Who pays for the sewer lateral in Fullerton, CA
Which part of the pipe is yours
Yours all the way to the main under the road
Why, and what to do
Who is responsible for which part
Fullerton puts the whole run on the owner and then keeps a door open. Section 12.08.031 of the municipal code provides that "a lateral sewer from its connection to a building on the property to its point of connection with the main sewer shall remain the responsibility of the property owner or user with regard to maintenance, repair and upkeep". Section 12.08.010 defines that lateral as "a connecting line between the main sewer and any property lying adjacent to or abutting said main sewer", and defines the main sewer as the sewers "located and constructed in and along the streets, alleys, easements and public rights-of-way". So the owner's length reaches the main, the part under the road included.
- Fullerton
- Nothing as a duty, and something as a discretion - which is the distinction that matters here. Section 12.08.031(B) provides that "the city may perform maintenance, repair and upkeep of that portion of a lateral sewer located within the public right-of-way in a given situation if the Director of Public Works determines that to do so would mitigate city liability or constitute an acceptable level of service". That is a power the City may exercise, decided case by case on the City's own interest, not a service an owner can rely on or demand.
- The property owner
- The lateral from the building to the main, "with regard to maintenance, repair and upkeep", under section 12.08.031(A). Section 12.08.030 adds the cost side for a new one: "the costs of installing lateral sewers and connecting to the city sewer system shall be borne by the property owner or developer".
- What else is worth knowing
- Nothing splits the pipe, but subsection (B) is worth reading twice before assuming anything from it. It lets the City take on the right-of-way portion where the Director of Public Works decides that doing so "would mitigate city liability or constitute an acceptable level of service" - so whether the City steps in turns on the City's own exposure rather than on the owner's circumstances, and it is decided "in a given situation" rather than by a standing policy. The honest reading is that the whole lateral is the owner's and that the City may sometimes choose otherwise; a reader should plan on the first and ask about the second rather than the reverse.
What is required
The sewer chapter points at it and the public works chapter carries it. Section 12.08.070 provides that "any person wishing to construct or reconstruct a lateral sewer service or to make connection to the public sewer system within the public streets, alleys, easements and public rights-of-way of the city shall obtain a public works permit and conform to construction standards as set forth in Title 16 of this code". That permit is section 16.07.010, which reaches anyone who would "lay pipes, conduits, lines or utilities or construct, reconstruct, repair or alter any curb, gutter, sidewalk, street or appurtenance therein, or excavate in, close, encroach over or upon ... any street" without first obtaining written permission from the City Engineer.
What to do: Ask the City Engineer what bond will be required for your length of work, and whether it will be cash or surety, because that is a discretionary decision rather than a schedule. Build the twenty-four hours' notice into the contractor's programme. Ask separately whether the City will take on the portion in the right-of-way under section 12.08.031(B) - that is the Director of Public Works' decision and turns on the City's own exposure, so it is worth asking but not worth assuming.
Fullerton Municipal Code section 16.07.010, Permit requiredWhy this matters
The verbs in section 16.07.010 reach a repair rather than only a connection, which is the difference between a permit that applies to a failed lateral and one that does not. Two conditions are worth knowing before work is booked. Section 16.07.030 lets the City Engineer require a cash bond at their discretion, with a surety bond permitted above five thousand dollars - so the figure is set case by case rather than published - and requires the applicant to notify the City Engineer twenty-four hours before commencing work. And the bond is not released until section 16.07.060's final field inspection has happened, so the money stays with the City past the day the trench is filled. Section 16.07.070 makes working without the permit a misdemeanour carrying a fine of up to one thousand dollars.
Who governs and serves this area
- Jurisdiction
- Fullerton (municipality)
- Sewer service
- Not mapped. No sewer service territory covering this area has been added, so BelowGrid cannot say who serves an individual address here.
What BelowGrid cannot say yet
- 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.
How this compares to neighbouring cities
2 of the 4 nearest cities draw the line somewhere else. No single authority publishes that comparison, because each knows only about itself.
Look up a specific address
A jurisdiction page describes what applies to properties in general. To see which authorities serve one address and what records exist for it, search for it.
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