High-rise site: what happens if the service truck breaks down on route day?

Question

My high-rise site has 10 standard portable toilets across 20 floors. The service truck is supposed to come every Tuesday. We have 65 workers on site daily for a 60-week project. The crew will complain immediately if a unit gets full or runs out of paper. A missed service would mean a real problem by Wednesday. I just heard the rental company's vacuum truck broke down on the way. They said they'll try to send another one tomorrow. That's a full day late.

What's the backup plan? Do other superintendents have a clause in the contract for this?

Deb K. · Answer

A backup truck from the rental company is the standard plan for a vacuum truck breakdown. They will try to send another truck the next day, but that delay means your units will not be serviced on schedule. For 65 workers, OSHA 1926.51 requires at least two toilets on a construction site, so you have more than the minimum. A one-day delay on a weekly service schedule with 10 units may not cause immediate failure, but expect complaints about paper shortages and some odor by Wednesday afternoon. The units will not overflow from one extra day of use. Some superintendents include a missed service clause that specifies a credit or priority rescheduling, but most contracts treat mechanical failure as a force majeure event beyond the rental company's control. Confirm with your rental company that the replacement truck is confirmed for tomorrow and ask if they can bring extra paper rolls to mitigate the delay.

High-rise site: what happens if the service truck breaks down on route day?

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