Who pays for the sewer lateral in Richmond, CA

Nothing splits the pipe, and two things about Richmond matter more than a split would. The first is where the ordinance reaches: section 12.17.030 provides that "this chapter applies only within the sewer service areas of the Richmond Municipal Sewer District Number No. 1 (RMSD)", and the chapter separately exempts from its transfer requirement a "property located in the City of Richmond but served by a sanitary sewer service provider that has a PSL maintenance, inspection and repair program in place". A Richmond address is therefore not automatically an RMSD address, and that is the first thing to confirm. The second is what compliance costs when a pipe fails the test. Section 12.17.050(b) sets a real standard - joints tight, pipes "sound and free from structural defects, cracks, breaks, openings, and missing portions", grade "uniform without sags or offsets", a two-way cleanout, a backflow or overflow device - and section 12.17.070 states the consequence of not meeting it: "for all single and multi-family dwellings ... it shall be the policy of the City Manager to require the property owner to replace the lateral in its entirety from the house to the main." Commercial and industrial properties "may" be allowed partial repairs. Homes, by stated policy, are not. Separately, a leaking lateral or an uncapped cleanout is "declared to be a public nuisance, subject to abatement", with abatement costs "assessed against the subject property owner" and capable of becoming a lien. And the District's own sewer system management plan says roughly where the other two are, which is what a reader needs in order to check: "West County Wastewater District (WCWD) provides sewer collection service to a small portion of the City on the northern border of the City, adjacent to the City of San Pablo, and Stege Sanitary District (Stege) collects wastewater for a portion of the City in the eastern hills, adjacent to the City of El Cerrito". Each district describes its own area and its own terms. West County Wastewater District lists "Richmond (northern subdivisions)" among the areas it serves; its customers are responsible for the lateral "up to the point of connection with the public sewer main, including the portion under the sidewalk and street", its code runs the owner's duty "through the wye or point of connection with the public sewer", and "When buying or selling a house, you need a certificate of sewer lateral compliance from WCW." Stege Sanitary District serves "a portion of the Richmond Annex in Richmond", where "the property owner is responsible for the entire sanitary sewer lateral up to and including the connection at the sanitary sewer main"; in its area the East Bay regional programme requires a certificate of compliance "upon transfer of title (sale of property), significant remodel of $100,000 or more, or a change in the size of the water meter". So on either district's sewer the pipe and the joint at the main are the owner's, as they are in RMSD, but Richmond's certificate rules reach only RMSD and the district's own apply instead. If you are up in the eastern hills near El Cerrito, or on the northern border by San Pablo, ring the district named for your side of the city before relying on this page.