Housing a crew on site?
Tell us the headcount, the duration and what the site already has for water and waste. We will work back from the standard your project is held to rather than from a unit count.
This page quotes a federal standard; it is not legal or safety advice. Whether 29 CFR 1910.142 governs your particular deployment depends on facts we cannot see from here, and that determination belongs with your counsel or safety team. What follows is the published benchmark and the arithmetic it produces, so you can ask the right question early.
Most workforce housing conversations start with a unit count: how many beds for how many people. The federal temporary labor camp standard starts somewhere else entirely, with water, floor area and fixture ratios, and the numbers it produces are large enough to change the shape of the whole deployment.
The water figure is the one that reframes everything
29 CFR 1910.142(c)(2) is unambiguous: "A water supply shall be deemed adequate if it is capable of delivering 35 gallons per person per day to the campsite."
Thirty-five gallons per person per day sounds moderate until you multiply it. Set it against what a motorhome actually carries and the gap is not a matter of degree. A Winnebago Minnie Winnie publishes a 40-gallon fresh water tank and sleeps up to 8.
Do the division
8 occupants at 35 gallons a day is 280 gallons per day. The unit's fresh tank holds 40. That is roughly 3.4 hours of supply at the standard's rate, not days. Onboard capacity is not a workforce housing water plan at any headcount; a covered deployment needs a supplied connection or a scheduled tanker programme, and that is a site services line rather than a rental line.
What the standard requires, by headcount
The other ratios scale the same way. Toilets at (d)(5): "One such unit to each 15 persons, with a minimum of two units for any shared facility." Bathing at (f)(1): a shower head for every 10 persons and a laundry tray or tub for every 30.
| People housed | Water per day | Sleeping floor space | Toilet units | Shower heads | Laundry tubs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | 700 gal | 1,000 sq ft | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 40 | 1,400 gal | 2,000 sq ft | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| 80 | 2,800 gal | 4,000 sq ft | 6 | 8 | 3 |
| 120 | 4,200 gal | 6,000 sq ft | 8 | 12 | 4 |
| 200 | 7,000 gal | 10,000 sq ft | 14 | 20 | 7 |
| 300 | 10,500 gal | 15,000 sq ft | 20 | 30 | 10 |
Computed directly from the ratios in 29 CFR 1910.142. Toilet units apply the stated minimum of two for any shared facility.
Fifty square feet per occupant is more than the unit
(b)(2) of the standard requires that "Each room used for sleeping purposes shall contain at least 50 square feet of floor space for each occupant."
Eight occupants therefore needs at least 400 square feet of sleeping room floor space. That is more than the entire interior floor area of most motorhomes, before subtracting the galley, the bathroom and the driving position, none of which is a sleeping room.
Berths are not the unit of measurement
A manufacturer's "sleeps 8" describes berths. The standard describes floor area per occupant in the room where people sleep. Those two numbers can be a factor of two or three apart, and the standard is the one that would be measured. Measure the sleeping areas of any unit you are considering, then divide by 50, and use that number rather than the brochure's.
The bunk spacing rule most RV layouts fail
(b)(3) requires that beds, cots or bunks "Beds, cots, or bunks... shall be spaced not closer than 36 inches both laterally and end to end, and shall be elevated at least 12 inches from the floor."
Thirty-six inches both laterally and end to end is a lot of clearance. RV bunks are typically stacked vertically and pushed against a wall, because the entire design objective is to fit sleeping positions into a small envelope. That is close to the opposite of what this rule contemplates.
We are not going to tell you that a specific layout fails, because that depends on the floorplan and on whether the standard applies at all. We are telling you it is a question with a published answer, and it is cheaper to ask it of a floorplan drawing than of a delivered fleet.
The 200-foot rule is a site layout constraint
(d)(3) states that "A toilet room shall be located within 200 feet of the door of each sleeping room."
This one catches people because it is not about counts, it is about geometry. Meeting the toilet ratio with a bank of units at one end of a site does not satisfy a 200-foot radius from every sleeping room door. On a spread-out site the ratio and the distance rule together dictate several smaller clusters rather than one central block, and that changes the servicing plan, the power runs and the site drawing.
The site itself gets a mention too. (a)(1) requires that "All sites used for camps shall be adequately drained... All sites shall be graded, ditched, and rendered free from depressions in which water may become a nuisance." Grading and drainage are the client's or contractor's work, not the unit supplier's, and they need to happen before delivery rather than around it.
What most people get wrong: buying units before establishing the framework
The common sequence is to price accommodation, book units, then ask the safety team to sign it off. Run in that order, the standard arrives as a problem to be retrofitted, usually as extra water logistics and extra sanitation units bolted onto a fleet that was sized on beds.
Reversed, it is straightforward. Establish which framework governs the deployment. If it is 1910.142, take the headcount through the table above first, and let the water, sanitation and floor-area numbers determine how many units of what type you actually need. The fleet then falls out of the requirement instead of being argued back into it.
Worth noting that a deployment can face a different standard entirely. Construction sites are governed by 29 CFR 1926.51, whose toilet ratios are looser than 1910.142's and which addresses sanitation for people working rather than housed. Establishing which one you are in is the first question, not a detail.
"Workforce work is the one where I ask the least about RVs on the first call. What I want to know is the headcount, how long, and whether the site has water and sewer, because thirty-five gallons a person a day is a tanker schedule not a fresh tank. Once that is settled the units are almost an afterthought. The jobs that go wrong are the ones where somebody has already signed for forty coaches and is working backwards to the standard."
— Ben Kiser, Co-Founder, EventFleetRV
Plan it in this order
- Establish with your safety team or counsel which standard governs the deployment.
- If 1910.142 applies, run the headcount through the water, sanitation and floor-area ratios first.
- Solve water as a site services problem: supplied connection or a scheduled tanker programme.
- Solve waste the same way. Onboard tanks do not carry a housed crew.
- Lay out sanitation to satisfy both the ratio and the 200-foot distance from every sleeping room door.
- Confirm site grading and drainage happen before delivery.
- Measure sleeping floor area per occupant against 50 square feet, not against berth count.
- Check bunk spacing and elevation against the floorplan drawings.
- Only then specify and count units.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much water does OSHA require for workforce housing?
Under 29 CFR 1910.142(c)(2), "A water supply shall be deemed adequate if it is capable of delivering 35 gallons per person per day to the campsite." For a crew of 80 that is 2,800 gallons a day. No RV carries anything approaching that in its own tanks, so a covered deployment needs a supplied water connection or a tanker programme rather than onboard capacity.
How much sleeping space does OSHA require per person?
29 CFR 1910.142(b)(2) requires that "Each room used for sleeping purposes shall contain at least 50 square feet of floor space for each occupant." Eight occupants therefore requires at least 400 square feet of sleeping floor space, which is more than the entire interior of most motorhomes. Measure the sleeping areas of any unit against that figure rather than counting berths.
How many toilets and showers does a workforce camp need?
Under 29 CFR 1910.142, toilets are required at "One such unit to each 15 persons, with a minimum of two units for any shared facility," at (d)(5), and bathing at a "Shower head for every 10 persons" with a "Laundry tray or tub for every 30 persons" at (f)(1). A toilet room must also be "located within 200 feet of the door of each sleeping room" under (d)(3), which is a site layout constraint as much as a count.
Do RV bunk beds meet OSHA labor camp requirements?
Standard RV bunks are unlikely to. 29 CFR 1910.142(b)(3) requires that beds, cots or bunks "shall be spaced not closer than 36 inches both laterally and end to end, and shall be elevated at least 12 inches from the floor." RV bunks are typically stacked and placed against walls to save space, which is the opposite of what that spacing rule contemplates. Check the specific layout rather than assuming.
Does OSHA 1910.142 apply to every RV workforce deployment?
Not necessarily. The standard governs temporary labor camps, and whether a particular deployment is one depends on facts including who the workers are, who provides the housing and the relationship between the housing and the employment. That is a determination for your own counsel or safety team. What the standard does provide is a clear, published benchmark, and it is the right question to settle before units are specified.
Sources
- 29 CFR § 1910.142 — Temporary labor camps — the 35 gallons per person per day water supply at (c)(2), 50 square feet of sleeping floor space per occupant at (b)(2), bed spacing and elevation at (b)(3), toilet ratio at (d)(5) and the 200-foot distance at (d)(3), bathing and laundry ratios at (f)(1), and site drainage and grading at (a)(1). Checked September 8, 2026.
- 29 CFR § 1926.51 — Sanitation — the separate construction-site toilet ratios, for the comparison. Checked September 8, 2026.
- Winnebago — Minnie Winnie specifications — the 40-gallon fresh water tank and the sleeps-up-to-8 floorplan used in the tank arithmetic. Checked September 7, 2026.
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Ben co-founded EventFleetRV and oversees all fleet operations and logistics. With extensive experience coordinating RV deployments for NASCAR events, major festivals, and corporate productions, he ensures every fleet delivery exceeds client expectations.
Sized From the Standard, Not the Bed Count
Give us the headcount, the duration and what the site already has. We will come back with what the requirement actually implies. One request, one contact, one invoice.