What OSHA Actually Requires on a Job Site
The construction sanitation minimum is a regulation with a number, not a rule of thumb. Here is what 29 CFR 1926.51(c) says and where crews still get it wrong.
The table
29 CFR 1926.51(c)(1) sets it plainly. Up to 20 workers: one toilet. More than 20: one toilet seat and one urinal per 40 workers. More than 200: one toilet seat and one urinal per 50. That is the floor, and an inspector reads it as written.
Where crews get caught
Not usually on the count. On servicing — a unit that meets the ratio on paper and has not been pumped in three weeks is not sanitation, and it is the thing a walkthrough notices first. And on hand-washing, which is a separate requirement people assume is bundled into the unit.
The economic argument for more than the minimum
A crew of thirty sharing one unit at the far end of a site loses real time walking. Two units placed near the work costs less per week than the minutes it saves, and that maths holds on almost every site above a dozen people.
Mobile crews
Roadwork, utilities, anything that moves along a route — the requirement follows the crew, not the yard. That usually means a trailer-mounted unit or a scheduled relocation written into the rental, which is worth agreeing at the start rather than renegotiating weekly.
For current coverage see the unit-type index, last checked 2026-08-18.