Shipping & installation

The container is decided before the order, not after it.

Most surprises in this trade are packing surprises. We do the container maths — weight against volume — while the quote is being written, so the number you approve is the number you pay.

Container maths

Volume is the easy part. Weight is where it goes wrong.

A standard 40-foot high-cube container gives you 76.4 m³ of volume and a maximum payload of 28,690 kg. Steel panels are thin but heavy, so a load that looks half empty can already be at its weight limit — and a container that is over its declared weight does not sail.

Stacking and nesting are planned so that panels travel flat rather than on edge, which protects the galvanising and the panel square.
Every container is weighed, and the weight ticket goes into your document set.
Loading is planned against the erection sequence: foundation hardware and lower-floor frame out first, roof and finishing items last.
Panel edges, window frames and door slabs are corner-protected and strapped; loose items are banded into numbered bundles.

Ask for the loading plan before you pay the balance. If a supplier cannot produce one, the container is being packed to fit rather than to build.

Typical container count	Building
1 × 40HQ	480–720 sq ft ADU or cabin, subject to specification
1–2 × 40HQ	1,025–1,962 sq ft house
2–3 × 40HQ	2,365–2,803 sq ft house
3 × 40HQ	3,239–4,090 sq ft house
6 or more	11,728 sq ft residence, including a four-car garage

Indicative only. Final container count is confirmed once the specification, cladding and finish level are fixed — a heavier cladding or a stone-look finish changes the maths.

Incoterms

What each price actually includes.

Most misunderstandings start here. We quote whichever term you prefer, and we mark the boundary clearly on the quotation.

Term	We are responsible for	You are responsible for
FOB	Production, packing, inland haulage in China, export clearance, loading at the port of loading	Ocean freight, marine insurance, import duty, customs clearance, inland transport, unloading
CIF	Everything in FOB, plus ocean freight and marine insurance to your port	Import duty, customs clearance, port charges at destination, inland transport, unloading
DAP	Everything in CIF, plus destination port charges, customs brokerage arrangement and inland trucking to your address	Import duty and taxes, unloading, crane, foundation, installation
DDP	Everything in DAP, plus import duty and destination taxes where we can legally act as importer for your project	Unloading, crane, foundation, installation, local permits

DDP availability depends on the destination, the commodity and who may legally act as importer of record. We will tell you plainly if your project has to go a different route.

Budget the whole journey

Six lines, not one.

A buyer who budgets only the FOB price is usually shocked at the landing cost. Here is the honest list — the same six lines appear on our quotation, each on its own row.

1 · The building

Ex-works or FOB price, itemised by specification.

2 · Ocean freight

Per container, plus marine insurance. Rates move with the market and the season.

3 · Duty and clearance

Import duty, customs brokerage and destination port charges. Ask your broker for the HS classification and any additional tariffs before you commit.

4 · Inland transport

Port to site, including over-size or over-weight permits where the route requires them.

5 · Crane and erection

Crane or telehandler hire, rigging, and the site crew. Typically one to three days depending on size.

6 · Foundation and permits

Local engineer, foundation works, building permit and inspection fees. Always cheaper to arrange locally.

On site

What has to be ready before the truck arrives.

The most common cause of a stalled project is not the building — it is a site that was not ready for it. Before your containers land, you need:

Foundation complete, cured, and verified against the anchor-bolt layout we supplied
Vehicle access for a container truck and a crane, with a firm standing area
Crane booked for the unloading day, with the weights and radii from our drawings
A dry, secure place to store panels that are not being erected immediately
Local trades booked for electrical, plumbing and HVAC finals
Permit posted and inspections scheduled around the erection sequence

Want a supervisor on site? We can send an installation supervisor for the frame and panel stage, priced separately. On a first project it usually pays for itself — the crew stops guessing and the sequence holds.