Who pays for the sewer lateral in Glendale, CA
Which part of the pipe is yours
Yours all the way to the main, including the fitting where it joins
Why, and what to doNobody has put this in writing
What is known
If something’s wrong
If a repair needs a permit or an inspection
- Who issues it:
- City of Glendale, the director of public works
- What it covers:
- connecting private property to any public sewer system of the city, excepting the systems of Los Angeles and Burbank that flow into it
Glendale requires a permit before connecting private property to a public sewer: "no person shall connect any private property with any public sewer system in or belonging to the city ... without first procuring a permit to make such connection", with the systems of Los Angeles and Burbank excepted. Application and fees go to the director of public works. The connection fee depends on whether the property has already borne the cost of the main and on when the main was laid: where it "was in place on or before January 1, 1942", the fee is fifty dollars for 5,000 square feet or less plus fifty cents per hundred square feet above that; where it was not, the fee is "the portion of the total cost of such public sewer main ... determined according to the ratio of the area of the private property ... to the entire area".
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 to call first about the sewer lateral
Glendale: official site(opens in a new tab)The documents this answer is built on
Who is responsible for which part
The property owner pays to maintain the house connection, and in Glendale that means the run under the road: the code defines a house connection as the part "extending from the sewer main in a public street or right-of-way to private property", and makes the owner responsible for it "including the wye or saddle at the sewer main".
- The property owner
- The house connection, fitting included. Section 13.40.040 states that "all house connections, including the wye or saddle at the sewer main, shall be maintained at the expense of the property owner", and section 13.40.030 defines a house connection as "that part of any sewer extending from the sewer main in a public street or right-of-way to private property for the exclusive use of such property". So the length beneath the street and the joint where it meets the main are both the owner's to keep up.
What else is worth knowing
Sources
City of Glendale Municipal Code, Title 13 chapter 13.40, Sewer System, Article IWhat is required
- Who issues it:
- City of Glendale, the director of public works
- What it covers:
- connecting private property to any public sewer system of the city, excepting the systems of Los Angeles and Burbank that flow into it
Glendale requires a permit before connecting private property to a public sewer: "no person shall connect any private property with any public sewer system in or belonging to the city ... without first procuring a permit to make such connection", with the systems of Los Angeles and Burbank excepted. Application and fees go to the director of public works. The connection fee depends on whether the property has already borne the cost of the main and on when the main was laid: where it "was in place on or before January 1, 1942", the fee is fifty dollars for 5,000 square feet or less plus fifty cents per hundred square feet above that; where it was not, the fee is "the portion of the total cost of such public sewer main ... determined according to the ratio of the area of the private property ... to the entire area".
What to do: Before budgeting anything, ask the director of public works two things about your address: whether the property has ever been assessed for the public sewer main it would connect to, and when that main was placed. The answers decide whether you are looking at an excavation fee and fifty dollars or at a share of the main's construction cost. If your property would connect to a Los Angeles or Burbank system rather than Glendale's, say so - the permit section excepts those.
City of Glendale Municipal Code, Title 13 chapter 13.40, Sewer System, Article IIWhy this matters
Two questions decide the bill and neither is about your house. The first is who paid for the sewer main in the street - where it was built by private contract at no expense to the city, the permit issues on the excavation fee alone, though a sewer facilities charge may still apply. The second is when that main was laid. Before 1 January 1942 and the fee is fifty dollars and small change; after it, the fee is a proportionate share of what the whole main cost to build, apportioned by area. Those are not the same order of magnitude, and a homeowner has no way of knowing which applies without asking. The City holds both answers.
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
- Glendale (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
7 of the 8 nearest cities draw the line somewhere else. Each authority publishes only its own rule.
Your other pipe: the water service line
The drinking water line coming into your property is a separate pipe, run by a separate authority, and who is responsible for it is decided separately. One of the two authorities does not say where its side ends, so the two answers cannot be compared here.
Who owns the water service line in GlendaleNearby cities and further reading
Look up a specific address
This page describes what applies to properties in Glendale in general. To see which authorities serve one address, and what records exist for it, search for it.
Search for an address