Who pays for the sewer lateral in Fontana, CA

Who is responsible for which part

Fontana keeps the half under the road. The code splits the pipe at your property line and names the two halves separately: the building sewer runs from your plumbing outlet "to the property line", and the house connection sewer is "the portion of a sewer lying within a public street connecting a building sewer to the main sewer", which "shall be maintained and repaired by the city". Two things to know anyway - you pay if the damage was caused by you or your contractor, and the code makes you indemnify the City against claims arising from its own work on that length.

Fontana

The length in the street, from the main to your property line. Section 23-256 provides that a stub-out and the house connection sewer "shall be maintained and repaired by the city from the point of connection with the sewer main line to the property line closest to the sewer main". The code defines that length as "the portion of a sewer lying within a public street connecting a building sewer to the main sewer".

The property owner

Everything from the building to the property line. The code defines a building sewer as "that portion of any sewer beginning at the plumbing or drainage outlet of any building and running to the property line or to an OWTS", and section 23-253 puts the cleanout on the join: "cleanouts in building sewers shall be provided where the building sewer joins the house connection sewer". The owner also carries the City's half in two circumstances - where the damage results from "the negligent or intentional acts of the property owner, its tenants, lessees, subcontractors, agents, or employees", and by indemnity for claims arising out of the City's own maintenance of it.

What else is worth knowing

Sources

Checked 15 Sep 2026 (7 weeks ago)

What is required

• Before work on the pipePermit

  Who issues it:

  City of Fontana

  What it covers:

  uncovering, altering or disturbing any portion of the sewer system, which includes the City's own half and not only the owner's

  Fontana requires a written permit before anyone touches the sewer system, and the section is broad: "no unauthorized person shall uncover, alter or disturb any portion of the sewer system without first obtaining a written sewer connection permit from the city". A new connection needs one that names the property, and "only the property so specified shall be connected". Where your building sewer meets the City's half, the code also requires a cleanout: "cleanouts in building sewers shall be provided where the building sewer joins the house connection sewer".

  What to do: Get the sewer connection permit from the City before any work starts, not after, and make sure your contractor is named on it. Ask the Public Works Department for the current fee, because the code sets it by resolution and publishes no figure. If you are selling part of a lot, ask in the same call what separating the connection will cost - the code puts that on you and not on the City.

  Why this matters▸▾

  In Fontana the City maintains the length in the street, so it is easy to assume that half is not your problem. Two sections say otherwise when somebody is digging. The permit covers "any portion of the sewer system", not only your own; and the maintenance section makes you responsible for repairing the City's half where the damage came from "the negligent or intentional acts of the property owner, its tenants, lessees, subcontractors, agents, or employees". So a contractor working near your property line is working beside something the City looks after, you carry the cost if they break it, and disturbing it without a permit is a breach on top. There is also a sale trap worth knowing: if you sell off part of your property, buildings on the portion sold must be separately connected "at no expense to the city", and a shared lateral becomes unlawful.

  In force since 10 Mar 2026 · Checked 15 Sep 2026 (7 weeks ago)

  Fontana City Code, Chapter 23 Sewers and Sewage Disposal, Article IV Permits

  Also quoted:

  • Fontana Municipal Code chapter 23, article III

Who governs and serves this area

Jurisdiction

Fontana (municipality)

Sewer service

No map of sewer providers is held here. BelowGrid cannot say which sewer provider serves an individual address.