Who pays for the sewer lateral in Oakland, CA
Which part of the pipe is yours
Yours all the way to the main under the road — if certain conditions are met
Why, and what to doYours from the meter to your building
Why, and what to do
Who is responsible for which part
The property owner is responsible for the entire lateral, upper and lower, from the home to the public main - except in Alameda and Albany, where the programme covers the upper lateral only.
- The property owner
- The programme states that "the property owner is responsible for the entire PSL from their home to the public sewer main (upper and lower lateral), with the exception of Alameda and Albany where the responsibility ends at the property line or curbside cleanout (i.e. upper lateral only)", and describes the same span again as "the entire lateral from the building cleanout to the public sewer main under the street". So in Oakland, Emeryville and Piedmont the run beneath the road is the owner's. In Alameda and Albany the programme reaches the upper lateral only. Both of those cities have answered the rest themselves and the answer is in your favour - see below.
- What decides which applies
- Which city you are in changes the answer, and in two of the five it changes it by the length of the road. The programme's own page stops at the upper lateral for Alameda and Albany without saying who has the rest; each of those cities says so itself. Alameda's sewer system management plan states that "the property owner owns the entire service lateral from the building to the connection to the City's sewer main; however, the City takes responsibility for maintenance and replacement of the lower portion of the lateral", and that "the upper lateral remains the responsibility of the private property owner" - the City rehabilitating a lower lateral when it rehabilitates the main it connects to, or when the lower lateral fails, whichever comes first. Albany takes the lower lateral too, from the kerb to the main; its own page for householders is the place to have that confirmed. So if you are in Alameda or Albany, the run under the road is the City's to keep up and the part across your own land is yours - ring the City before you ring a plumber. In Oakland, Emeryville and Piedmont the whole run is yours, and Piedmont's own plan puts the connection at the main on you as well. One caution for Alameda: the City's code still reads that "property owners own the entire sewer lateral and must maintain, repair and replace all sewer laterals associated with their parcels", which is broader than what its plan says the City does - the plan is the more recent statement of what the City will actually do, and the code has not caught up.
What is required
Some of these requirements are issued by East Bay Regional Private Sewer Lateral Program rather than by Oakland.
The City of Oakland states that it "requires a Sewer Lateral (SL) Permit for PSL inspections", and that the permit "allows a contractor with the appropriate contractor's license to install a sewer lateral in private property or in the City Right-Of-Way". Inspections are requested "at least 48 hours in advance of scheduled work", and a City Inspector "will inspect the pipe material, connections, and requests compaction test results". The City adds that a lateral near a creek may need a separate Creek Protection Permit, which "the Permit Counter will notify you if ... is needed through a Creek Determination Process". This is separate from the East Bay Regional Private Sewer Lateral programme's own certificate requirement.
What to do: Ask the DOT Permit Counter early whether your address triggers the Creek Determination Process, because a Creek Protection Permit is a separate application and is better known about before the work is scheduled than after. Ask your contractor whether their quotation includes a compaction test. Book inspections at least 48 hours ahead. And treat the City's permit as additional to the regional programme's certificate rather than instead of it.
City of Oakland, Construction in the Right-of-WayWhy this matters
The City's permit is required for the very inspection the regional programme demands, and the regional programme's pages do not mention it - so an owner who has read that programme in full still has an Oakland requirement left to meet. The permit also reaches private ground as well as the road, so there is no version of this job that avoids the City. Two costs sit inside it that rarely appear on a quotation: a compaction test, which is a soil test proving the backfill was properly consolidated and a separate service from the digging, and possibly a third permit altogether. Oakland has many creeks and most are culverted, so a property showing no water at all can sit near one - and it is the City that decides, through its Creek Determination Process, not the owner.
Where a permit is sought for new construction or for remodelling costing more than $100,000, a Compliance Certificate is required before the final permit or approval is obtained.
What to do: Check whether a current certificate or exemption already covers this property through the East Bay Regional Private Sewer Lateral Program before planning the permit timeline around an inspection.
Consolidated Regional Private Sewer Lateral Ordinance, effective 24 May 2019Why this matters
This is the highest threshold of the covered programmes - Berkeley's own ordinance, which this one does not cover, fires at $60,000, and three Marin districts at $50,000. It is also required later in the process than its neighbours demand: the certificate is needed before final approval rather than before the permit is issued. A certificate is valid twenty years after a complete replacement and seven years otherwise, and an exemption may be available where the lateral was fully replaced within the last ten years.
A 180-day extension is available when buying or selling: if a Compliance Certificate cannot be obtained before title transfers, a Time Extension Certificate allows 180 days for the work, and is valid only when returned with a $4,500 deposit at title transfer.
What to do: If the lateral cannot be certified before completion, ask the East Bay Regional Private Sewer Lateral Program about a Time Extension Certificate, and agree in writing which party will receive the $4,500 refund.
East Bay Regional Private Sewer Lateral ProgramWhy this matters
The certificate requirement reads as an absolute bar on closing escrow, and it is not one. The $4,500 is a deposit rather than a fee - the programme states it "will be released to the designated party when compliance is achieved" and is refunded if compliance is met within the 180 days - but it still has to be found at title transfer, and the Time Extension Certificate itself carries its own charge.
A Compliance Certificate is required to close escrow when a property is sold or transferred. A certificate is valid twenty years after a complete replacement and seven years otherwise.
What to do: Check whether a current certificate or exemption already covers this property through the East Bay Regional Private Sewer Lateral Program before arranging an inspection.
Consolidated Regional Private Sewer Lateral Ordinance, effective May 24, 2019Why this matters
An exemption may be available if the sewer lateral was fully replaced within the last ten years, or if an unexpired certificate from another agency already covers the property. Whether one already exists is not something an address lookup can answer - ask the programme, which holds the certificate records.
Who governs and serves this area
- Jurisdiction
- Oakland (municipality)
- Sewer service
- Not mapped. No sewer service territory covering this area has been added, so BelowGrid cannot say who serves an individual address here.
Where else this answer applies
The same authorities settle this in 5 other places BelowGrid publishes: Alameda, Albany, El Cerrito, Emeryville and Piedmont. The answer there is the same one because it is the same authority, not because the pages were copied.
What BelowGrid cannot say yet
- 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.
How this compares to neighbouring cities
3 of the 4 nearest cities draw the line somewhere else. No single authority publishes that comparison, because each knows only about itself.
Your other pipe has a different answer
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 OaklandLook up a specific address
A jurisdiction page describes what applies to properties in general. To see which authorities serve one address and what records exist for it, search for it.
Search for an address