Who pays for the sewer lateral in Los Altos Hills, CA
Which part of the pipe is yours
Yours all the way to the main, including the fitting where it joins — if certain conditions are met
Why, and what to do
If something’s wrong
If a repair needs a permit or an inspection
- Who issues it:
- Town of Los Altos Hills, City Engineer
- What it covers:
- installing, adding to, altering, relocating or replacing sewerage facilities or any part of them, and any connection with or opening into a public sewer
Los Altos Hills requires a construction permit from the City Engineer for sewer work. Section 6-4.434(1) covers "Every applicant for a construction permit to install, add to, alter, relocate, or replace sewerage facilities, or any part thereof", and section 6-4.434 provides that "No unauthorized person shall uncover, make any connections with or opening into, use, alter, or disturb any public sewer or appurtenance thereof without first obtaining a written construction permit approved by the City Engineer."
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
Los Altos Hills: official site(opens in a new tab)The documents this answer is built on
Who is responsible for which part
On the Town of Los Altos Hills sewer, the owner has the whole lateral, from the building to the Town's main, including the Y fitting where it joins the main. The Town's code provides that "Maintenance of the building sewer (house sewer) shall be the responsibility of the owner of the property served", and its Sanitary Sewer page says the "property owner is responsible for maintenance, repair, and replacement of lateral, from the building to the sewer main connection", naming the Y at the main among the owner's parts. About half of the Town's properties are on septic tanks, and some parcels east of Interstate 280 are served by sewers the City of Los Altos owns.
- The property owner
- The whole building sewer, which the Town's code defines as "the extension from the house drain to the public sewer or other place of disposal", together with the Y at the main, the sewer relief valve and the backflow preventer the Town's page lists with it. The Town's 2026 Sewer System Management Plan says: "No portion of the lateral is maintained by the Town, pursuant to Section 6-4.443(7) of the municipal code." The same plan says private homeowners "are responsible for their own laterals between the building and the mainline connection."
What decides which applies
Sources
Los Altos Hills Municipal Code Title 6, Chapter 4 (Sewage), Article 4, section 6-4.443(7), Building sewer maintenance, with the definitions in 6-4.401What the rules say
Most relevant if you are remodelling or adding a unit
- Who issues it:
- Town of Los Altos Hills, City Engineer
- What it covers:
- installing, adding to, altering, relocating or replacing sewerage facilities or any part of them, and any connection with or opening into a public sewer
Los Altos Hills requires a construction permit from the City Engineer for sewer work. Section 6-4.434(1) covers "Every applicant for a construction permit to install, add to, alter, relocate, or replace sewerage facilities, or any part thereof", and section 6-4.434 provides that "No unauthorized person shall uncover, make any connections with or opening into, use, alter, or disturb any public sewer or appurtenance thereof without first obtaining a written construction permit approved by the City Engineer."
What to do: Before repairing, replacing or connecting a lateral, apply to the Town's City Engineer for a sewer construction permit, use a contractor with a Town business license as a sewer contractor for any work in the street, and give at least 48 working hours' notice before the inspection.
Los Altos Hills Municipal Code Title 6, Chapter 4, Article 4, sections 6-4.434 to 6-4.441Why this matters
The permit decides who may do the work. Section 6-4.434(2) allows a permit only to a holder of a Town business license "as a sewer contractor", except that an owner who lives in a single-family house may do the work on the lot personally; the same section adds: "This does not give anyone other than a licensed contractor permission to do any work within the public right-of-way." The person doing the work must tell the City Engineer it is ready for inspection "not less than 48 working hours before the work is to be inspected", trenches stay open until the pipe is tested and approved, and the City Engineer may require a water test or a video inspection. Repairs must use the materials and methods the code sets for new work where practical. Work begun without a permit pays double the permit fee unless it was an emergency, and a permit lapses if the work does not start within 120 days.
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
- Los Altos Hills (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 7 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 Los Altos Hills in general. To see which authorities serve one address, and what records exist for it, search for it.
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