How many toilets does a San Jose job site need?
Cal/OSHA Title 8 CCR 1526 calls for one toilet for each 20 employees or fraction of 20. A site with fewer than five employees can use one single-user toilet. So 21 workers need two, and 41 need three. The general contractor confirms the count for the job.
The arithmetic is straightforward, but the headcount is not. Count everyone who works on the site on the busiest shift, including subcontractors, and recount when the schedule changes.
This site cites the rule as a guide. It does not state that any rental satisfies it, and it does not replace the contractor's own safety plan.
What changes on a long job?
Over months, a site changes shape and so do its toilet needs. Units are moved as phases change, the crew grows and shrinks, and servicing is adjusted. Agree a servicing schedule, a way to request moves and a pickup date, and review them when the crew changes.
A housing project goes through grading, foundations, framing and finishing, and the crew size and layout change with each stage. A toilet that was central in March may be in the way in June.
A provider that is told about phases can plan. One that is not will find a unit boxed in by materials.
What about hillside lots and narrow roads?
Evergreen, Silver Creek, Almaden Valley and Saratoga have hillside lots where narrow roads and steep drives limit trucks. Tell the provider about the access, share photos if you can and place units where the truck can reach, even if that is not the closest spot to the work.
A standard truck is long, and it needs room to stop and work. A switchback road or a steep driveway may rule out a particular vehicle.
The alternative is to place units at the bottom or top of the slope and let workers walk. Agree what is acceptable with the contractor.
What about the big civil and campus projects?
Large projects, such as BART Silicon Valley Phase II or office development in North San Jose and Sunnyvale, run for years and cover wide areas. They need multiple unit groups, scheduled servicing and a way to move units as work progresses. See the civil project page for how that works.
The civil and transit project page covers linear sites and multi-year contracts.
Smaller infill jobs, such as a house remodel in Willow Glen, are a different scale, but they follow the same logic: count the crew, find firm ground, agree servicing.
What does the one-per-20 rule mean in practice?
Cal/OSHA counts each full or partial group of 20 employees as needing one toilet, so 1 to 20 workers need one, 21 to 40 need two, and so on. A site with fewer than five employees can rely on one single-user toilet. The general contractor decides the count, and a provider helps place the units.
The rule counts a fraction as a whole group, which means growth hits in steps. A crew that goes from 20 to 22 needs a second unit even though it only added two people.
Do the count at the busiest time of the project, not on the first day. Subcontractors, inspectors on site and delivery drivers who stay for long periods all add to the picture, though the rule itself counts employees.
Which kinds of San Jose-area sites rent the most?
Remodels and additions on residential lots, infill housing, office and lab buildings in North San Jose and Sunnyvale, retail and mixed-use projects in Winchester and along the Stevens Creek corridor, and large civil work downtown. Each has a different crew size, a different timeline and a different access problem.
A remodel in Willow Glen or Rose Garden is a small crew on a narrow lot for a long time. An office build in Milpitas or Sunnyvale is a large crew on flat former orchard land for months. A hillside house in Evergreen is a small crew on a steep lot.
Describe which of these your job resembles, and the provider will know what to ask next.
What about handwashing and meal areas?
A toilet without a place to wash is half a facility. Put a handwash station by each toilet group and near the area where the crew eats. Ask the provider about refills, since a station on a busy site can empty in a day. The general contractor confirms what the job requires.
Crews eat on site, and a station near the meal area gets used. A station at the far end of the lot does not.
Stations are separate lines in the quote and need water. The handwash page explains refills.
