Who pays for the sewer lateral in Norwalk, CA
Which part of the pipe is yours
Yours all the way to the main under the road
Why, and what to do
If something’s wrong
If a repair needs a permit or an inspection
- Who issues it:
- City of Norwalk - the City Engineer for the street, the Building Official for the pipe
- What it covers:
- excavating a street or public place, and constructing, altering, repairing or replacing a plumbing system
Norwalk Municipal Code section 12.12.030 provides that "no person shall dig up, break, excavate, tunnel, undermine, or in any manner break up any street or public place or make or cause to be made any excavation in or under the surface of any public place for any purpose ... unless such person shall first have obtained an excavation permit from the City Engineer". The City's own sewer ordinance puts the lateral under that road on the owner, so this is the permit that governs reaching it. A second one covers the pipe itself: section 15.32.050 requires anyone who intends to "construct, enlarge, alter, repair, improve, move, demolish ... or install or replace any electrical, gas, mechanical or plumbing system" to apply to the Building Official and obtain a permit first.
Who to call first about the sewer lateral
Norwalk: official site(opens in a new tab)The documents this answer is built on
Who is responsible for which part
Norwalk writes no sewer ownership rule of its own. Section 13.12.010 of its municipal code adopts "Division 2, Sanitary Sewers and Industrial Waste, of Title 20 of the Los Angeles County Code, as adopted, amended and in effect on May 24, 1990" as the City's ordinance, and section 13.12.020 renames the parties in it - "Chief Engineer" or "County Engineer" means the City Engineer, "County" or "County of Los Angeles" means the City of Norwalk. Inside that adopted division, section 20.24.080 provides that all house laterals "shall be maintained by the owner of the property served in a safe and sanitary condition", and section 20.20.130 defines a "house lateral" as "that part of the sewer piping within the street or right-of-way which extends from the property or sewer right-of-way line to a construction with the main-line sewer". The length the City's ordinance puts on the owner is the length under the road.
- The property owner
- The run under the street, named as such. Section 20.24.080 assigns house laterals to "the owner of the property served", and section 20.20.130 places that lateral in the street, from the property line to the main-line sewer. Section 20.20.220 defines the main-line sewer independently - one "in which changes in alignment and grade occur only at manholes", generally "eight inches or more in diameter" - so the owner's length ends where that pipe begins.
What else is worth knowing
Sources
Norwalk Municipal Code chapter 13.12, Sanitary Sewers and Industrial WasteWhat is required
- Who issues it:
- City of Norwalk - the City Engineer for the street, the Building Official for the pipe
- What it covers:
- excavating a street or public place, and constructing, altering, repairing or replacing a plumbing system
Norwalk Municipal Code section 12.12.030 provides that "no person shall dig up, break, excavate, tunnel, undermine, or in any manner break up any street or public place or make or cause to be made any excavation in or under the surface of any public place for any purpose ... unless such person shall first have obtained an excavation permit from the City Engineer". The City's own sewer ordinance puts the lateral under that road on the owner, so this is the permit that governs reaching it. A second one covers the pipe itself: section 15.32.050 requires anyone who intends to "construct, enlarge, alter, repair, improve, move, demolish ... or install or replace any electrical, gas, mechanical or plumbing system" to apply to the Building Official and obtain a permit first.
What to do: Ask the City Engineer about the excavation permit and the Building Official about the plumbing permit - they are separate applications and neither counter issues the other. Ask what bond or cash deposit will be set before accepting a quotation, and ask whether the street outside falls under the new-improvement restriction in section 12.12.340, because that decides whether the work can happen now at all. If the failure is an emergency, the work can start and the application follow on the next business day.
Norwalk Municipal Code chapter 12.12Why this matters
Two permits from two offices, and the second one is the reason to read this before hiring anybody. Norwalk has deleted the plumbing code's own permit chapter and written its own in its place, so section 15.32.050 is the operative requirement rather than the state code a contractor might expect - and it reaches repairing and replacing, not only installing. There is also relief for the case that actually happens: section 15.32.050 allows emergency work to proceed with the application filed on the next business day, so a lateral failing on a Saturday does not wait for a counter to open. The excavation permit carries the money. Section 12.12.080 allows a surety bond and section 12.12.090 cash deposits, and section 12.12.340 restricts work in a street that has recently been improved.
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
- Norwalk (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
2 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 Norwalk in general. To see which authorities serve one address, and what records exist for it, search for it.
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