Who pays for the sewer lateral in Fontana, CA
Which part of the pipe is yours
Yours from your property line to your building
Why, and what to do
If something’s wrong
Who to call first about the sewer lateral
Public Works Department (909) 350-6760
Hours, after-hours and sourcesIf a repair needs a permit or an inspection
- 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".
Buying or selling?
No rule on file here is specific to selling or buying; that does not mean none exists.
Planning work?
The remodelling rule in full, with its sourcesWho is responsible for which part
Who to call first
Public Works Department
Fontana Police Department: (909) 350-7700
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
Fontana City Code, Chapter 23 Sewers and Sewage Disposal, Article III Sewer ConnectionsWhat the rules say
Most relevant if you are remodelling or adding a unit
- 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.
Fontana City Code, Chapter 23 Sewers and Sewage Disposal, Article IV PermitsWhy 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.
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
- Fontana (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.
Nearby cities and further reading
Look up a specific address
This page describes what applies to properties in Fontana in general. To see which authorities serve one address, and what records exist for it, search for it.
Search for an address