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Who pays for the sewer lateral in East Bay Regional Private Sewer Lateral Program, CA

Which part of the pipe is yours

  • Sewer lateral

    Yours all the way to the main under the road — if certain conditions are met

    Why, and what to do
your buildingproperty linesidewalkstreetmain
The thick length is yours. A dashed marker means the position depends on your property — see below.

If something’s wrong

If a repair needs a permit or an inspection

No rule on file here is specific to a repair; that does not mean none exists.

Buying or selling?

  • When you sell · Certificate

    A Compliance Certificate is required to close escrow when a property is sold or transferred. A certificate is valid twenty years after a complete replacement and seven years otherwise.

  • When you sell · Extension available

    A 180-day extension is available when buying or selling: if a Compliance Certificate cannot be obtained before title transfers, a Time Extension Certificate allows 180 days for the work, and is valid only when returned with a $4,500 deposit at title transfer.

The sale rules in full, with their sources

Planning work?

  • When you remodel · Certificate

    Where a permit is sought for new construction or for remodelling costing more than $100,000, a Compliance Certificate is required before the final permit or approval is obtained.

The remodelling rule in full, with its sources

Who to call first about the sewer lateral

BelowGrid has no first-call guidance on file from East Bay Regional Private Sewer Lateral Program about the sewer lateral.

East Bay Regional Private Sewer Lateral Program: official site(opens in a new tab)The documents this answer is built on

Who is responsible for which part

The property owner is responsible for the entire lateral, upper and lower, from the home to the public main - except in Alameda and Albany, where the programme covers the upper lateral only.

The property owner
The programme states that "the property owner is responsible for the entire PSL from their home to the public sewer main (upper and lower lateral), with the exception of Alameda and Albany where the responsibility ends at the property line or curbside cleanout (i.e. upper lateral only)", and describes the same span again as "the entire lateral from the building cleanout to the public sewer main under the street". So in Oakland, Emeryville and Piedmont the run beneath the road is the owner's. In Alameda and Albany the programme reaches the upper lateral only. Both of those cities have answered the rest themselves and the answer is in your favour - see below.

What decides which applies

Which city you are in changes the answer, and in two of the five it changes it by the length of the road. The programme's own page stops at the upper lateral for Alameda and Albany without saying who has the rest; each of those cities says so itself. Alameda's sewer system management plan states that "the property owner owns the entire service lateral from the building to the connection to the City's sewer main; however, the City takes responsibility for maintenance and replacement of the lower portion of the lateral", and that "the upper lateral remains the responsibility of the private property owner" - the City rehabilitating a lower lateral when it rehabilitates the main it connects to, or when the lower lateral fails, whichever comes first. Albany takes the lower lateral too, from the kerb to the main; its own page for householders is the place to have that confirmed. So if you are in Alameda or Albany, the run under the road is the City's to keep up and the part across your own land is yours - ring the City before you ring a plumber. In Oakland, Emeryville and Piedmont the whole run is yours, and Piedmont's own plan puts the connection at the main on you as well. One caution for Alameda: the City's code still reads that "property owners own the entire sewer lateral and must maintain, repair and replace all sewer laterals associated with their parcels", which is broader than what its plan says the City does - the plan is the more recent statement of what the City will actually do, and the code has not caught up.

Sources

East Bay Regional Private Sewer Lateral Program, Frequently Asked Questions

Also quoted:

Checked

What 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

  • When you remodelCertificate

    Where a permit is sought for new construction or for remodelling costing more than $100,000, a Compliance Certificate is required before the final permit or approval is obtained.

    What to do: Check whether a current certificate or exemption already covers this property through the East Bay Regional Private Sewer Lateral Program before planning the permit timeline around an inspection.

    Why this matters

    This is the highest threshold of the covered programmes - Berkeley's own ordinance, which this one does not cover, fires at $60,000, and three Marin districts at $50,000. It is also required later in the process than its neighbours demand: the certificate is needed before final approval rather than before the permit is issued. A certificate is valid twenty years after a complete replacement and seven years otherwise, and an exemption may be available where the lateral was fully replaced within the last ten years.

    In force since · Checked

    Consolidated Regional Private Sewer Lateral Ordinance, effective 24 May 2019

    Also quoted:

  • When you sellCertificate

    A Compliance Certificate is required to close escrow when a property is sold or transferred. A certificate is valid twenty years after a complete replacement and seven years otherwise.

    What to do: Check whether a current certificate or exemption already covers this property through the East Bay Regional Private Sewer Lateral Program before arranging an inspection.

    Why this matters

    An exemption may be available if the sewer lateral was fully replaced within the last ten years, or if an unexpired certificate from another agency already covers the property. Whether one already exists is not something an address lookup can answer - ask the programme, which holds the certificate records.

    In force since · Checked

    Consolidated Regional Private Sewer Lateral Ordinance, effective May 24, 2019

    Also quoted:

  • When you sellExtension available

    A 180-day extension is available when buying or selling: if a Compliance Certificate cannot be obtained before title transfers, a Time Extension Certificate allows 180 days for the work, and is valid only when returned with a $4,500 deposit at title transfer.

    What to do: If the lateral cannot be certified before completion, ask the East Bay Regional Private Sewer Lateral Program about a Time Extension Certificate, and agree in writing which party will receive the $4,500 refund.

    Why this matters

    The certificate requirement reads as an absolute bar on closing escrow, and it is not one. The $4,500 is a deposit rather than a fee - the programme states it "will be released to the designated party when compliance is achieved" and is refunded if compliance is met within the 180 days - but it still has to be found at title transfer, and the Time Extension Certificate itself carries its own charge.

    In force since · Checked

    East Bay Regional Private Sewer Lateral Program

    Also quoted:

What this page cannot tell you

  • No assistance or grant programme has been reviewed for this jurisdiction yet.
  • BelowGrid holds no separate map of sewer providers here. This page gives East Bay Regional Private Sewer Lateral Program's own answer, for the area inside the boundary BelowGrid holds for it; look up an address to see whose answer applies there.

Who governs and serves this area

Jurisdiction
East Bay Regional Private Sewer Lateral Program (special district)
Sewer service
No separate map of sewer providers is held here. This page gives East Bay Regional Private Sewer Lateral Program’s own answer, for the area inside the boundary BelowGrid holds for it. Look up an address to see whose answer applies there, or check the name on your sewer bill.

Where else this answer applies

The same authorities settle this in the places below too:

Each of them gets its answer from the same authorities.

How this compares to neighbouring districts

3 of the 4 nearest districts 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

Nearby districts and further reading

Look up a specific address

This page describes what applies to properties in East Bay Regional Private Sewer Lateral Program in general. To see which authorities serve one address, and what records exist for it, search for it.

Search for an address