Step 1 — Calculate baseline unit count
Industry standard: 1 unit per 50 guests for a 4-hour event. Add 15% if alcohol is served. Add 15% if your guest list skews female. Add proportionally for longer events: at 6 hours add 20%, at 8 hours add 35%, at all-day add 50%. For a 200-guest wedding with a 5-hour reception and a full bar, that math comes out to roughly 5–6 standard units, plus an ADA unit, plus a hand-wash station — or alternatively a 2-stall luxury trailer plus the ADA and hand-wash.
Step 2 — Plan ADA access
Any event open to the public requires at least one ADA-compliant wheelchair-accessible unit. The City of San Diego Special Events Office will enforce this on your permit. Recommended ratio is 1 ADA unit per 20 standard units, with a minimum of 1 per event regardless of size. ADA units should be placed on the closest accessible path to the event area, not at the back of the lineup.
Step 3 — Hand-wash and food code compliance
If your event serves prepared food — caterer, food truck, farmers-market vendor — the San Diego County Department of Environmental Health and Quality (DEHQ) Temporary Food Facility (TFF) permit requires hand-wash stations accessible to food handlers. Provide a foot-pump hand-wash station within the food prep area, and additional sanitizer or hand-wash stations for guests near the toilet line.
Step 4 — Placement and aesthetics
Stage units out of the photo backdrop. For weddings, that usually means behind hedges, behind pipe-and-drape, or around a corner from the ceremony and reception areas. For festivals and 5Ks, stage units near the highest-traffic guest areas but off the main thoroughfare. Avoid placing units uphill of a stream or storm drain, on a slope greater than 3°, or in direct line of prevailing wind.
Step 5 — Permits and venue coordination
City of San Diego Special Events Office, Port of San Diego, County Parks, State Parks, and most private venues each have their own staging, delivery-window, and removal rules. Get your venue contract or permit in front of your sanitation provider during quoting, not the morning of delivery.
Step 6 — Service schedule
Single-day events: pre-event top-off the morning of, then a post-event pickup. Multi-day festivals: minimum once-daily servicing; twice-daily for 5,000+ attendees. Overnight events: late-night service stop. Multi-day weddings (rehearsal dinner Friday, ceremony Saturday, brunch Sunday): mid-event service Saturday morning.
Common San Diego event venues we serve
Liberty Station, Spanish Landing, Embarcadero Marina Park, Balboa Park (where permitted), Mission Bay Park, Sunset Cliffs Natural Park, Del Mar Fairgrounds, the Lodge at Torrey Pines, Cuvier Park, Martin Johnson House, Estancia La Jolla, Brick at Liberty Station, the Inn at Rancho Santa Fe, and private estates throughout the county.
📞 Talk to a San Diego Dispatcher