Who pays for the sewer lateral in Hayward, 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 do
If something’s wrong
Who to call first about the sewer lateral
Hayward Utilities Center - Sewer Department 510.881.7967
Hours, after-hours and sourcesIf a repair needs a permit or an inspection
No rule on file here is specific to a repair; that does not mean none exists.
Who is responsible for which part
Who to call first
Hayward Utilities Center - Sewer Department
Hayward Police Dispatch: 510.293.7000
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
Sources
City of Hayward, Report sewer overflowsWhat the rules say
Most relevant if you are selling or buying
No rule on file here is specific to selling or buying; that does not mean none exists.
Also in force here
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.
Hayward Municipal Code, Chapter 11 article 3, Sanitary Sewer SystemWhy 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. Milpitas and Burbank 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.
What this page cannot tell you
- No assistance or grant programme has been reviewed for this jurisdiction yet.
Who governs and serves this area
- Jurisdiction
- Hayward (municipality)
How this compares to neighbouring cities
7 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 Hayward in general. To see which authorities serve one address, and what records exist for it, search for it.
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