Who pays for the sewer lateral in Riverside, CA
Which part of the pipe is yours
Yours from your property line to your building — if certain conditions are met
Why, and what to do
If something’s wrong
Who to call first about the sewer lateral
The answer here has conditions, so it is not repeated in brief. Read who to call first, in full or look up your address.
Riverside: official site(opens in a new tab)If a repair needs a permit or an inspection
Riverside requires all customers to keep the private sewer lateral "in good working order and free of defects", which the code says "includes the installation of a two-way clean out tee at the property line or City easement boundary of at least four inches in diameter", at the owner's own expense, with the owner "liable for damages which may result from failure to do so". Root infiltration is "presumed to be caused by improper installation and/or maintenance and shall be repaired by the property owner at no cost to the City, unless determined otherwise by a City inspector and/or City contractor". A City inspector or contractor may be admitted at all reasonable hours to check the lateral "either visually, by camera, or any other means".
Who is responsible for which part
Who to call first
City of Riverside Public Works
Riverside divides the lateral by the kind of building rather than by where the pipe runs. For a house, the City maintains the run from the property line to the main. For "nonresidential premises" - which its code defines to include apartments, condominiums and boarding houses - the owner's pipe runs all the way to the connection. Everyone must install and pay for a cleanout at the property line.
- Riverside
- The lower lateral of a house, and only of a house. Section 14.08.020.B states that "the City shall maintain the sewer lateral of residential premises (excluding nonresidential premises) beginning at the property line or City easement boundary to the point of connection to the City sewerage system". The code's definitions put apartments, condominiums and boarding houses outside that, so the City takes no part of their laterals.
- The property owner
- Everything up to where the City's duty begins, and for some homes that is everything. A "private residential sewer lateral line" is defined as running from the premises "to the premises property line or City easement", so a house owner keeps the pipe to the property line. A "nonresidential private sewer lateral line" runs from the premises "to the point of connection to the City sewerage system", so an apartment, condominium or boarding house keeps the whole run including the part under the road. Every customer must also keep the line "in good working order and free of defects (which includes the installation of a two-way clean out tee at the property line or City easement boundary of at least four inches in diameter for maintenance) at their own expense".
What decides which applies
Sources
City of Riverside Municipal Code, Title 14 chapter 14.08, Sewer Connections and PermitsWhat the rules say
Most relevant if you are selling or buying
No rule on file here is specific to selling or buying; that does not mean none exists.
Also in force here
Riverside requires all customers to keep the private sewer lateral "in good working order and free of defects", which the code says "includes the installation of a two-way clean out tee at the property line or City easement boundary of at least four inches in diameter", at the owner's own expense, with the owner "liable for damages which may result from failure to do so". Root infiltration is "presumed to be caused by improper installation and/or maintenance and shall be repaired by the property owner at no cost to the City, unless determined otherwise by a City inspector and/or City contractor". A City inspector or contractor may be admitted at all reasonable hours to check the lateral "either visually, by camera, or any other means".
What to do: Check you have a two-way cleanout tee at the property line of at least four inches; if not, installing one is your obligation and your cost, and its absence is the kind of defect the section makes you liable for. If roots are found, ask the City inspector or contractor to record the condition of the pipe at the same time - their determination is the only thing that displaces the presumption that the roots are your fault. And establish whether your home counts as "residential premises" under this chapter, because apartments, condominiums and boarding houses do not, and that decides whether these duties cover the run under the road as well.
City of Riverside Municipal Code, Title 14 chapter 14.08, Sewer Connections and PermitsWhy this matters
The presumption is the part that costs money. Root intrusion is the commonest cause of a blocked lateral, and the usual dispute is whose tree and whose pipe. Riverside decides it in advance: roots are treated as evidence that the owner installed or maintained the pipe badly, and only a City inspector or City contractor can displace that. So a homeowner arguing that a street tree caused the damage starts from behind. The cleanout is an obligation rather than a condition here - in several other cities a cleanout decides whether the authority helps at all, whereas Riverside helps houses regardless and still requires you to install one, two-way and at least four inches.
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
- Riverside (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
7 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 Riverside in general. To see which authorities serve one address, and what records exist for it, search for it.
Search for an address