Who pays for the sewer lateral in Torrance, CA
Which part of the pipe is yours
Yours all the way to the main, including the fitting where it joins
Why, and what to doYours from the meter to your building
Why, and what to do
If something’s wrong
Who to call first about the sewer lateral
Call a plumber first.
If a repair needs a permit or an inspection
- Who issues it:
- City of Torrance, Community Development Department for the two permits and the Street Superintendent under the code
- What it covers:
- altering any public or house connection sewer in the City, split between a Plumbing Permit for the run from the building to the property line and a Construction & Excavation Permit for the run from the property line to the sewer main
Torrance divides the permission for one repair at your property line. A "Plumbing Permit ("Alter Building Sewer")" is "required for repairs on private property (building to property line)"; a "Construction & Excavation Permit" is "required for work in the public right-of-way (property line to sewer main)"; and both are "required if work occurs on both private property and in the public right-of-way". The City also requires the plumber to be licensed in Torrance: "contact a licensed plumber (City of Torrance business license required)". The code's own permit under section 72.2.3 reaches anyone who alters "any public or house connection sewer in the City", with one exemption at section 72.2.2 - no permit is needed "for the purpose of removing stoppages or repairing leaks ... except when it is necessary to replace any part or all of such sewer with other or different materials".
Who is responsible for which part
Who to call first
Call a plumber first.
The owner keeps the lateral from twelve inches outside the building to the main, and the City says the joint is theirs too: owners are responsible for their lateral "including the connection to the public sewer main". Torrance then splits the permit at the property line, so a repair that crosses it needs two.
- The property owner
- The lateral and the fitting at the main. The City states that "property owners are responsible for maintaining and repairing their sewer lateral, including the connection to the public sewer main", and lists what that covers as "the entire pipe on private property" and "the connection point to the City sewer". The code supplies the extent: a house connection sewer is "that part of the horizontal piping beginning twelve (12) inches from the exterior wall of the building and extending to its connection with the public sewer".
What else is worth knowing
Sources
City of Torrance, Sewer Lateral PolicyWhat the rules say
Most relevant if you are repairing or replacing the pipe
- Who issues it:
- City of Torrance, Community Development Department for the two permits and the Street Superintendent under the code
- What it covers:
- altering any public or house connection sewer in the City, split between a Plumbing Permit for the run from the building to the property line and a Construction & Excavation Permit for the run from the property line to the sewer main
Torrance divides the permission for one repair at your property line. A "Plumbing Permit ("Alter Building Sewer")" is "required for repairs on private property (building to property line)"; a "Construction & Excavation Permit" is "required for work in the public right-of-way (property line to sewer main)"; and both are "required if work occurs on both private property and in the public right-of-way". The City also requires the plumber to be licensed in Torrance: "contact a licensed plumber (City of Torrance business license required)". The code's own permit under section 72.2.3 reaches anyone who alters "any public or house connection sewer in the City", with one exemption at section 72.2.2 - no permit is needed "for the purpose of removing stoppages or repairing leaks ... except when it is necessary to replace any part or all of such sewer with other or different materials".
What to do: Before you accept a quotation, ring the Torrance Community Development Department on (310) 618-5910 and confirm which of the two permits your work needs - the City invites exactly that question, and the answer depends on where the defect sits relative to your property line. Ask your plumber to confirm they hold a City of Torrance business licence as well as a state licence. And ask what material the replacement will be: if it differs from the existing pipe, the code's stoppage-and-leak exemption does not apply. Whatever is agreed, nothing may be backfilled until it has been inspected - "no sewer connection shall be covered or concealed in any way until it has been inspected and approved by the Street Superintendent".
City of Torrance, Sewer Lateral PolicyWhy this matters
In Torrance the lateral runs to the main, so an ordinary repair near the kerb very often crosses the property line - and that is two applications for one trench, not one. A homeowner who takes out the plumbing permit because that is what a plumber usually asks for has permission for half the job. The licence condition is the other trap: a state contractor's licence is not enough, the plumber must also hold a City of Torrance business licence, and that surfaces when the permit is refused rather than when quotations are compared. Read the code's exemption carefully too. It excuses clearing a stoppage or repairing a leak, which sounds generous until you reach the exception for replacing pipe "with other or different materials" - which is what almost every modern repair to an old lateral is.
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
- Torrance (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.
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 main, fitting included; your water line stops being yours at the meter.
Who owns the water service line in TorranceNearby cities and further reading
Look up a specific address
This page describes what applies to properties in Torrance in general. To see which authorities serve one address, and what records exist for it, search for it.
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