Who pays for the sewer lateral in Buena Park, CA
Which part of the pipe is yours
Yours all the way to the main under the road
Why, and what to doYours from the meter to your building
Why, and what to do
If something’s wrong
If a repair needs a permit or an inspection
- Who issues it:
- City of Buena Park, through the city engineer
- What it covers:
- breaking the surface of or excavating any highway, and installing or maintaining any pipe under one
Buena Park Municipal Code section 12.08.150 provides that "No person shall dig up, plow up, remove or break the earth, soil, stone, pavement, concrete or other surface of or otherwise injure any highway or make any excavation" or "install or maintain any tank, pipes, conduit, duct, tunnel or any other installation or improvement of any nature across, upon, in, under or over any highway, unless he or she shall have first obtained a permit as required by this chapter". The connecting sewer - the owner's length under the street - is exactly that kind of pipe.
Who to call first about the sewer lateral
Buena Park: official site(opens in a new tab)The documents this answer is built on
Who is responsible for which part
Buena Park puts the whole run on the owner in one sentence and defines both halves of it. Section 13.04.210 provides that "The maintenance, repair and upkeep of connecting sewers and house sewers shall be the responsibility of the property owner or user". Section 13.04.010 defines the connecting sewer as "that portion of the sewer system which extends from the main sewer to the street right-of-way line", adding that it "May also be referred to as the lateral".
- The property owner
- Both named lengths, from the main to the building. The house sewer is "that portion of the horizontal piping extending from a point two feet from the foundation wall of the building to its connection with the connecting sewer", and the connecting sewer carries on from there, under the street, to the main. Section 13.04.210 assigns maintenance, repair and upkeep of both to the property owner or user.
What else is worth knowing
Sources
Buena Park Municipal Code section 13.04.210, Responsibility for maintenance of connecting sewers and house sewersWhat the rules say
Most relevant if you have received a notice from the city or district
No rule on file here is specific to a notice from the city or district; that does not mean none exists.
Also in force here
- Who issues it:
- City of Buena Park, through the city engineer
- What it covers:
- breaking the surface of or excavating any highway, and installing or maintaining any pipe under one
Buena Park Municipal Code section 12.08.150 provides that "No person shall dig up, plow up, remove or break the earth, soil, stone, pavement, concrete or other surface of or otherwise injure any highway or make any excavation" or "install or maintain any tank, pipes, conduit, duct, tunnel or any other installation or improvement of any nature across, upon, in, under or over any highway, unless he or she shall have first obtained a permit as required by this chapter". The connecting sewer - the owner's length under the street - is exactly that kind of pipe.
What to do: Ask the city engineer's office for the road work permit before a contractor digs, and agree in writing who holds it - because the holder, not necessarily the owner, is the one section 12.08.100 bills for later settlement. Keep the permit and the contractor's paperwork after the job. If sewage is backing up out of hours, the emergency route applies and the one-day clock starts when the office reopens.
Buena Park Municipal Code section 12.08.150, Road work permitWhy this matters
The cost that outlasts the job is the road surface. Section 12.08.100 provides that if the surface has to be repaired again "due to settlement or any other cause attributable to such excavation", the "holder of the excavation permit shall pay to the city the costs of such additional repairs". So a trench that settles months later can still send a bill to whoever held the permit. The emergency route is narrow but real: section 12.08.280 allows an excavation "necessary for the preservation of life or property" while City offices are closed, provided the person "obtains a permit therefor within one day after the office of the city engineer is first opened".
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
- Buena Park (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
3 of the 8 nearest cities draw the line somewhere else. Each authority publishes only its own rule.
Your other pipe: the water service line
The drinking water line coming into your property is a separate pipe, run by a separate authority, and who is responsible for it is decided separately. Your sewer lateral is yours to the main; your water line stops being yours at the meter.
Who owns the water service line in Buena ParkNearby cities and further reading
Look up a specific address
This page describes what applies to properties in Buena Park in general. To see which authorities serve one address, and what records exist for it, search for it.
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