Who pays for the sewer lateral in Palmdale, 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
If a repair needs a permit or an inspection
Because your responsibility in Palmdale runs "up to and including the wye or tee in the City's main line", a full lateral replacement reaches the City's sewer - and the code then does two things at once. "If repair and maintenance of the house lateral or industrial connection sewer extends into the mainline sewer at the sewer line tap, then the sewer tap repair at the main line becomes the responsibility of the City and no such repairs shall be done without the permission and approval of the City." The tap repair is not yours to pay for, and it is not yours to have done.
Who to call first about the sewer lateral
Palmdale: official site(opens in a new tab)The documents this answer is built on
Who is responsible for which part
Your pipe reaches into the City's main - the owner is responsible for "the entire house lateral ... up to and including the wye or tee in the City's main line" - and then Palmdale qualifies it. "If repair and maintenance of the house lateral ... extends into the mainline sewer at the sewer line tap, then the sewer tap repair at the main line becomes the responsibility of the City and no such repairs shall be done without the permission and approval of the City."
- The property owner
- The whole house lateral, fitting included. Section 13.02.040(A) makes each property owner "responsible for the installation, repair and maintenance of the entire house lateral or industrial connection sewer up to and including the wye or tee in the City's main line", and requires each owner to "keep his/her house lateral/industrial connection sewer in good working order at his/her own expense". The code defines a house lateral as "that part of the sewer piping which extends from the discharging premises to a connection with the mainline sewer". The owner is also "responsible for damage to any of the City's property which results from the owner's use, repair or maintenance of the house lateral".
What else is worth knowing
Sources
Palmdale Municipal Code, Title 13 Sanitary Sewers and Industrial Waste, Chapter 13.02 Definitions and General ProvisionsWhat the rules say
Most relevant if you are remodelling or adding a unit
No rule on file here is specific to remodelling or adding a unit; that does not mean none exists.
Also in force here
Because your responsibility in Palmdale runs "up to and including the wye or tee in the City's main line", a full lateral replacement reaches the City's sewer - and the code then does two things at once. "If repair and maintenance of the house lateral or industrial connection sewer extends into the mainline sewer at the sewer line tap, then the sewer tap repair at the main line becomes the responsibility of the City and no such repairs shall be done without the permission and approval of the City." The tap repair is not yours to pay for, and it is not yours to have done.
What to do: Ask your contractor one question before you accept a quote: does this work reach the tap at the main? For a full replacement the answer is yes. If it is, get the City's permission and approval in writing before anything starts, and ask the City directly who carries out the tap repair and on what timescale - the code makes it theirs, so it should not be a line on your invoice. And if nobody can tell where the blockage actually is, say so: under section 13.02.040(C) the City may open the line to find out, and if the fault turns out to be in the public sewer the repair is at no charge to you.
Palmdale Municipal Code, Title 13 Sanitary Sewers and Industrial Waste, Chapter 13.02 Definitions and General ProvisionsWhy this matters
In Palmdale the fitting is yours, so work reaching the tap is not an edge case - it is what replacing a lateral means. The person most likely to get it wrong is your plumber, quoting the whole job in good faith including a piece of work that belongs to the City and that they are not permitted to carry out. You are the one who pays for that twice: once in a quote that should not have included it, and again under the clause making the owner "responsible for damage to any of the City's property which results from the owner's use, repair or maintenance of the house lateral". Note what the code does not promise. It says the tap repair becomes the City's responsibility; it does not say free, or soon.
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
- Palmdale (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
5 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
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