Portable restrooms for multi-day festivals and concerts in San Francisco parks and on waterfront sites.
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A festival in San Francisco is usually permitted through the Recreation and Park Department for a park site or a Port permit for waterfront property, not through a street closure. The restroom plan is built on the approved site, with accessible clusters, wind bracing on open ground and service visits across the event days.
Festivals and concerts are a different job from a street fair. A multi-day event on a large open site needs clusters spread across a field, service visits that run through the event's busiest hours and a plan that holds up when the weather turns. The best-known example in the city is Outside Lands, which takes over several meadows in Golden Gate Park across an August weekend. The restroom plan for that kind of event is built around the sites, the crowds that move between them and the weather of the summer.
The permit route is different too. Events in city parks go through the Recreation and Park Department rather than through a street closure, and the restroom plan follows the park permit. Events on Port property need a Port permit, and if a Port-jurisdiction street is closed, both the Port permit and the ISCOTT approval are needed. The organizer confirms which permits apply before the restroom plan is set, because the answer changes the timing and the contact for each approval.
Restroom counts for a festival come from the permit paperwork, not from a rule of thumb. The paperwork sets the unit count against the projected attendance and the share of accessible units, and the organizer confirms the current figures with the agency that issues the permit. This page gives no attendance figures and no unit counts, because the reported figures for the city's large events conflict and are not confirmed. The plan is built from the confirmed figures for the event at hand.
A homeowner or organizer should not site portable restrooms on a park field, a waterfront or a Port property without the permit and the site plan confirmed. Keep the walkways and the route to the accessible units clear, and keep the stakes and straps out of the path of attendees. Do not let anyone climb on a unit or move one by hand. Report a unit that has shifted in the wind or a damaged door to the provider at once.
The crew first confirms which agency issued the permit for the site and what it covers. A park site runs through the Recreation and Park Department, and a waterfront site on Port property needs a Port permit.
The organizer provides the projected attendance for each day, and the permit sets the unit count from that figure and the share of accessible units. The crew splits the count across the clusters, weighting the busiest zones near the stages and the food areas.
Each cluster is sited on a level, clear surface with a route to it from the walkways. Open ground is common at a festival, so each unit is staked, strapped or ballasted against the wind.
Every cluster includes accessible units. California's building code sets five percent of the units at each cluster as the share, with no fewer than one.
The crew sets service times for each day, with extra visits before the headline sets and after the main crowds leave. Supplies are checked against the order at every visit, and the handwashing stations are refilled on the same route.
A park site is covered by a Recreation and Park Department permit, and a waterfront site on Port property needs a Port permit. A closed street also needs the ISCOTT approval.
Events in city parks go through the Recreation and Park Department, and that permit sets the rules for the field, the access and the placement of the units. A festival held in a park is not usually handled as a street closure, so the restroom plan follows the park permit rather than the street approval. The crew confirms the boundaries of the permitted area before any unit is sited.
The count is set by the permit paperwork from the projected attendance for each day and the share of accessible units. The organizer confirms the current figures with the permitting agency.
The projected attendance is different on each day of a festival, and the count is planned for the busiest day rather than the average. The crew works from the figures the organizer gives, and the figures are checked against the permit. A festival that runs for several days needs units that are serviced between the days, so the count also depends on how many service visits fit in the gap.
Units on open ground are staked, strapped or ballasted against the wind, and the bracing is checked at every service visit. Wind matters more on an open field than in a sheltered yard.
A unit standing alone on an open field has no building to shelter it, so wind has more effect on the unit and on its stability. The crew sets each unit with the wind direction in mind and secures it with stakes, straps or ballast. The bracing is checked at every service visit, because a unit can shift after a gusty day or a night of rain.
Each cluster carries accessible units, with California's building code setting five percent of the units as the share and no fewer than one per cluster. The accessible units sit on an accessible route.
The accessible units are the ones a person with a disability depends on, so they are sited at the front of each cluster where the route is shortest and flattest. The International Symbol of Accessibility marks each one. The route from the walkway has to be clear of stakes, cables and the edges of the matting, and it has to be level enough for a wheelchair.
The quote depends on the unit count, the number of days, the number of service visits, the size of the site and the bracing the wind requires. The provider confirms the price before delivery.
More units and more days add to the quote, and so do extra service visits around the busiest hours. A large site spread over several meadows takes longer to set and to service than a compact one. Bracing for open ground and wind adds materials and time, and a waterfront site that needs extra care for wind adds more.
A festival across several meadows in a city park, such as the multi-day events in Golden Gate Park, uses clusters spread over each meadow. The clusters are sited away from the stages and the food areas, but close enough for the crowd to find them.
A festival on Port property needs a Port permit, and the crew plans the units around the piers, aprons and walkways. Wind off the water is common, so the units are staked and braced more heavily than at an inland site.
A concert with several stages needs clusters at each stage area and along the walkways between them. The clusters are sized to the stage crowd, and the crew times the service visits to the set changes, when the crowd moves most.
A flushing trailer or a handwash station is sometimes added to a festival for a hospitality or backstage area. The trailer needs a level pad and a route for the tow, so it is sited before the field clusters are placed.
Golden Gate Park is the best-known permitted field site in the city, and its meadows are the kind of open ground that makes wind and fog the main concerns. The Recreation and Park Department sets the permit rules for the park, and the crew works inside them rather than around them.
Waterfront events on Port property bring their own weather and access issues. Wind off the water is common, and the piers and aprons are not ordinary ground, so the units need more bracing and a clear route for the service truck. A downtown waterfront event is often planned alongside street closures on the same blocks.
The city's summer pattern shapes a festival plan. Fog can arrive on the west side in the early hours, and a dry summer keeps the field firm. The crew times the set-up and the service visits around the weather of each day rather than around a single forecast.
If it's an emergency, call now. For non-urgent festival and concert restrooms, send the form and we'll call you back.
Not sure if you're covered? Check your ZIP code.
Portable restrooms for street fairs and parades on closed San Francisco streets, planned around city approvals.
Portable restrooms staged in banks along San Francisco road races and marathon courses, from start to finish.
A towed trailer with a closed room for guests, placed on a level pad that a tow route can reach.
Accessible single-user units marked with the International Symbol of Accessibility, placed with a usable route from the street.
San Francisco has no single citywide toilets-per-guest rule that can be cited, and the figures circulating online disagree.
In San Francisco, a street closed for a special event is reviewed by ISCOTT, the interdepartmental committee the SFMTA chairs.
Under the 2010 ADA Standards, where single-user portable toilet units are clustered at one location, no more than 5 percent need to be accessible.
Not usually. Events in city parks go through the Recreation and Park Department, and the restroom plan follows the park permit. A street closure is a separate approval, needed only if a street is closed for the event. The organizer confirms which permits apply before the plan is set.
Events on Port property need a Port permit. If a Port-jurisdiction street is also closed, the ISCOTT approval applies too. The crew checks the site plan against each permit before any unit is placed.
The count comes from the permit paperwork, which sets it from the projected attendance for the busiest day and the share of accessible units. No citywide toilets-per-person rule was found, and this page gives no unit count. The organizer confirms the figure for the permit with the permitting agency.
Each unit on open ground is staked, strapped or ballasted, and the bracing is checked at every service visit. A unit can shift after a gusty day or a rainy night, so the check matters. Matting or gravel on the walkways keeps the approach steady for attendees.
Yes. California's building code sets five percent of the units at each cluster as accessible, with no fewer than one. The accessible units carry the International Symbol of Accessibility and sit on a level route from the walkways, and the event map shows where they are.
The service schedule is set for each day, with extra visits before the busiest sets and after the crowds leave. Supplies are checked at every visit, and the handwashing stations are refilled on the same route. The schedule is agreed with the organizer before the order is placed.