PortaPottyBossPro Blog — Construction Site Accounts

Adding Porta Potties as a Construction Project Grows

Projects Grow in Steps

Most construction projects start small. A clearing crew needs one unit. Then the foundation crew arrives, then framers, then electricians, plumbers and drywall all at once. By the busiest stretch, a site that started with one standard may need six standards, an ADA unit and two hand wash stations. Weekly service, covered in Weekly Porta Potty Service on Construction Sites: Letting the Schedule Run Itself, keeps the existing units clean. This article is about adding new units without losing count.

The risk is simple. A super calls for two more units, a driver drops them, and nobody updates the record. The service list still says one unit, so the driver services one and leaves the others. The invoice still bills one, so you lose the revenue on the rest.

Make Every Addition Its Own Delivery

When the super asks for more units, schedule a new delivery on the same job site. Record the unit type, quantity, unit numbers and placement notes, just like the first delivery. The delivered date on that job starts its own rental clock.

This keeps the history honest. Months later, you can see that the site started with one standard in March, added two standards and a hand wash station in May, and added an ADA unit in June. The rental tracking counts days on each delivery separately, so units that came later are billed from the day they arrived.

Update Service to Match

More units means more work on each service visit, and sometimes more visits. After an addition, check the service on the site. The driver's phone shows the unit type, quantity and unit numbers on each stop, so a driver who used to service one unit now knows to service five. If the crew is large enough that weekly service is not enough, raise the frequency so visits come due more often.

On the Scheduled List, the board totals stops and dollars per service. A site that grew from one unit to six is a bigger part of the truck's day, and the dispatcher can see it.

Placement for New Units

New units often go in a different spot than the originals. The first unit may sit by the site trailer, while the new ones go near a new building or the parking area. Put the placement in the notes on the new delivery, with a landmark the driver can find.

The driver takes a photo after placing the new units. Next week, the service driver sees both the notes and the photo history, so nobody wanders the site looking for the second group.

If the site is spread out, consider whether the original placement note still makes sense. A note that says "units by the trailer" is wrong once half of them are by the new building. Rewrite the placement so it describes every group on site, and the driver can service all of them in one pass.

Mixing Unit Types

As projects grow, they usually need more than standards. Common additions include:

• ADA Accessible units, which many sites need once the crew reaches a certain size or when the contractor asks for one.
• Hand Wash Stations, often added when interior trades arrive or when the super asks for them near the break area. Hand Wash Stations on Construction Job Sites: Booking, Servicing and Billing Them covers them in detail.
• High-Rise / Crane units, once the structure is tall enough that crews do not want to come down for breaks.
• A Deluxe Flushing unit or Restroom Trailer for the site office on larger projects.

Each type is its own line on the delivery, so the driver and the invoice both see what is really on site.

Pricing and Approval

If the contractor already has agreed pricing, the new units follow it. If the addition is large, such as a second group of units for a new building on the site, send a quote. Build the estimate from your service list, the contractor approves it online, and the approved estimate becomes scheduled services. No one has to remember what was agreed on the phone.

For contractors on monthly billing, the added units show on the next statement under the same site address, with their own lines and dates.

Scaling Down Again

Projects shrink too. When the interior work finishes, the super may want to send back half the units. Schedule a pickup for those units, and the picked-up date closes that part of the rental while the rest stay on service. Then adjust the service so the remaining units are the ones the driver sees.

Keeping the count right in both directions is what keeps your billing right. To see how unit details, service and rental tracking work on one site, visit PortaPottyBossPro construction porta potty rental software.