Porta Potty Rental for Public Works and Utility Crews

This page is one of the trade pages under construction porta potty rental.

Who has to approve a unit in the right-of-way?

A portable toilet on a private staging lot needs the property owner's permission and nothing else in any local code we have reviewed. A unit in the street, shoulder, sidewalk or parkway is an encroachment, and the agency that owns the road decides whether it can be there.

On most public works contracts the prime contractor already holds an encroachment permit or works under the awarding agency's authority. In that case the question is whether the permit and the approved plans cover where the toilet sits. Check with the agency inspector before delivery, and give us the approved location. We place units where you direct; the permit is yours to hold. See our porta potty permit guide.

How does the unit fit into traffic control?

A portable toilet in a work zone is one more object inside the closure, and one more truck that has to get in and out of it every week.

• Keep it out of traffic circulation. Caltrans stormwater guidance says temporary sanitary facilities are to be located away from drainage facilities, receiving waters and traffic circulation (Caltrans Construction Site BMP Manual, WM-9, March 2024).
• Place it behind the protection. Set the unit inside the closed area, behind barrier or delineation, and not in the buffer space or where it blocks a driver's view of signs, flaggers or cross traffic. Temporary traffic control in California follows Part 6 of the California MUTCD. Your traffic control plan governs.
• Plan the service stop. The service truck needs a safe place to pull in beside the unit. Tell us the closure hours and the direction of approach, and whether the driver needs to check in with a flagger.
• Remove or secure it when the closure opens. If lanes reopen each afternoon, the unit should be somewhere it can stay overnight, such as the staging yard or behind the curb.

What do mobile crews need?

Cal/OSHA's construction rule is one toilet and one hand-wash station per 20 employees or fraction of 20 (Title 8 §1526, §1527). Both sections carve out mobile crews that have transportation readily available to nearby toilet and washing facilities.

The exception depends on the facts of each job, and "nearby" is not defined in the section. If you are unsure, put a unit and a wash station at the staging area. The Cal/OSHA portable toilet guide covers the rule in full.

For linear jobs, the usual pattern is one unit at the staging yard and one at the heading, with the heading unit moved forward as the work advances. We can move a unit when we are on site for your regular service. If you need it moved sooner and we have to make a special trip, a relocation fee applies, and the amount depends on the location.

What paperwork do public contracts require?

Public works contracts come with more documentation than private jobs. Contractors usually ask a vendor for the following.

California requires contractors and subcontractors to register with the Department of Industrial Relations before bidding or working on a public works project (DIR contractor registration), and most public works are subject to prevailing wage (DIR Public Works). Whether a portable toilet supplier counts as a subcontractor for those purposes, or as a supplier outside them, depends on the contract and on DIR's rules. Ask your labor compliance officer or the awarding agency, and send us the contract's requirements with the quote request.

How fast can you respond to an emergency repair?

Main breaks, sinkholes, downed lines and storm damage do not wait for business hours. A crew sent out for a long repair still needs a toilet and somewhere to wash.

• The number is answered 24 hours a day. Call (951) 517-3600 at any hour for emergency needs.
• Regular hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week, with same-day and next-day delivery offered.
• The yard is in Murrieta, at 26245 Monroe Ave, near I-15 and I-215.

When you call, have the location (cross streets or a map pin), the expected crew size and the best approach for the truck around any closure.

When do units need to be accessible?

Federal ADA standards exempt portable toilets "provided for use exclusively by construction personnel on a construction site" (U.S. Access Board, ADA Standards §203.2). The key word is exclusively. Public works jobs are more likely than private ones to put a portable toilet where the public uses it:

• A park, trailhead or transit facility whose permanent restrooms are closed for the project, with portable toilets set out as the replacement.
• A public building that stays open during a restroom renovation.

For units like these, California's building code requires 5 percent of the portable units in each cluster, and never fewer than one, to be accessible and marked with the International Symbol of Accessibility (CBC §11B-213.2, Exception 3, in the Division of the State Architect's advisory manual, PDF). A single replacement unit for public use should therefore be an accessible one. It also needs a firm, level pad and an accessible route to the door.

We stock ADA-accessible units and hand-wash stations.

Can you supply the rest of the staging yard?

Yes. Temporary fence panels for the laydown area are arranged through our partners (temporary fence rental), and roll-off dumpsters for spoils, pavement and debris come from our sister company, Victory Dumpsters. All three can go on one quote through job site services.

For your bid: construction units from $189 per 28 days with weekly service, and a delivery and pickup fee, with no fuel or environmental surcharges. See pricing.

Where do you serve public works crews?

We deliver to projects for cities, the county, water districts and utilities throughout our area, including Temecula, Murrieta, Menifee, Wildomar, Lake Elsinore, Hemet and Riverside. Water and sewer work here is carried out for districts such as Eastern Municipal Water District, Rancho California Water District and Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District. See the full service areas list.

Public works and utility FAQ

Will you pull the encroachment permit for the unit? No. The permit belongs to the contractor or agency doing the work. We deliver to the location your permit and inspector allow.

Can the unit stay in a lane closure overnight? Only if your traffic control plan and permit allow the closure to stay in place. Otherwise move it behind the curb or back to the staging yard.

How many units for a 30-person pipeline crew? Two toilets and two hand-wash stations at minimum. See the unit count guide.

Do you service on nights or weekends for night paving? Our office is open seven days a week.

Request a quote for your project

Call (951) 517-3600 or send the form with the project location, the agency, start date, crew size and any contract paperwork requirements. We will reply with a unit count, a service plan and a full price.