Who pays for the sewer lateral in Roseville, CA
Which part of the pipe is yours
Yours from the cleanout to your building — if certain conditions are met
Why, and what to doYours from the back of the sidewalk to your building
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.
Roseville: official site(opens in a new tab)If a repair needs a permit or an inspection
In Roseville a cleanout is not access, it is the boundary. The City's sanitary sewer design standard provides that "the cleanout indicates the separation between private and public for the purpose of maintenance", and that "in cases where there is no cleanout, the sewer service is considered private all the way to the main, including the wye". The standard requires that "cleanouts shall be designed and constructed to grade with subdivision improvements or at the time connection is made to the building sewer", with a four-inch post marking the end of the service where installation is deferred. Separately, "an Encroachment Permit is required when anyone wishes to perform improvements or stage construction within the public right of way".
Who is responsible for which part
Who to call first
City of Roseville
What happens: the City assesses the situation at no charge and clears the blockage if it is in the City sewer main or service connection
Whether the run under the road is yours depends on one thing: is there a cleanout. Roseville's design standard says "the cleanout indicates the separation between private and public for the purpose of maintenance" - and that "in cases where there is no cleanout, the sewer service is considered private all the way to the main, including the wye". So the property with no cleanout has the longest pipe in the street, and the fitting at the main too.
- Roseville
- The service from the main up to the cleanout, where a cleanout exists. The City's design standard provides that the service "shall extend from the main to the edge of the public right-of-way or easement", that the cleanout is built "2' outside of the sewer easement", and that "the cleanout indicates the separation between private and public for the purpose of maintenance". Its public page lists "service connections maintained by the City" among what the City looks after, alongside the mains.
- The property owner
- Everything upstream of the cleanout - and everything, full stop, where there is none. The standard states that "for private laterals, maintenance of the wye fitting at the main, and any portion of the private lateral upstream of it, is the responsibility of the private owner", and that "in cases where there is no cleanout, the sewer service is considered private all the way to the main, including the wye". The City's public page puts the owner's share as the "sewer lateral from the building to the City sewer main" and "clearing blockages in the private lateral line".
What decides which applies
Sources
City of Roseville, Section 9 Design StandardsWhat is required
In Roseville a cleanout is not access, it is the boundary. The City's sanitary sewer design standard provides that "the cleanout indicates the separation between private and public for the purpose of maintenance", and that "in cases where there is no cleanout, the sewer service is considered private all the way to the main, including the wye". The standard requires that "cleanouts shall be designed and constructed to grade with subdivision improvements or at the time connection is made to the building sewer", with a four-inch post marking the end of the service where installation is deferred. Separately, "an Encroachment Permit is required when anyone wishes to perform improvements or stage construction within the public right of way".
What to do: Ring the City on its 24-hour line before you call a plumber: it will assess the situation at no charge and clear the blockage itself if the problem turns out to be in the City sewer main or service connection. While you have them, ask two things - whether your property has a sewer cleanout and where it is, and what the City would charge to do the work itself, since it will work on a private lateral including the wye at the main and bill it "on a time and materials basis" rather than at a quoted price. If you are hiring a contractor and the work reaches the right of way, apply for the Encroachment Permit before anybody starts.
City of Roseville, Section 9 Design StandardsWhy this matters
One construction detail decides how much pipe you are responsible for, for the life of the property. With a cleanout, the City's half runs from the main up to it. Without one, the whole service is private to the main and the wye fitting at the main comes with it - which is the longest and most expensive version of this answer, and it falls on older properties that had no say in the matter. So the question to ask about your address is not where the property line runs but whether there is a cleanout, and where it sits. And because a lateral with no cleanout reaches the main, an ordinary repair is usually work in the City's right of way, which is a permit.
What this page cannot tell you
- No assistance or grant programme has been reviewed for this jurisdiction yet.
Who governs and serves this area
- Jurisdiction
- Roseville (municipality)
- Sewer service
How this compares to neighbouring cities
3 of the 5 nearest cities draw the line somewhere else. Each authority publishes only its own rule.
Your other pipe: the water service line
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 cleanout; your water line stops being yours at the back of the sidewalk.
Who owns the water service line in RosevilleNearby cities and further reading
Look up a specific address
This page describes what applies to properties in Roseville in general. To see which authorities serve one address, and what records exist for it, search for it.
Search for an address