Porta Potty Rental in Philadelphia, PA

Most of Philadelphia's permits are pulled on rowhome blocks: a gut rehab on a 16-foot-wide lot, a new three-story infill on a vacant lot, a rear addition off a kitchen. There's no yard to hide a unit in and no driveway to put it on, so the porta potty usually goes in front of the house on the sidewalk, in the lot behind it, or inside the shell once the first floor is framed. Pick the spot before delivery day and keep a path open for the service truck, which needs to park close enough to run a hose.

A unit on the sidewalk sits in the city's right-of-way, so plan for how it shares the block with neighbors, parked cars and the trash pickup. Set it tight to the building line, keep the door facing the work, and tell us the block's street-cleaning and trash days so service visits don't land on top of them.

A new apartment building in Fishtown or a townhome row in Point Breeze runs for months with a crew that changes trade by trade. The restroom count has to keep up. OSHA's table sets the floor, one unit for a crew of 20 or fewer and a toilet seat and a urinal for every 40 workers above that, but a crew that doubles for a framing push or a concrete pour needs more than the floor, and a unit that's dirty doesn't count toward the number at all.

Keep units at street level for deliveries and site staff, then add a unit on the working floors as the building rises so nobody walks down six flights. OSHA expects a toilet to be nearby, which its guidance puts at under ten minutes away, and a stair climb at the end of a shift is not nearby. When the building's own plumbing is working, the upper units come back down and the count drops.

Events turn on two numbers: how many people, and how long they stay. A three-hour block party and an all-day festival with the same headcount need very different setups, and an open bar pushes the count higher. Lines bunch up at predictable times, after the ceremony, between sets, at the finish line, so plan for the rush, not the average.

For anything open to the public, the ADA Standards call for accessible units: at least one in every cluster of portable toilets, and at least 5% of the total. For an evening event, put the units where there's light. Any event with portable toilets on public property in Philadelphia needs a portable toilet permit from the Department of Public Health, and a unit in a residential area has to be serviced at least every 48 hours. Our Events page walks through the permits and the counts.

For a wedding at a private home, a garden or a venue without enough plumbing, a luxury restroom trailer replaces a row of units: flushing toilets, real sinks, lights and heat or air conditioning. A two-station trailer covers a small wedding; larger guest lists get more stations or a second trailer. Deluxe flushing units are the middle ground for a backyard party or a graduation.

Trailers need a level spot, a path wide enough to tow them in and, for the larger ones, an outlet or a generator. Tell us about the driveway and the gate and we'll say what fits.

On a job that runs for months, the service schedule matters more than the unit. Weekly service is the baseline, but a crew of 20 in August can fill a unit well before the week is out. If a unit starts to smell or the paper runs out by Wednesday, the site needs a second unit or a second service day, not a stronger deodorizer.

Tell us when the crew size changes or a new trade comes on and we'll adjust the count or the schedule before the superintendent hears about it.