Who pays for the sewer lateral in Mountain View, CA
Which part of the pipe is yours
Yours all the way to the main under the road
Why, and what to doYours from the meter to your building
Why, and what to do
If something’s wrong
If a repair needs a permit or an inspection
No rule on file here is specific to a repair; that does not mean none exists.
Buying or selling?
No rule on file here is specific to selling or buying; that does not mean none exists.
Planning work?
Building work in Mountain View can require a camera inspection of your sewer lateral before the City will issue the permit. It applies to "a new accessory dwelling unit (ADU) or junior accessory dwelling unit (JADU), if greater than 600 sq. ft. in size", a new single-family home, "an addition(s) and/or remodel(s) that cumulatively exceeds an equivalent cost of a 600 sq. ft. addition to an existing single-family home within the last 5 years", and commercial tenant improvements on the same cumulative test. The City is explicit that "the inspection must be completed during review of your building plans and prior to the City issuing a building permit to begin construction" and "cannot be deferred to a later date".
Who to call first about the sewer lateral
Mountain View: official site(opens in a new tab)The documents this answer is built on
Who is responsible for which part
The whole pipe is yours, out to the City main. The code defines a sewer lateral as running "to the point of connection to the city-owned sewer main" and says "each sewer lateral is owned by and is the responsibility of the entity that owns the property". If you have a cleanout at your property line the City will clear a blockage in the outer half free - it calls that "a courtesy", not a share of the pipe. One caution: a different section of the same chapter says the City "will maintain and keep in repair every such service connection", and the code never reconciles the two.
- The property owner
- Everything from the building to the City's main. Section 35.29 defines a sewer lateral as "the sewer piping used to convey sewage from a building or facility on a parcel (private or public property) to the point of connection to the city-owned sewer main", and provides that "each sewer lateral is owned by and is the responsibility of the entity that owns the property or facility from which that sewer lateral conveys sewage or wastewater". The same section says of a building sewer that "the property owner is responsible for maintenance and repair" of it. Section 35.10 states the duty in money: owners "shall keep their service pipes, stopcocks, service lines, sewer lateral, plumbing, and all apparatus connected therewith, in good repair at their own expense".
What else is worth knowing
Sources
Mountain View City Code chapter 35, Water, Sewage and Other Municipal ServicesWhat the rules say
Most relevant if you have a backup or blockage
No rule on file here is specific to a backup or blockage; that does not mean none exists.
Also in force here
Building work in Mountain View can require a camera inspection of your sewer lateral before the City will issue the permit. It applies to "a new accessory dwelling unit (ADU) or junior accessory dwelling unit (JADU), if greater than 600 sq. ft. in size", a new single-family home, "an addition(s) and/or remodel(s) that cumulatively exceeds an equivalent cost of a 600 sq. ft. addition to an existing single-family home within the last 5 years", and commercial tenant improvements on the same cumulative test. The City is explicit that "the inspection must be completed during review of your building plans and prior to the City issuing a building permit to begin construction" and "cannot be deferred to a later date".
What to do: Ring the Wastewater Supervisor on 650-903-6329 before your plans go in, and ask two things: whether your project crosses the cumulative threshold, and what the equivalent cost of a 600 square foot addition is this year. If it does, book the inspection early - a City Wastewater Inspector has to be on site with your plumber, the camera has to be colour, and the City keeps the video and decides from it whether repairs are required.
City of Mountain View, Sewer Lateral InspectionWhy this matters
Two things make this one worth reading before you draw plans rather than after. The trigger is CUMULATIVE over five years, so a kitchen, a bathroom and a deck can reach it when none of them would on its own - and the measure is the cost equivalent of a 600 square foot addition rather than a published figure, so it moves and you have to ask what it is. And the inspection is a gate rather than a condition: it happens during plan review and the City says it cannot be deferred, so a lateral that turns out to need work turns into a delay at the start of the project instead of a surprise at the end. What the camera is looking at is yours either way - the code makes the whole lateral the owner's out to the main.
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
- Mountain View (municipality)
- Sewer service
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. Your sewer lateral is yours to the main; your water line stops being yours at the meter.
Who owns the water service line in Mountain ViewNearby cities and further reading
Look up a specific address
This page describes what applies to properties in Mountain View in general. To see which authorities serve one address, and what records exist for it, search for it.
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