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Who pays for the sewer lateral in Dinuba, 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 Dinuba director of public works, with the encroachment permit from the City's director under chapter 11.08
    What it covers:
    any connection with a public sewer, building or altering one in the City right-of-way or easement, replacing any part of a building sewer, and any trench or sewer laid in a public street, alley or sidewalk

    Dinuba Municipal Code section 13.20.010 makes it unlawful "for any person other than the public works department to make any connection with any public sewer, or to construct or alter any public sewer, within the city right-of-way or easement, without first obtaining a permit from the director for such work." Section 11.08.020 separately requires a permit from the director before anyone digs a trench or installs a sewer or pipeline "in or upon any public street, alley, sidewalk or other public place in the city". The owner's lateral runs under the street to the City's main, so these are the City permits for reaching it there.

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 Dinuba about the sewer lateral.

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

Who is responsible for which part

Dinuba puts the whole sewer lateral on the property owner, from the house to the City's main sewer. Section 13.44.070 of the municipal code provides that "All building sewers, sewer laterals, industrial sewers, private sewage disposal systems and appurtenances thereto, now existing or hereafter constructed, shall be maintained by the owner of the property from the house to the point of connection to the main sewer". The code's lateral sewer is the part under the street, so the owner's duty runs past the property line to the main.

The property owner
The building sewer on the lot and the lateral sewer under the street, to the point where it connects to the main sewer, kept "in a safe and sanitary condition" under section 13.44.070. The code defines the building sewer as the part of a sewer "beginning two feet from any building and extending to the property line", and the lateral sewer as "that portion of a sewer lying within a public right-of-way or easement, which connects, or is intended to connect, a building sewer to a main sewer." The code does not say whether the joint where the lateral meets the main is the owner's or the City's.

What else is worth knowing

The City keeps the main sewers. When a subdivider builds a main and the City accepts it, section 13.28.010 has the City "assume full ownership, maintenance and control of such mains." If an owner fails to "properly install and maintain both building sewer and sewer lateral in good working condition", section 13.44.060 lets the director order the sewer disconnected and capped, and have it done at the owner's cost if the owner does not act within twenty-four hours of written notice. Homes still on a septic tank are outside this answer until they connect.

Sources

Dinuba Municipal Code section 13.44.070, Maintenance of building connection sewers - Responsibility of owner

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 Dinuba director of public works, with the encroachment permit from the City's director under chapter 11.08
    What it covers:
    any connection with a public sewer, building or altering one in the City right-of-way or easement, replacing any part of a building sewer, and any trench or sewer laid in a public street, alley or sidewalk

    Dinuba Municipal Code section 13.20.010 makes it unlawful "for any person other than the public works department to make any connection with any public sewer, or to construct or alter any public sewer, within the city right-of-way or easement, without first obtaining a permit from the director for such work." Section 11.08.020 separately requires a permit from the director before anyone digs a trench or installs a sewer or pipeline "in or upon any public street, alley, sidewalk or other public place in the city". The owner's lateral runs under the street to the City's main, so these are the City permits for reaching it there.

    What to do: Before replacing any part of a lateral, or digging in the street to reach it, apply to the City of Dinuba Public Works Department for the sewer permit and the encroachment permit, hire a licensed contractor, and tell the director, by telephone or in person, in the twenty-four hours before work starts. Clearing a stoppage or repairing a leak on the lot without replacing pipe needs no sewer permit.

    Why this matters

    Clearing a blockage on the lot is treated differently from replacing pipe. Under section 13.20.030, no permit is needed "for the purpose of removing stoppages or repairing leaks in a building sewer, except when it is necessary to replace any part of such sewer." Section 13.20.040 sets a sewer permit fee for work that "involves only the alteration of a building sewer and does not involve a connection with the public sewer". Street work carries its own conditions: under section 11.08.030 it "shall be done by a licensed contractor", the applicant must file liability insurance and a bond before the permit issues (sections 11.08.070 and 11.08.080), and section 11.08.240 sets the fee at "four percent of the reasonable or contract price of the improvement or work to be done". The director must be told "Within twenty-four hours prior to the commencement of work" (section 11.08.120), and a notice of completion is filed when the work is done (section 11.08.190). The director may revoke a permit unless the work starts within sixty days of issue (section 11.08.110). The City's sewer lateral standard, approved by the Council in January 2023, adds a two-way cleanout near the building when an existing lateral is replaced.

    Checked

    Dinuba Municipal Code section 13.20.010, Permit required for work on public sewers

    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
Dinuba (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.

  • Dinuba(this page)
    the main
  • Reedleyabout 5 mi
    the main
  • Parlierabout 9 mi
    the main
  • Visaliaabout 15 mi
    the main, including the connection fitting on the main
  • Hanfordabout 21 mi
    the main
  • Woodlakeabout 19 mi
    the property line
  • Farmersvilleabout 20 mi
    the main, including the connection fitting on the main
  • Tulareabout 24 mi
    the main
  • Portervilleabout 39 mi
    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 Dinuba in general. To see which authorities serve one address, and what records exist for it, search for it.

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