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Who pays for the sewer lateral in Brentwood, CA

Which part of the pipe is yours

  • Sewer lateral

    Yours from your property line to your building — if certain conditions are met

    Why, and what to do
your buildingproperty linesidewalkstreetmain
The thick length is yours. A dashed marker means the position depends on your property — see below.

If something’s wrong

If a repair needs a permit or an inspection

  • Before work on the pipe · Permit

    Who issues it:
    City of Brentwood - Community Development Department
    What it covers:
    constructing a building sewer or lateral sewer, connecting to or disturbing any public sewer, and any work on any lateral or building sewer

    Brentwood Municipal Code section 13.04.810 provides that no person shall "perform any work on any lateral or building sewer without first obtaining a written permit from the city community development department and paying all fees and connection charges." The same sentence covers constructing a building sewer or lateral sewer and connecting to, altering or disturbing any public sewer.

The repair rule in full, with its sources

Buying or selling?

No rule on file here is specific to selling or buying; that does not mean none exists.

Who to call first about the sewer lateral

BelowGrid has no first-call guidance on file from Brentwood about the sewer lateral.

Brentwood: official site(opens in a new tab)The documents this answer is built on

Who is responsible for which part

In Brentwood the City looks after the lower lateral of a residential property - the part between the property line and the main - for as long as the owner pays the City's monthly lateral maintenance fee; the owner keeps the rest. Section 13.04.820 of the City's code provides that "The city will be responsible for the lower lateral so long as the lateral maintenance fee is paid." For the other services that section names - commercial, industrial, community, contractor and institutional - the whole lateral, to and including its connection to the City's sewer, is the owner's.

Brentwood
The lower lateral of a residential property, which the code defines as "The portion of the lateral between the property line and the sanitary sewer main", while the monthly lateral maintenance fee is paid. Section 13.04.820 requires each residential premises owner "to pay a monthly fee for the maintenance, repair, and/or replacement of their lower lateral as set forth by resolution of the city council."
The property owner
The private sewer lateral - "Any sewer lateral not maintained as part of the public system by the city." Section 13.04.845 provides that "It is the responsibility of the premises owner to maintain the private sewer lateral", including its cleanouts, with all necessary repairs and replacement at the owner's expense. For residential premises that is the upper lateral, "The portion of the lateral between the structure or dwelling and the property line". For other users it is the whole lateral: the code makes "lateral" synonymous with building sewer, which "extends to and includes the wye or connection to the sewerage system."

What decides which applies

The split at the property line applies to residential premises, and the City's responsibility for the lower lateral lasts "so long as the lateral maintenance fee is paid". For other users section 13.04.820 provides that "The city shall not be responsible for the maintenance of any lateral for any commercial user, industrial user, community, contractor, and/or institutional sewer service." For those users the owner's lateral runs to the City's sewer and includes the wye or connection. Upon notice from the City, an owner has twenty-four hours to abate a condition causing an overflow from a private lateral (section 13.04.845).

Sources

Brentwood Municipal Code chapter 13.04, article 8, Sewer Connection, Lateral Maintenance and Backflow Protection

Also quoted:

Checked

What the rules say

Most relevant if you are repairing or replacing the pipe

  • Before work on the pipePermit
    Who issues it:
    City of Brentwood - Community Development Department
    What it covers:
    constructing a building sewer or lateral sewer, connecting to or disturbing any public sewer, and any work on any lateral or building sewer

    Brentwood Municipal Code section 13.04.810 provides that no person shall "perform any work on any lateral or building sewer without first obtaining a written permit from the city community development department and paying all fees and connection charges." The same sentence covers constructing a building sewer or lateral sewer and connecting to, altering or disturbing any public sewer.

    What to do: Before any work on the lateral, get a written permit from the City of Brentwood's Community Development Department, and leave the work uncovered until the City's inspector has inspected and passed it.

    Why this matters

    The permit reaches any work on a lateral, repairs included. Section 13.04.815 provides that "No sewer shall be covered until it has been inspected and passed", and that where an existing lateral is to remain it is tested in the presence of the City's inspector like new work. Section 13.04.825 requires a backflow prevention device on all new building laterals and lateral replacements.

    Current wording dates from · Checked

    Brentwood Municipal Code chapter 13.04, article 8

What this page cannot tell you

  • No assistance or grant programme has been reviewed for this jurisdiction yet.
  • No sewer service territory has been mapped for this area, so BelowGrid cannot say who serves an individual address.

Who governs and serves this area

Jurisdiction
Brentwood (municipality)
Sewer service
No map of sewer providers is held here. BelowGrid cannot say which sewer provider serves an individual address.

How this compares to neighbouring cities

7 of the 8 nearest cities draw the line somewhere else. Each authority publishes only its own rule.

  • Brentwood(this page)
    the property line (conditions apply)
  • Pittsburgabout 11 mi
    the property line
  • San Ramonabout 17 mi
    the main (conditions apply; see that page)
  • Livermoreabout 17 mi
    the cleanout (conditions apply; see that page)
  • Concordabout 16 mi
    the cleanout (conditions apply; see that page)
  • Martinezabout 22 mi
    the main, including the connection fitting on the main (conditions apply; see that page)
  • Herculesabout 32 mi
    the main
  • Pinoleabout 33 mi
    the main (conditions apply; see that page)
  • Richmondabout 35 mi
    the main, including the connection fitting on the main

Distances are approximate, in a straight line between the places’ centres.

Compare the rules city by city

Nearby cities and further reading

Look up a specific address

This page describes what applies to properties in Brentwood in general. To see which authorities serve one address, and what records exist for it, search for it.

Search for an address