Florida regulates portable restrooms under Florida Administrative Code rule 62-6.0101, enforced by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. A company that services portable restrooms, hand-wash units, restroom trailers or holding tanks must hold an annual operating permit, filed on Form DEP 4013 for the county where it keeps an office or storage yard. The permit belongs to the servicing company, not to the person renting the unit.
Key takeaways
- Florida's rule for portable restrooms and holding tanks is Florida Administrative Code rule 62-6.0101, run by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
- A servicing company holds an annual operating permit, filed on Form DEP 4013 for the county where it has an office or storage yard.
- A company that works in a county without keeping an office or yard there does not need a separate permit for that county.
- Service staff who work across county lines must still carry proof of the current annual permit and of the vehicle inspection.
- The rule covers liquid waste from portable restrooms, hand-wash units, restroom and shower trailers and holding tanks that hold domestic wastewater produced in Florida.
- The permit is the company's document, so a caller who wants to see it should ask the company before a unit is delivered.
Which Florida rule governs portable restrooms?
The main rule is Florida Administrative Code 62-6.0101, enforced by the state environmental agency rather than the health department. It governs the businesses that handle the waste, not the people who rent a unit.
Florida's rule on portable restrooms and holding tanks sits in Chapter 62-6 of the Florida Administrative Code, as rule 62-6.0101. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection administers it. Anyone who rents a portable toilet for a job or an event in Jacksonville deals with the rule indirectly, because the company that delivers the unit, services it and hauls the waste is the party the rule reaches.
The rule is written around the waste itself. A unit collects liquid that has to go somewhere, so the state's concern is who may carry that liquid, where it goes and under what permit. That is a different question from how many units a crowd needs or how often a unit is emptied. Those planning questions are covered in the construction site guide and the event guide.
Who has to hold the annual operating permit?
Persons who service portable restrooms, portable hand-washing facilities, or portable or stationary holding tanks must hold an annual operating permit on Form DEP 4013. Applications and amendments are filed on Form DEP 4012.
The permit is issued for the county in which the servicing company has an office or a storage yard. A company that keeps its trucks, its units and its waste in one county is permitted there, and that permit is what shows the company may do this work at all. Because the permit is annual, a lapsed one is a problem the company has to solve before it delivers anything.
The permit covers the business, not any single unit. Homeowners and event organizers do not apply for it. What they can do is ask the servicing company whether it holds the current annual permit and which county issued it. That is the first thing to confirm before a unit is set down on a site.
What does the permit cover?
The rule covers liquid waste from portable restrooms, hand-wash units, restroom and shower trailers and holding tanks that hold domestic wastewater produced in Florida. It also reaches storage tanks at owned or leased sites, which must meet the construction standards in 62-6.010(2)(a).
Read as a list, the coverage shows how wide the trade is. A rental for a job site is one case, but so is a hand-wash station at a festival, a restroom trailer on a film set or a holding tank at a site that has no sewer connection yet. Each of those produces wastewater that someone has to carry away, so each falls under the same permit system.
The phrase domestic wastewater produced in Florida matters. It describes the kind of waste the rule is written for and ties the permit to waste produced in the state. For a job in Jacksonville, that means the waste leaving a unit on a Duval County site falls inside this system, and the company that hauls it has to be permitted to do so.
Does a company need a separate permit to work in Clay, St. Johns or Nassau County?
Not if it keeps no office or storage yard in that county. Its service staff still have to carry proof of the current annual operating permit and of the vehicle inspection when they work there.
The provision is written for companies that work across county lines. A Jacksonville company that services units into Clay, St. Johns or Nassau County without keeping a yard in any of them does not need a separate permit for each of those counties. It still needs its own annual permit, and its drivers still need the proof in the truck.
A company that opens an office or yard in one of those counties needs a permit for that county as well. The distinction is practical. Where a company keeps its yard decides which permit it holds, and a driver working outside that county has to be able to show the paperwork on request, so the question to ask any provider is where its yard is.
Why did the rule move from the health department to the DEP?
The rule was once a health department rule, numbered 64E-6.0101, and it was transferred into Chapter 62-6. The current version is listed as amended on 21 June 2022.
Older references to portable restrooms in Florida point to the health department's rule. Anyone who finds one of those citations should check which version is current, because the rule was transferred and renumbered into Chapter 62-6. The renumbering is one reason a search can turn up a rule that no longer governs the work.
This page relies on the current rule only. The older health department text had other requirements, and those are not repeated here as current law. A reader who needs a point from the older text should ask the permitting agency which version applies today before relying on it.
What should a caller ask a servicing company about its permit?
Ask whether the company holds the current annual operating permit, which county issued it, and whether its service staff carry proof of the permit and the vehicle inspection. A company that answers those questions directly is easier to plan around.
A short call covers the basics. The company should be able to say which county its office or yard is in, because that county is the one its permit is tied to. It should be able to say that the permit is current and that it can show proof on request. A vague answer is a reason to ask the same question again before a unit goes out.
This site does not print a permit number, and it does not claim a permit of its own. The question belongs to the company that services the unit. Asking it before delivery gives a renter time to choose another company if the answer does not satisfy them, which is far better than finding out after a unit is on the site.
How should this rule shape planning for a Jacksonville job?
Treat the state permit as a minimum check on the company, then plan the rest of the job separately. The permit tells you whether the waste is handled under the rule, not how many units a site needs or how often they are serviced.
A construction manager, an event organizer or a homeowner renting during a remodel can use the rule as a checklist item. It is something to confirm early, in the same conversation that covers delivery, placement and access. A company that cannot answer the permit question is not one to schedule a large job with, however good its quote sounds.
Unit counts, accessible units and servicing schedules are separate planning questions. The accessible units guide covers the accessible share, and the construction guide covers the workplace figures for job sites. Keeping those questions apart stops a reader from treating a state permit as if it answered them.
What should a reader do if a company cannot show its permit?
Do not book the company until it can show the permit or name the county where its permit is held. A company that cannot answer that question is not one to rely on for waste handling, and the choice belongs to the renter before anything is delivered.
The options are simple. The renter can ask the company for its permit details again, in writing, or choose a different servicing company that can show them. Either way the decision is made before a unit arrives, because a unit that has to be removed from a site is harder to deal with than a question asked in advance.
Keep a note of the answer, with the date and the name of the person who gave it. That note is useful if the site is inspected or if a dispute comes up later about who serviced a unit. It also gives the next crew a starting point when the unit comes back for its next service, so nobody has to ask the same question twice.
Frequently asked questions
Does Florida license portable toilet companies the way it licenses plumbers?
No. Florida issues no portable-restroom contractor license of the kind a plumber or electrician holds. What the state does require of a servicing company is an annual operating permit, filed on Form DEP 4013 for the county where the company has an office or yard. That permit is the document to ask about, and this site does not claim one of its own.
Which form is the portable restroom operating permit?
The annual operating permit for a servicing company is Form DEP 4013. Applications and amendments are filed on Form DEP 4012. Both are Florida Department of Environmental Protection forms, and the state rule is what makes the permit necessary. A reader who wants the forms themselves should look them up through the agency.
Does a Jacksonville company need a permit to work in St. Johns County?
Only if it keeps an office or storage yard in St. Johns County. A company that works there from a Duval yard does not need a separate St. Johns permit under the rule. Its service staff must still carry proof of the current annual operating permit and of the vehicle inspection. Ask the company to show both before a unit is delivered into a county where it has no yard.
Does the rule cover hand-wash stations and restroom trailers?
Yes. The permit system covers liquid waste from portable hand-washing facilities as well as restroom and shower trailers. A hand-wash station that produces wastewater falls under the same permit as a standard unit. A trailer is treated the same way, so the servicing company's permit matters whichever unit type is rented.
Does the rule set how many units an event needs?
No. The rule is about who may service and haul the waste and what permit they must hold, not about how many units an event needs. Unit counts depend on the length of the event, the crowd and the permit review, and the event guide walks through them.
Can a caller ask for proof of the permit before booking?
Yes, and it is a reasonable question before booking. The company should be able to name the county its office or yard is in and say that its annual permit is current. A caller who gets a clear answer can book with confidence, and a caller who gets a vague one has learned something useful before a unit goes out.
This guide is general information for Duval County homeowners, not a substitute for an on-site inspection. Prices are estimates. See our disclaimer.