priced below the standard 40ft One-Trip in all three cities. The high cube is also one foot taller inside. Container One sets prices and they change without notice, so your written quote gives the price for your order. The container price covers the steel box delivered to the site. The foundation, openings, insulation, utilities and finishes are separate costs.
When the plans are ready, send the delivery address and the sizes you need through our quote form. The container condition guide explains the grades.
This guide is general information, not legal, engineering or code advice. Confirm zoning, permit, foundation and design requirements with the offices that govern your parcel.