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Who pays for the sewer lateral in Culver City, CA

Which part of the pipe is yours

your buildingproperty linesidewalkstreetmain
The thick length is yours.

If something’s wrong

If a repair needs a permit or an inspection

  • Before work on the pipe · Permit

    Who issues it:
    City of Culver City Director of Public Works
    What it covers:
    making, constructing, altering or repairing a house connection sewer - the code's other name for the sewer lateral - but not clearing a stoppage unless pipe is replaced or the street, sidewalk or a sewer easement is dug up

    Culver City Municipal Code section 5.02.225 provides that "No person shall make, construct, alter, or repair any house connection sewer", among other kinds of sewer and drain connection, "without first obtaining a written permit therefor from the Director of Public Works." The City's code gives the owner's sewer lateral its second name, the house connection sewer, so this is the permit for replacing or repairing the owner's own pipe, under the street as well as on the lot.

The repair rule in full, with its sources

No rule on file here is specific to selling, buying, remodelling or adding a unit; that does not mean none exists.

Who to call first about the sewer lateral

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

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

Who is responsible for which part

Culver City writes its own rule and puts the whole lateral on the owner, up to but not including the fitting on the main. Section 5.02.007 of its municipal code provides that "The owner of the facility and plumbing to which the sewer lateral is connected is obligated to maintain the sewer lateral to ensure public health and safety, and proper flow of sewerage from the facility." Section 5.02.001 defines the sewer lateral as the pipe "used for conveying sewage from a facility's plumbing to the public sewer system", leaving out the connecting wye, T or saddle "or other structure used to physically connect to the public sewer system."

The property owner
The sewer lateral from the building's plumbing to the public sewer, the length under the street included. Section 5.02.001 gives the lateral a second name, the house connection sewer, and section 5.02.200 defines that as any sewer pipe line "constructed in a street, alley, walk, or other public place or in a sewer easement granted to the City and connecting, or proposed to connect, any lot or part of a lot with any public sewer" - so the pipe the owner maintains is expressly the one under public ground as well as on the lot.

What else is worth knowing

The line is drawn at the fitting, which the definition leaves out of the owner's lateral: the wye, T, saddle or other structure that joins the pipe to the public sewer. The code does not say in so many words who maintains that fitting, and nothing in chapter 5.02 puts it on the owner. Where no opening exists on a sewer of 18 inches or less, section 5.02.285 has the contractor excavate to the sewer, and "sewer maintenance forces of the City may then cut the required hole in the sewer top and install a saddle furnished by the City for the connection." Section 5.02.210 allows no more than one lot on any one house connection sewer. These sections govern property on the City's sewer; section 5.02.045 deals with house connections along the Los Angeles border that were temporarily connected to Los Angeles sewers, and requires them to move to the City's line on notice once it is built.

Sources

Culver City Municipal Code section 5.02.007, Sewer lateral: operation and maintenance

Also quoted:

Checked

What the rules say

Most relevant if you are selling or buying

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

Also in force here

  • Before work on the pipePermit
    Who issues it:
    City of Culver City Director of Public Works
    What it covers:
    making, constructing, altering or repairing a house connection sewer - the code's other name for the sewer lateral - but not clearing a stoppage unless pipe is replaced or the street, sidewalk or a sewer easement is dug up

    Culver City Municipal Code section 5.02.225 provides that "No person shall make, construct, alter, or repair any house connection sewer", among other kinds of sewer and drain connection, "without first obtaining a written permit therefor from the Director of Public Works." The City's code gives the owner's sewer lateral its second name, the house connection sewer, so this is the permit for replacing or repairing the owner's own pipe, under the street as well as on the lot.

    What to do: Before a contractor replaces or digs up any part of a sewer lateral, apply to Culver City Public Works for a house connection sewer permit. If the street or sidewalk will be opened, use a contractor in one of the licence classes the City names, and have the $500 deposit or bond and the liability policy ready. A plain rooter call to clear a stoppage needs no permit. After an out-of-hours emergency dig, apply within four hours of the City's offices reopening.

    Why this matters

    Clearing a blockage is not the trigger; digging or replacing pipe is. Section 5.02.225 says nothing in it requires a permit "for the purpose of removing stoppages in any house connection sewer, except when it is necessary to replace any part or all of such sewer connection or to excavate in any street or sidewalk or sewer easement in connection therewith." Where the permit involves an excavation in a public street or easement, section 5.02.245 asks for a cash deposit of "not less than $500", held for at least six months from the depositor's last permit, or a surety bond of the same amount, and a protective liability policy naming the City, with cover of $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident for bodily injury and $50,000 for property damage. Fees are set by City ordinance or resolution under section 5.02.240. A permit lapses if the work has not started within six months (section 5.02.235), and the original must be kept at the site while the work is under way. For an emergency outside office hours, section 5.02.290 allows the excavation first, provided the person "shall obtain a permit therefor within four (4) hours after the offices of the City are first opened".

    Checked

    Culver City Municipal Code section 5.02.225, House sewer and other types of connections; permit requirements

    Also quoted:

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
Culver City (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

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

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

Compare the rules city by city

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 Culver City

Nearby cities and further reading

Look up a specific address

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

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