Portable Toilet Rental in University City and West Philadelphia

How many toilets does a Schuylkill Yards-size job need?

OSHA 29 CFR 1926.51(c) sets the minimum by crew size: for 20 or fewer employees, one toilet; for 20 or more, one toilet seat and one urinal per 40; for 200 or more, one per 50. The agency also looks at whether workers can reach a toilet in under 10 minutes, which matters on a tall or multi-phase site.

With about 10,000 construction jobs expected over the life of Schuylkill Yards, a general contractor will reasonably put units on different floors, corners or phases rather than in one cluster. A call to a provider should state the crew count per shift, the number of work areas and any elevated or fenced sections. The site manager confirms what applies, and the provider cannot certify that a given unit meets any rule.

Read construction site portable toilets and the guide on how many toilets a construction site needs for the arithmetic.

Why does a 20-year build call for long-term units?

A development planned over 20 years goes through foundations, structure, fit-out and street work, and the crew size changes with each. A rental that suits a week of site clearing is rarely right for a year of steel and concrete.

Ask the provider about a standing rental with scheduled servicing, and how it adjusts the count when a new phase starts. See long-term portable toilet rental for what to ask. Weather matters over a long stretch too: July highs average about 86 F and January lows about 27 F, so servicing and a winter additive are part of the plan.

What do campus-area and Marathon-route events need?

University City hosts university-linked gatherings as well as building sites, and the Marathon course passes through. An event on a university quad or a street near campus has the same two requirements as any public event in the city: a Department of Public Health permit for portable toilets, at $50 per location, and, if a street is closed, the Department of Streets application.

The university or building owner may have its own rules about what goes where. Check them before ordering, and let the provider know the access route, since campus lawns are not always reachable by a service truck.

How do subcontractors and tenant fit-out crews share a site?

A large site has more than one employer. The general contractor, the steel and concrete trades and the later fit-out crews all arrive at different times, and the headcount per shift rises and falls. OSHA counts employees, so the site manager is the one who adds them up. Tell the provider the combined number on the busiest shift, and say if a new trade is starting soon.

Away from the Schuylkill side the housing is mixed, and renovations on narrow West Philadelphia lots share the problems of rowhouse work elsewhere in the city: limited frontage, pavement permission and a truck that needs room. The rowhouse renovation toilets page covers that case.

What can a campus-area organiser do about queues?

A crowd that arrives all at once makes a queue, and a queue is the usual complaint about portable toilets. The remedy is more units, an accessible unit among them, spread across the site so people do not all walk to one cluster, plus a handwash station. For a larger or longer event, a flushable trailer may suit better; the restroom trailers page explains the difference.