Porta Potty Rules & Regulations: What to Know Before Renting 

The process of renting a porta potty is easy (you can order online or call us at 888-413-5105).

Our team will plan the full details of your rental with you — rental duration, the number of porta potties you’ll need, where we’ll place rentals, how often we’ll stop by for servicings, and instructions for delivery and pickup.

But there are certain things to know before you rent, so we’ve compiled this guide to cover:

• General rules & regulations for renting a porta potty
• Where you can place porta potties
• Answers to common questions about the rental process, like whether or not you need a permit and how to prepare for drop-offs

General Porta Potty Rules & Regulations

• As a general rule of thumb, you should rent one portable toilet per 20 to 25 patrons. When renting portable toilets for construction sites, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires one toilet for job sites with fewer than 20 crew members. Job sites with 20 to 200 crew members require one portable toilet & one urinal per 40 workers. (You can read more about OSHA standards here.)

• The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires one handicap-accessible toilet for every 20 standard units at events, construction sites, and public spaces. Private homeowners should consider their specific users’ accessibility needs when renting portable toilets.

• Toilets must remain clean and sanitary and serviced no less than once per week. (Our team will take care of this task for you.)

• Portable toilets should provide privacy and lock from the inside.

• Portable toilets must provide proper ventilation.

• Event organizers or construction managers should provide separate toilet facilities for men and women and equal restrooms per gender.

• You must provide hand sanitizer or handwashing stations with restrooms. Portable bathrooms come with a hand sanitizer dispenser, but it’s best to provide full handwashing stations with soap and running water for optimal hygiene and disease prevention.

Our team can talk through the details of your rental to determine your requirements and ensure you’re set up for success.

ASAP Marketplace Porta Potty Placement Tips

1. Place portable toilets in a safe area — away from potential hazards — that won’t compromise accessibility. For example, at construction sites, you should be careful to place toilets away from falling objects or hazardous machinery but close enough to the worksite where crew members can walk to the restrooms in a few minutes.

2. Avoid placing portable toilets under trees with low-hanging branches or near emergency exits, fire hydrants, and fire hazards (such as grills, smokers, or firepits).

3. Place toilets on flat, level ground and avoid inclines. Level ground helps keep portable toilets upright and properly intact. The ground should also be dry to ensure your guests or employees don’t have to track through mud, wet grass, or excessive dirt to use the restroom facilities. Paved and gravel areas are best.

4. It can be helpful to place toilets against solid structures, like up against the side of a building. This helps to protect toilets from strong winds and potential tip overs.

5. You should stake down porta potties when possible to keep them secure. (Our haulers will help to ensure toilets are placed and secured correctly.)

6. Place portable toilets away from busy streets (at least 10 to 15 feet away from high-traffic areas) and off curbs.

7. Place nonscreened portable toilets 8 feet away from property lines and 50 feet from an elevated body of water (e.g., a lake or stream).

8. You must acquire permits if you plan to place toilets on public property or walkways (sidewalks, streets, parks, trails, etc.) or any place that blocks a public property. Contact your local municipality to learn more about the permits required and how to obtain them.

9. Porta potties should be nearby and accessible, without being too close. For example, at an event or job site, you’d want portable toilets close enough that patrons can access them with a short walk. However, you don’t want them so close that you risk odors wafting or toilets becoming an eyesore.

10. On the topic of odors, you should always place toilets downwind so odors don’t come your way.

11. You should also place portable toilets far away from food. The Department of Health states that you should place portable toilets at least 100 feet from any food preparation or serving areas to prevent contamination.

12. Place toilets in a well-lit area or provide ample lighting around portable toilets (especially when you anticipate nighttime usage). This makes life easier for patrons and helps to prevent accidents.

13. Place toilets where haulers can easily access them for servicing. Toilets should be accessible to maintenance trucks (within 25 feet of where a maintenance truck can park). Also, note that you must unlock toilets before servicing so haulers can clean inside and replace toilet paper.

14. Leave standing room around portable toilets. There should be sufficient space for people to line up to use the bathroom and easily move between porta potties. An event that will draw a substantial number of people may benefit from more than one set of portable toilets in different locations. Similarly, if placing portable toilets in a parking lot, ensure cars can safely around them.

15. You can place portable toilets indoors or outside. Garages and sheds are common indoor locations for portable toilets, protecting both toilets and patrons from the elements and preventing tanks from freezing. Other optimal indoor areas for a porta potty include underneath a set of stairs, in a spare room, or in any unfinished area that can safely fit a portable toilet.

FAQs on Portable Toilet Rentals

How do I prepare for porta-potty drop-offs and pick-ups?

We’ll coordinate placement details before your delivery date so our team can arrive prepared. You do not need to be on-site for drop-offs unless we’re placing your portable toilet indoors (in that case, we’ll need someone to let our team inside).

For outside drop-offs, we ask that you provide a phone number so we can contact you about any questions or concerns during delivery.

How do you set up a servicing schedule to ensure toilets remain sanitary?

When planning the details of your rental, we’ll establish a servicing schedule with you. Toilets typically require maintenance once or twice a week, depending on the number of users and frequency of use. We’ll discuss your requirements to recommend the best servicing plan.

During servicings, haulers will stop by to clean toilets and refresh toilet paper. You do not need to be on-site for servicings; we just need toilets to be accessible and unlocked.

Do I need a permit for a portable toilet?

Permit requirements for portable toilets vary by city. In most cases, you only need a permit when placing portable toilets on public property — like a public street, sidewalk, or park — or anywhere blocking public property.

You are typically safe to place portable toilets on private property without any permit. However, HOAs or property managers may have specific rules or approval requirements.

What’s the average porta potty rental cost?

• A standard portable toilet typically costs ~$150.
• ADA-compliant toilets, portable toilets with sinks, and high-rise toilets can be pricier, typically around ~$300.

What does the porta potty rental process look like?

We make the scheduling and rental process as easy as possible for all our customers. We collect all details about your rental upfront and coordinate with haulers to schedule delivery, servicings, and pick-ups. Our team sends you updates along the way so you know when deliveries and pick-ups are confirmed and when to expect haulers.

• Rent online or give us a call at 888-413-5105. We’ll discuss the details of your rental and search our hauler network for the best rates and availability.

• You’ll specify rental duration, drop-off and pick-up dates, and placement instructions during ordering so we can communicate these details with haulers. (We can always extend rentals and adjust pick-up dates as needed.)

• We coordinate with haulers to secure toilets, arrange deliveries, and schedule servicings.

• We’ll update you once rental and drop-off dates are secured, and also send reminders before servicing so you can unlock toilets ahead of cleanings.

• We’ll contact you before your pick-up date to confirm (or reschedule if necessary).

• We send invoices within a week of delivery so you can manage costs and bill customers accurately (if applicable).

ASAP’s Portable Toilet Rentals

ASAP Marketplace is your all-in-one site services provider, offering a wide range of rentals to support residential and commercial customers. We collaborate with an extensive network of haulers to provide our customers with high-quality rentals and reliable service — even offering fast, same-day rentals for customers in a pinch.

We provide a handful of portable toilet options and restroom trailer rentals. Take a look below:

In addition to portable restroom rentals, we offer:

• Portable sink rentals (in single and multi-spout configurations; these come with soap and paper towels)
• Roll-off dumpster rentals (in 10-yard, 15-yard, 20-yard, 30-yard, and 40-yard options)
• Portable storage and office rentals
• Temporary fencing, crowd control barriers, and barricades
• Temporary tents

Whether you’re running a construction job site, planning an event, managing a business, or tackling a home project, our expert team guides you through selecting the best rentals for your specific needs — and you can count on our support throughout the entire process, from pre-delivery planning to scheduling servicings and final pickup.

Call us at 888-413-5105 to place your portable toilet rental with one of our experts!