Who pays for the sewer lateral in San Francisco, CA
Which part of the pipe is yours
Yours from the meter to your building
Why, and what to do
If something’s wrong
If a repair needs a permit or an inspection
- Who issues it:
- San Francisco Public Works
- What it covers:
- work past the trap, towards the roadway and up to the sewer main; the run between the building and the trap goes through general excavation instead
San Francisco Public Works states that "A Side Sewer Permit allows a licensed contractor to install a sewer lateral in the public right-of-way", and that "It covers work from the property's sewer trap out to the City sewer main in the street". Work between the building and the trap goes through a General Excavation Permit instead.
Who to call first about the sewer lateral
San Francisco: official site(opens in a new tab)The documents this answer is built on
Who is responsible for which part
The owner owns the sewer lateral and is responsible for maintaining it - but where Public Works decides a repair is needed in the roadway, the City makes that repair itself, from the curb to the main, and budgets for it rather than billing the owner.
- San Francisco
- The repair of the street section, though not its ownership. The City states that "when the Department of Public Works determines that a repair must be made to a side sewer located in a public roadway or property ... the repair shall be made by the Department of Public Works", and that in a public roadway it "shall be responsible only for that section extending from the side curb or curb line to the sewer main connection". Public Works must "include a provision in the annual budget to cover the estimated costs", so the work is not charged back. Three limits matter: the Department acts when it determines a repair is needed rather than on request; where the pipe's condition cannot be established "due to the lack of an appropriate vent or vented trap" it requires the owner to install one first; and the section does not apply to private sewers or utility drains.
- The property owner
- The pipe itself, and everything from the curb inwards. The City states that "all side sewers, private sewers, or utility drains are the property and maintenance responsibility of the owner or owners of property, facilities or structures tributary thereto", with repairs "at sole expense of such owner or owners except as provided in Section 103.1". A "side sewer" is defined as the portion running from the public sewer to "the front face of a curb or a curbline of record", so the length between the curb and the building is outside this Article entirely - a nuisance there is handled by the Bureau of Building Inspection under the Plumbing Code, and it is the owner's.
Sources
San Francisco Public Works Code section 103, Ownership and Responsibility for MaintenanceWhat 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
- Who issues it:
- San Francisco Public Works
- What it covers:
- work past the trap, towards the roadway and up to the sewer main; the run between the building and the trap goes through general excavation instead
San Francisco Public Works states that "A Side Sewer Permit allows a licensed contractor to install a sewer lateral in the public right-of-way", and that "It covers work from the property's sewer trap out to the City sewer main in the street". Work between the building and the trap goes through a General Excavation Permit instead.
What to do: Ask your contractor which licence class they hold and whether they carry the street excavation bond, before agreeing a price. If the problem is in the section from the curb to the main, ask Public Works whether it will make the repair itself - the City does that work at its own cost when it determines a repair is needed there, which is a different route from permitting your own.
San Francisco Public Works, Bureau of Surveying and MappingWhy this matters
The permit is issued to a contractor, not to an owner - the City's first sentence about it says so. The licence classes are named, and Article 2.4 requires the permittee to "file and maintain a Street Excavation Bond with a minimum amount of $25,000.00 with the Department of Public Works, to guarantee the maintenance of the pavement in the trench and roadway area for a period of 3 years". So the pipe under the road is yours and the permission to open the road is not something you can hold.
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
- San Francisco (municipality)
- Sewer service
- No map of sewer providers is held here. BelowGrid cannot say which sewer provider serves an individual address.
Compare the rules city by city
Here the split is not one fixed point on the pipe, so it cannot be set beside the towns next door. The rules themselves still compare.
Compare the rules city by cityYour 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. Look up both to see which applies to your property.
Who owns the water service line in San FranciscoNearby cities and further reading
The nearest cities with a published answer, and where each one puts the split:
Look up a specific address
This page describes what applies to properties in San Francisco in general. To see which authorities serve one address, and what records exist for it, search for it.
Search for an address