Who pays for the sewer lateral in Tulare, CA
Which part of the pipe is yours
Yours all the way to the main under the road
Why, and what to do
Who is responsible for which part
Tulare puts the whole building sewer - the pipe from your house to the public sewer - on the owner. Section 7.20.410 provides that "Maintenance of the building sewer shall be the responsibility of the owner of the property served", and section 7.20.020 defines the house sewer or building sewer as "The extension from the house drain to the public sewer or other place of disposal".
- The property owner
- The building sewer from the house to the public sewer, the length under the street included - the same code treats the sewer lateral as the building sewer, and section 7.20.360 regulates "the building sewer within the public right-of-way".
- What else is worth knowing
- Nothing conditions the split: the City's side is the public sewer, and the pipe that runs to it is the owner's. One thing can surprise owners with parkway trees - section 8.32.060 provides that damage to "sewer laterals or water service lines or meters, by any parkway tree shall be the responsibility of the property owner having the duty to cultivate, care for and maintain the parkway tree". These sections govern property on the City's sewer; not every address inside the city limits is on it, so check the name on your sewer bill first.
What is required
Tulare Municipal Code section 7.20.190 provides that "No unauthorized person shall uncover, make any connections with or open into, use, alter or disturb any public sewer or appurtenance thereof without first obtaining a written permit approved by the General Manager." Section 7.20.200 covers every permit "to install, add to, alter, relocate or replace sewage facilities or any part thereof".
What to do: Before replacing or reworking your building sewer, apply to the City's General Manager for the permit, stating the work and the premises. If a failure forces emergency work first, apply for the permit as soon as you can and keep evidence that the work could not wait.
Tulare Municipal Code section 7.20.190, Permit requiredWhy this matters
Replacing the building sewer, or any repair that reaches the connection with the public sewer, is permitted work - and starting it without the permit costs more than the permit: section 7.20.200 adds "a penalty of $500" to the fees for work begun first. Genuine emergencies are excepted when the work was "urgently necessary", but a permit must still be obtained "as soon as it is practical to do so".
Who governs and serves this area
- Jurisdiction
- Tulare (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
1 of the 4 nearest cities draw the line somewhere else. No single authority publishes that comparison, because each knows only about itself.
Look 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.
Search for an address