3,000+
Customers served
How many portable restrooms do I need?
Real numbers for events and job sites. Find your row, then call if your situation is unusual.
20+
Years in the Valley
24hr
Standard delivery
10
Cities covered
Work out your number
Enter your crew or guest count and get a unit count and a service interval. Tables with the full ranges are below.
What are you sizing for?How long do you need them?
2Standard units
1Hand-wash
ServicingWeekly
OSHA works out to about one unit per 10 workers on a 40-hour week. That is the minimum requirement, not a target — long shifts and Alabama summers push it up.
We’ll carry these answers over — you’ll only need your ZIP and how to reach you.
Events and gatherings
Standard units by guest count and event length. Add the ADA column — it is a separate unit, not one of the standard ones.
| Guests | 4 hrs | 6 hrs | 8 hrs | 6 hrs + alcohol | ADA units |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 100 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| 150 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 1 |
| 200 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 1 |
| 300 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 1 |
| 500 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 15 | 2 |
Alcohol changes the math. Guests drink more fluid overall and use facilities more often, and the effect compounds over a longer event. Twenty percent more units is the working number.
Events concentrate usage. A construction crew spreads its usage across a ten-hour day. Four hundred wedding guests arrive inside a thirty-minute window and use the facilities in waves around the ceremony and the meal. That's why a simple headcount ratio under-estimates for events and over-estimates for job sites.
Add a hand-wash station for roughly every two units, and always where food is served.
Where these numbers come from: the Portable Sanitation Association International publishes a baseline of about one unit per 100 guests per four hours. We quote at roughly double that, because the association number is a bare minimum and real events rarely sit at the minimum. The table above is what we actually send out after twenty years of doing this in the Valley — call if your situation does not look like any of the rows.
Construction and job sites
Based on OSHA sanitation guidance — one unit per 10 workers on a 40-hour week, serviced at least weekly.
| Crew size | Units | Service frequency |
|---|---|---|
| 1–9 | 1 | Weekly |
| 10–19 | 2 | Weekly |
| 20–39 | 3–4 | Weekly, 2× in summer |
| 40–59 | 5–6 | 2× weekly |
| 60–99 | 7–10 | 2× weekly |
| 100+ | 1 per 10 | 2–3× weekly |
The OSHA number is a minimum requirement, not a target. It assumes a standard forty-hour week in an ordinary climate. Ten-hour shifts, a crew that grows mid-build, or an Alabama August all push the real number up — which is why the service column matters as much as the unit count.
Tennessee Valley humidity accelerates odor and bacterial buildup faster than most maintenance schedules account for. A unit that misses its service window in July develops conditions a single catch-up visit will not fully reverse. That's why we set frequency against what a unit is actually handling rather than running a fixed weekly route.
What people ask us
How many portable restrooms do I need for 100 guests?
For a four-hour event with 100 guests, two standard units plus one ADA-accessible unit. For six hours, three standard. If alcohol is being served, add roughly 20 percent — so four standard units for a six-hour event with drinks. Alcohol meaningfully increases usage.
How many porta potties do I need for a wedding of 150?
Three to four standard units plus one ADA-accessible unit for a four to six hour reception. With alcohol served across six hours, five standard units is the comfortable number. Weddings concentrate usage into short windows around the ceremony and the meal rather than spreading it evenly, which is why headcount alone under-estimates.
How many portable toilets per worker on a construction site?
OSHA sanitation guidance for construction works out to roughly one unit per 10 workers on a standard 40-hour week, with servicing at least weekly. Treat that as the minimum requirement, not a target — longer shifts, larger crews, and Tennessee Valley summer heat all push the real number up.
Does serving alcohol change how many units I need?
Yes, substantially. Plan for roughly 20 percent more units when alcohol is served. Guests drink more fluid overall and use facilities more often, and the effect compounds over a longer event.
Do I need an ADA unit?
For any event open to the public, generally yes — at minimum one accessible unit, and roughly one per twenty units on larger sites. It also needs a firm, level approach a wheelchair can actually use.
How many hand-wash stations do I need?
Roughly one station per two restroom units, and more wherever food is being served or handled. If food is involved, a hand-wash station is not optional in the way it is at a job site — health guidance for temporary food service expects actual hand-washing facilities, and sanitizer inside a restroom is not equivalent.
Not sure which row you're in?
Tell Greg the guest count or crew size and how long you need it. He'll size it and give you a real number — usually the same day. Or just call (256) 771-3612.
In a hurry? .
Rather just talk?
(256) 771-3612