Who pays for the sewer lateral in Hayward, CA

Who is responsible for which part

The lateral is the customer's under the sidewalk, under the street, and at the joint: Hayward says the owner keeps "the portion of the sewer that is on private property and the portion under the sidewalk and the street up to and including where the lateral connects to the public system". The code reaches the same place through three sections; the City's page says it in one sentence.

The property owner

The whole lateral, connection included. The City states that "the sewer customer is responsible for maintaining and repairing private sewer laterals, which is the portion of the sewer that is on private property and the portion under the sidewalk and the street up to and including where the lateral connects to the public system". The code says it more slowly: section 11-3.360 provides that "maintenance of the building sewer shall be the responsibility of the owner of the property served", and section 11-3.000 defines a house or building sewer as "the extension from the house drain to the public sewer or other place of disposal".

What else is worth knowing

Nothing splits the pipe, and Hayward is unusually clear that the joint at the main is yours too - "up to and including where the lateral connects to the public system" is the phrase to quote at a contractor who assumes otherwise. Three practical notes. Call the City first: it asks for sewer problems to be reported by telephone to the Utilities Center or, out of hours, to Police Dispatch, and expressly asks people not to use its online reporting tool for sewer issues because "this will delay the response time". Second, if you are handed the City's Sewer Lateral Maintenance Responsibility Handbook, note that it cites the rule as "Section 11-3.060"; the current code numbers that section 11-3.360, so a search for the old number finds nothing. Third, the code requires cleanouts "in every building sewer at the connection with the building drain" and at intervals of no more than one hundred feet, and requires a backwater valve or overflow device where the lowest fixture in a building sits below the rim of the nearest upstream manhole, cleanout or riser - both are yours to install and keep.

Checked 2026-09-14

What is required

• Any timeWork required

  Hayward Municipal Code 11-3.362 provides that "if the lowest fixture or outlet in any building is below the rim elevation of the nearest manhole, cleanout, or riser upstream from the connection to the public sewer, a backwater valve or overflow device of an approved type shall be installed in the building sewer." Section 11-3.361 adds a cleanout requirement to go with it: "cleanouts shall be placed in every building sewer at the connection with the building drain and shall be installed at uniform intervals not to exceed one hundred (100) feet."

  What to do: Ask the Building Division or the City Engineer to confirm the rim elevation of the nearest manhole, cleanout or riser upstream of your connection, and compare it with your lowest fixture or outlet. Neither figure comes from an address lookup; both are measurements someone has to take. If a device is required it goes in the building sewer and must be of an approved type, so agree the type with the City before it is installed. Ask at the same time whether your existing cleanouts meet the hundred-foot interval, since that requirement applies to the whole run, including the part under the street that is yours.

  Why this matters▸▾

  This is a standing condition of the building, not a trigger waiting for you to do something: the section is written in the present tense, names no remodel and sets no dollar threshold. If the lowest drain in your house sits below the rim of the nearest upstream manhole, cleanout or riser, the device is required. Note what counts as that landmark here - a manhole, a cleanout OR a riser. Two other California cities on this site ask a similar-sounding question and neither asks this one: Milpitas measures a floor against the nearest upstream structure with a one-foot margin, and Burbank measures every fixture's flood level rim against the next upstream maintenance hole cover and lets you out if they all clear it. The cleanouts matter too, because in Hayward the lateral runs under the sidewalk and the street to the main, and a hundred-foot maximum interval reaches a long run.

  In force since 2026-09-14 · Checked 2026-09-14

  Hayward Municipal Code, Chapter 11 article 3, Sanitary Sewer System

Who governs and serves this area

Jurisdiction

Hayward (municipality)

Sewer service

• Union Sanitary District
• Which provider serves a particular address depends on where it is. Look up an address to resolve it.