Who pays for the sewer lateral in Clovis, CA
Which part of the pipe is yours
Yours all the way to the main, including the fitting where it joins
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 Clovis, the City Engineer
- What it covers:
- connecting any lot to a public sewer or house branch sewer, with the house branch itself supplied and constructed by City forces
The City of Clovis states that "no person shall connect any lot to any public sewer or any house branch sewer without a permit from the City Engineer", and that "no permit shall be issued unless the following charges, when applicable, have been paid". Three charges can apply before a permit issues: a front footage charge reimbursing half the cost of the public main, an oversize charge per gross acre, and a house branch charge that provides "cost recovery for City forces to supply and construct sewer house branches". All three are set in the City's Master Development Fee Schedule rather than in the code.
Buying or selling?
No rule on file here is specific to selling or buying; that does not mean none exists.
Planning work?
The remodelling rule in full, with its sourcesWho to call first about the sewer lateral
Clovis: official site(opens in a new tab)The documents this answer is built on
Who is responsible for which part
The property owner owns, maintains and repairs the whole sewer lateral, and the City says so about the expensive part in terms: the portion beneath the sidewalk and street, up to and including the point where it connects to the City main. There is no cleanout condition and no carve-out.
- The property owner
- All of it, in the City's own words and with the under-street portion spelled out. Section 6.4.06(b) states that sewer service laterals "shall be owned, maintained and repaired by the owner of the property being served, from and including the lateral's connection point at the City sewer main to the building or other point of use on the property", and that this "includes both the portion on private property and the portion located beneath the sidewalk and street or any other public right-of-way or easement areas such as alleys, trails and landscape areas". Section 6.4.02(d) states the same span from the other end: "the entire sewer service lateral from the building connection to and including the wye connection to the sewer main shall be the owner's responsibility to install, maintain and repair".
Sources
City of Clovis Municipal Code, Title 6 chapter 6.4, Sewage DisposalWhat the rules say
Most relevant if you have a backup or blockage
No rule on file here is specific to a backup or blockage; that does not mean none exists.
Also in force here
- Who issues it:
- City of Clovis, the City Engineer
- What it covers:
- connecting any lot to a public sewer or house branch sewer, with the house branch itself supplied and constructed by City forces
The City of Clovis states that "no person shall connect any lot to any public sewer or any house branch sewer without a permit from the City Engineer", and that "no permit shall be issued unless the following charges, when applicable, have been paid". Three charges can apply before a permit issues: a front footage charge reimbursing half the cost of the public main, an oversize charge per gross acre, and a house branch charge that provides "cost recovery for City forces to supply and construct sewer house branches". All three are set in the City's Master Development Fee Schedule rather than in the code.
What to do: Ask the City Engineer for the permit and, in the same conversation, which of the three charges apply to your address and what they come to - the code names them and puts the amounts in a fee schedule it does not reproduce. If your parcel fronts more than one street or alley, ask how the front footage is being measured. If the main serving you was paid for by the development that built it, ask about the exemption before paying. And establish whether these connection charges reach a replacement of an existing lateral at all, or only a first connection, because the section is written about connecting a lot.
City of Clovis Municipal Code, Title 6 chapter 6.4, Sewage DisposalWhy this matters
The City's own crews build the connection. The house branch charge recovers the cost of "City forces" supplying and constructing it, so the number that matters is what the City charges rather than what a contractor quotes. The money also comes before the permit rather than with it. And the front footage charge is measured on the parcel's frontage, with the code adding that on lots with several frontages "the total front footage shall be determined by adding the length of all frontages" - so a corner lot pays on both. There is an exemption worth claiming: no front footage charge is payable where the property "has borne wholly or proportionally the cost of sewer mains" and that can be established to the City Engineer's satisfaction.
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
- Clovis (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 4 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, fitting included; your water line stops being yours at the meter.
Who owns the water service line in ClovisNearby cities and further reading
Look up a specific address
This page describes what applies to properties in Clovis in general. To see which authorities serve one address, and what records exist for it, search for it.
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