Who pays for the sewer lateral in Daly City, 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 curb 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 Daly City
- What it covers:
- breaking up, cutting, excavating, disturbing or undermining any public street, sidewalk, curb, right-of-way or public utility area or easement
Repairing your sewer lateral in Daly City almost always means opening a public street, and the code requires a permit first: "no person shall in any manner, or for any purpose, break up, cut, excavate, disturb or undermine any public street, sidewalk, curb, right-of-way or public utility area or easement, without first having secured a written permit". There are two payments - a deposit with the city, and separately "a nonrefundable fee, to be established by the city council by resolution" - and the code publishes neither figure. The permit also carries a deadline: the work must be completed "within the time designated on the permit".
Who to call first about the sewer lateral
Daly City: official site(opens in a new tab)The documents this answer is built on
Who is responsible for which part
The whole pipe is yours, and the authority says so in unusually blunt terms. North San Mateo County Sanitation District, which runs the sewers for Daly City, states in its 2025 Sewer System Management Plan that it "does not own and is not responsible for maintaining neither the lower nor upper portions of sewer laterals tributary to its system". Both halves, named and disclaimed. In several neighbouring cities the lower half is the authority's; here it is not.
- The property owner
- Everything, both halves. The District's own Sewer System Management Plan states that it "does not own and is not responsible for maintaining neither the lower nor upper portions of sewer laterals tributary to its system" - the double negative is the District's - and names District Code section 1.16.080, Maintenance of Side Sewers, as the provision behind it. That leaves the run from the building to the District's main with the property owner, including the length beneath the street.
What else is worth knowing
Sources
North San Mateo County Sanitation District, a subsidiary of the City of Daly City, Sewer System Management Plan, WDID 2SSO10161, April 2025What the rules say
Most relevant if you are remodelling or adding a unit
No rule on file here is specific to remodelling or adding a unit; that does not mean none exists.
Also in force here
- Who issues it:
- City of Daly City
- What it covers:
- breaking up, cutting, excavating, disturbing or undermining any public street, sidewalk, curb, right-of-way or public utility area or easement
Repairing your sewer lateral in Daly City almost always means opening a public street, and the code requires a permit first: "no person shall in any manner, or for any purpose, break up, cut, excavate, disturb or undermine any public street, sidewalk, curb, right-of-way or public utility area or easement, without first having secured a written permit". There are two payments - a deposit with the city, and separately "a nonrefundable fee, to be established by the city council by resolution" - and the code publishes neither figure. The permit also carries a deadline: the work must be completed "within the time designated on the permit".
What to do: Before you accept a quote, ring the Department of Public Works and ask for the excavation permit requirements for a sewer lateral repair, and for both numbers - the deposit and the non-refundable fee - because the code sets neither and only says who fixes them. Ask your contractor to confirm in writing which of the two they are paying and which you are, and what the permit's completion deadline will be.
Daly City Municipal Code, Title 12 Streets, Sidewalks and Public Places, Chapter 12.04 ExcavationsWhy this matters
In most cities this permit is somebody else's problem, because somebody else looks after the pipe under the road. Not here. Daly City's sanitary district has stated that it owns and maintains neither the lower nor the upper portion of a sewer lateral, so your responsibility reaches the main and a repair is street work by definition rather than by bad luck. That changes what a quote should contain: the permit, the refundable deposit, the non-refundable fee, and restoring the roadway afterwards to the satisfaction of public works. A price that covers only the pipe is not a price for this job.
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
- Daly 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
6 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 curb.
Who owns the water service line in Daly CityNearby cities and further reading
Look up a specific address
This page describes what applies to properties in Daly City in general. To see which authorities serve one address, and what records exist for it, search for it.
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