Special Event Restrooms for Parties, Reunions and Oyster Roasts

Special event restroom rental makes sense any time more guests show up than one house bathroom can handle, or the event sits on land with no bathroom. Backyard parties over about 40 people, church picnics, family reunions, graduations, birthdays and oyster roasts are the most common. A septic system also lasts longer with outside units.

• Birthday parties
• Graduation parties
• Family reunions
• Church homecomings
• Oyster roasts
• Fish fries
• Community cleanups
• Block parties
• Ball tournaments
• Memorial gatherings

Oyster roasts bring their own needs: long evenings, beer and cold weather. See the oyster roast restroom guide.

Our planning rule is guests times hours divided by 200, rounded up. A 4-hour party for 50 guests needs 1 unit. A 5-hour reunion for 150 guests needs 4 units. Add one more when beer or wine is served, and set 1 wheelchair-accessible unit in every group of units for guests who need room.

Counts include the wheelchair-accessible unit. Run your own numbers with the porta potty calculator.

The 2010 ADA Standards call for at least 5% of portable toilets in each cluster, and never fewer than one, to be accessible. For a private party the rule may not apply, but guests using wheelchairs, walkers or strollers need the room. A wheelchair-accessible unit is about 87 inches square with a ground-level floor and grab bars.

Read section 213.2 in the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design. Ask the event venue or permit office what applies to your event; we cannot give legal advice.

The wider unit needs open truck access, not a 48-inch side gate. See the wheelchair-accessible unit for sizes.

Add a hand wash station whenever guests handle food, from oyster roasts to fish fries and crab boils. Sanitizer inside the units does not cut grease or oyster grit. A station has two foot-pump sinks, soap and towels, and holds about 400 washes per fill, which covers most parties up to about 200 guests.

Set the station between the food tables and the toilets so guests pass the sinks on the way back. More on hand wash stations.

Event units drop the day before the event, usually Friday for a Saturday party, and are picked up on Monday at no extra charge. Saturday-morning drops work too. Sunday events get a Friday or Saturday drop with Monday pickup, because the trucks do not run on Sundays. The event package covers up to 4 days.

Nobody has to be home for the drop if the spot is marked with a cone, flag or ribbon.

Large public events often need a permit, and the permit may ask where the restrooms go. On Hilton Head Island, special events of 250 or more people need a Town permit, applied for at least 30 days ahead, with portable toilet locations on the site plan. Unincorporated Beaufort County uses a special event application.

Start with the Town of Hilton Head Island or Beaufort County and confirm with the permit office. Port Royal park rentals over 100 people also require event security.

Private backyard parties rarely need a permit. Ask us for a layout sketch with unit counts, which helps fill out the site plan. Bigger crowds belong on the festival planning page.