Updated
The CSC plate is a metal plate, normally fixed to the left-hand door, carrying the container's safety approval under the International Convention for Safe Containers. It is the only formal approval a standard container carries, and it is what a terminal checks before accepting the unit.
It certifies structural safety for handling and carriage. It says nothing about whether the container is watertight, clean, or fit for your particular cargo.
What is stamped on the plate
- Approval reference and the country that issued it
- Date of manufacture and the manufacturer's identification number
- Maximum gross mass and tare — the governing weight figures for that unit
- Allowable stacking load and racking test load values
- The next examination date, or evidence of an approved continuous examination programme
When you need a valid plate
Whenever the container is carried as freight equipment on a ship, and generally whenever it is handled as a container in international transport. Terminals, carriers and handling equipment operators all rely on the approval.
You do not need one for a container that will stand on a yard as a store. That is why wind and watertight units are cheaper and why buying cargo worthy for static storage is usually paying for something you will not use.
Expiry, examination and ACEP
Approval is not permanent. A container must be re-examined at defined intervals, either against a next-examination date on the plate or under an approved continuous examination programme operated by the owner.
An expired plate does not mean the container is unsound. It means it has not been examined recently and cannot be offered for carriage until it has been. That is a process cost, not necessarily a repair cost — but budget for both possibilities if you are buying a unit with a lapsed plate and intend to ship it.
Modification and approval
Cutting a container — a side door, windows, a personnel door — is a structural modification and can invalidate the safety approval unless the work is carried out and re-approved under the applicable procedure.
This matters most to conversion buyers who intend to ship the finished unit. Treat approval as a design constraint from the start; discovering at the port that a converted container can no longer travel as freight equipment is an expensive lesson. See used 40ft High Cube for the buying implications.