Who pays for the sewer lateral in Simi Valley, CA
Which part of the pipe is yours
Yours all the way to the main under the road
Why, and what to doYours from the meter to your building
Why, and what to do
Who is responsible for which part
The whole run is yours, building to main - "the owner is responsible for all costs, maintenance and repair of the sewer lines in the facility or building and the sewer lateral line that connects the property to the public sewer" - and Simi Valley adds a sentence most codes leave out: "it is a violation of this chapter if the owner does not maintain these systems in proper working order." A neglected lateral is not only a bill here; the code names it a breach, and the chapter's enforcement article declares any violation of it a public nuisance.
- The property owner
- Everything, from the fixtures to the City's sewer. Section 6-13.507 makes the owner "responsible for all costs, maintenance and repair of the sewer lines in the facility or building and the sewer lateral line that connects the property to the public sewer". The chapter's defined public sewer is the publicly controlled main, so that is where the owner's length ends. There is no defined lateral and no part of the run carved back to the City.
- What else is worth knowing
- Nothing splits the pipe, and one short sentence changes what neglecting it means. Section 6-13.507 provides that "it is a violation of this chapter if the owner does not maintain these systems in proper working order" - so failing to keep the lateral working is a breach of the ordinance rather than simply a repair you have not paid for yet. What sits behind that is worth reading carefully in both directions. Section 6-13.901 states that "any violation of this chapter shall constitute a public nuisance", and section 6-13.906 lets the Director order compliance within a set time and adds that "if the user does not come into compliance within the time provided, sewer service may be discontinued". Later sections reach administrative liabilities, civil penalties, liens and prosecution. But the article those sections sit in is a pretreatment enforcement article, written in the language of discharge permits, waste haulers and industrial monitoring; the broad wording covers a householder on its face, and there is no sign the City has ever used it that way. The realistic consequence for a home is an order with a deadline and, if it is ignored, sewer service. Separately and more everyday, section 6-13.506 charges "any excessive sewer or sewerage maintenance expenses" to the user whose discharge caused "a stoppage, a blockage, any significant reduction in sewer capacity, or any damage" - which is the clause grease bills arrive under.
What is required
Simi Valley Municipal Code section 7-1.205 requires a permit from the Director of Public Services before anyone may "make, or cause to be made, any excavation or encroachment in any street", or "place, construct, or repair any curb, gutter, sidewalk, driveway, pavement, base course, retaining wall, storm drain, culvert, pipe, conduit, cable, or other work of a similar nature in, over, along, across, or through any street". The City's sewer chapter puts the whole lateral on the owner, so this is the permit that governs reaching the part of it under the road - and section 7-1.408 names that pipe directly: "laterals, services, and other small diameter pipes shall be jacked, bored, or driven beneath a paved surface, unless other methods are approved by the Director of Public Services".
What to do: Ask the Director of Public Services what cash deposit will be set for the length of trench you need, and budget for it being held for ninety days after the job is signed off rather than returned on the day. Confirm your contractor holds a Simi Valley business tax certificate as well as a state licence, because the permit will not issue without both. If the lateral has already failed, section 7-1.413 allows the excavation first for work "necessary for the preservation of life or property" provided the person "applies for a permit not later than the next business day" - so the call to the City is the next morning, not the next week.
Simi Valley Municipal Code, Title 7 Public Works, Chapter 1 Encroachments, Article 2 General ProvisionsWhy this matters
The condition most likely to surprise a homeowner is that this is not a permit they can take out themselves. Section 7-1.217 requires the application to carry "a valid contractor's license", "a current City of Simi Valley business tax certificate", and "a California Occupational Safety and Health (CAL-OSHA) permit, if applicable, for trenching in excess of a depth of five (5) feet". A lateral in a Simi Valley street commonly sits deeper than five feet, so that third line is not hypothetical. Money is held and held for a while: section 7-1.226 requires a cash deposit "in a sum to be fixed by the Director of Public Works as sufficient to reimburse the City ... for restoring the right-of-way to its original condition", and section 7-1.227 releases it only "ninety (90) days after the satisfactory completion of all authorized work". The restoration standard is higher than the road you found: section 7-1.239 requires the pavement to be replaced "to a thickness one inch greater than that of the surrounding pavement or surface", and never thinner than two inches. And starting without the permit costs rather than saves - section 7-1.255 provides that where work begins before a permit is obtained "the specified fees shall be doubled".
Simi Valley draws the line between clearing a blockage and replacing the pipe, and writes it down. Section 8-5.04 exempts from the plumbing permit "the clearing of stoppages or the repairing of leaks in pipes, valves or fixtures", and also "the stopping of leaks in drains, soil, waste or vent pipe" - but with a proviso: "should any concealed trap, drainpipe, soil, waste or vent pipe become defective and it becomes necessary to remove and replace the same with new material, the same shall be considered as new work and a permit shall be procured and inspection made as provided in this Title". Section 8-5.01 is the requirement itself, reaching anything "erected, constructed, enlarged, altered, repaired, moved, improved, removed, converted or demolished".
What to do: Ask the contractor, in writing, whether the work is a repair of a leak or a removal and replacement of pipe, because section 8-5.04 turns on exactly that distinction. If it is a replacement, budget for the plumbing permit and the inspection, and check whether any part of the run is in the street - if it is, the encroachment permit is a separate application with its own deposit.
Simi Valley Municipal Code, Title 8 Building Code, Chapter 5 PermitsWhy this matters
This is the sentence that decides whether a job is paperwork or not. Rodding a blocked lateral needs nothing. The moment the defective length comes out and new pipe goes in, the code calls it new work, and new work needs a permit from the Building Official and an inspection. A quotation for a spot repair and a quotation for a replacement are therefore not the same kind of job in this city, whatever they cost. And a lateral replacement that reaches the street needs two permits from two departments: this one from the Building Official, and the encroachment permit from the Director of Public Services before the road is opened. Neither counter issues the other.
Simi Valley does not only make you pay for your lateral, it requires you to keep it working. Section 6-13.507 makes the owner "responsible for all costs, maintenance and repair of the sewer lines in the facility or building and the sewer lateral line that connects the property to the public sewer", and then adds: "it is a violation of this chapter if the owner does not maintain these systems in proper working order." The chapter treats that seriously - "any violation of this chapter shall constitute a public nuisance" - and lets the Director order compliance "within a specified time", with sewer service liable to be discontinued "if the user does not come into compliance within the time provided".
What to do: Treat a lateral that backs up more than once as a defect to fix rather than a nuisance to live with, because in Simi Valley that is the code's own view of it. If you receive anything in writing from the Department of Public Works about your sewer, read it for a date - a compliance order under section 6-13.906 names the time you have, and the consequence at the end of it is your sewer service. And keep grease out of the line: section 6-13.506 charges "any excessive sewer or sewerage maintenance expenses" to the user whose discharge caused the stoppage.
Simi Valley Municipal Code, Title 6 Sanitation and Health, Chapter 13 Sewer UseWhy this matters
Most codes tell you who pays for a broken lateral. This one tells you that leaving it broken is itself a breach of the ordinance, which changes what "I will deal with it next year" means. The practical shape of that for a household is section 6-13.906: an order naming a deadline, and sewer service at stake if the deadline passes. The chapter also carries heavier machinery - administrative liabilities of "not less than One Thousand ... and not more than Ten Thousand Dollars ... per day", a lien after thirty days of non-payment, civil penalties and prosecution - and it is worth knowing that those sections sit in a pretreatment enforcement article written around industrial dischargers and waste haulers. Their wording reaches any violation of the chapter on its face. There is no evidence the City has ever applied them to a home, and none is implied here.
Who governs and serves this area
- Jurisdiction
- Simi Valley (municipality)
- Sewer service
- Not mapped. No sewer service territory covering this area has been added, so BelowGrid cannot say who serves an individual address here.
What BelowGrid cannot say yet
- 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.
How this compares to neighbouring cities
The 4 nearest cities draw the line in the same place. No single authority publishes that comparison, because each knows only about itself.
Your other pipe has a different answer
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 main; your water line stops being yours at the meter.
Who owns the water service line in Simi ValleyLook up a specific address
A jurisdiction page describes what applies to properties in general. To see which authorities serve one address and what records exist for it, search for it.
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