High-rise site: what if the service elevator is out?

The driver will log a missed service and leave. They do not carry pumps or buckets for high-rise service.

A vacuum truck needs direct hose access to the unit's waste port. The hose is heavy, rigid and typically reaches about 25 feet from the truck. There is no safe or practical way to pump a standard portable toilet from the 15th floor without the service elevator. The rental company will charge for the trip because the driver and truck were dispatched, and you will still need the service performed later.

Your immediate problem is sanitation for 80 workers. Under OSHA 1926.51, a crew of 80 requires at least four toilet facilities. You currently have three units, which is already below the minimum. With the elevator down, you must provide alternative facilities. The only viable option is to have the rental company deliver a new cluster of units to the ground level immediately. The crew will have to use those until the service elevator is operational and the high-rise units can be pumped. Call your rental company now to arrange an emergency ground-level delivery.

Get a ground level cluster dropped today and don't wait on the elevator. That's what we ended up doing on a tower job when the hoist went down for two days, and it saved the week.

Ray's right that the driver can't pump the 15th floor without a lift. The hose has to run from the vacuum truck to the tank, and nobody is carrying waste down a stairwell. So the real fix is planning around it next time:

• Ask the elevator contractor for the maintenance schedule and hand it to your rental rep, so the service day moves instead of getting missed.
• Keep one or two units at ground level near the gate full time. When the upper floors are cut off, the crew still has somewhere to go.
• Put the upper floor units right next to the hoist landing so service takes minutes once the elevator is running.

On the count, OSHA 1926.51 goes by the most workers on site at one time. For 80 guys the table calls for 1 toilet seat and 1 urinal per 40, so 2 and 2, and units that are full and can't be serviced aren't doing anyone any good.

On the charge, read your contract for the missed service or trip clause before you argue it. Ours billed the trip, but they moved our next service up a day without any fuss.