Who pays for the sewer lateral in Union City, 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
If something’s wrong
If a repair needs a permit or an inspection
- Who issues it:
- City of Union City
- What it covers:
- construction or improvements in the public right-of-way
Union Sanitary District states that where "a sewer lateral repair involves digging in a street or other public right-of-way, an encroachment permit will also be required" from "the agency that maintains the street". In Union City that is the City, and its encroachment permit asks for a completed application, plans of work, a certificate of insurance "for applicant and all subcontractors", a traffic control plan - "site-specific plan required for work on arterial roads", with federal MUTCD typical applications "acceptable for residential needs" - and a "Faithful Performance Bond in the amount of 110% of the estimated cost of work ... due before permit issuance".
- Who issues it:
- Union Sanitary District
- What it covers:
- any work before it begins, including repairs on private property
"before any work is begun, a USD repair permit is required (even for repairs on private property)". It adds that "if a sewer lateral repair involves digging in a street or other public right-of-way, an encroachment permit will also be required", and that those "are available from the agency that maintains the street. In most cases, this is the city".
Buying or selling?
No rule on file here is specific to selling or buying; that does not mean none exists.
Planning work?
An accessory dwelling unit can bring a sewer capacity charge with it here, and the line is drawn by floor area. Union Sanitary District's capacity charge for an ADU "applies to detached ADUs or ADUs that expand a primary residence in excess of 150 square feet", and it states the other side of the line in the same breath: "no capacity charges shall be levied on ADUs within the living area of an existing single family home or ADUs that do not expand the existing residential structure by more than 150 square feet".
- Who issues it:
- Union Sanitary District
- What it covers:
- demolishing a building served by the sewer, and capping or abandoning the lateral that served it
Knocking a building down here needs the District's permission before the city will give you its own. Union Sanitary District states that "in order to obtain a demolition permit from the cities of Fremont, Newark or Union City, you will be required to obtain a Demolition/Sewer Capping Permit from Union Sanitary District". The reason is the pipe left behind: the District's inspector "will verify that the lateral is properly capped", and it requires capping "so that debris will not get into our sewer lines".
Who to call first about the sewer lateral
Union Sanitary District: official site(opens in a new tab)The documents this answer is built on
Who is responsible for which part
The property owner is responsible for the whole lateral, including the run beneath the pavement and the road, up to the point it joins the public main. The District's ordinance goes further than its web page and says the building sewer is owned by the property owner, not merely their responsibility. On a private street or driveway the sewer main itself can be private too, in which case somebody other than the District maintains that as well.
- The property owner
- The District states that "in accordance with District Ordinance No. 34, it is the property owner's responsibility to maintain and repair their own sewer lateral from the house up to the point of connection with the public sanitary sewer main", and spells out what that covers: "both the portion on private property and the portion located beneath the sidewalk and street up to the point where the lateral connects to the public main". The District maintains the public mains themselves - "over 839 miles of pipelines which are generally located within public streets or easements dedicated for District use" - and nothing of the lateral. Ordinance 34.08, which that page cites, states the position in stronger terms than the page does: the building sewer serving a property is owned by the property owner, who is responsible for constructing, maintaining, repairing and replacing it, including the lateral sewer - the ordinance's name for the length from the property line out to the main. It also requires owners to keep that pipe in a condition that prevents overflows and spills, and treats a building sewer found not to be properly maintained as a public nuisance, abated under the District's separate Sewer Use Ordinance. That ordinance is worth knowing about before anything goes wrong. Its section 7.01 declares a discharge in breach of the regulations a public nuisance to be corrected or abated as the Manager directs, and 7.02 says what it costs: where a discharge from a private sewer lateral creates or threatens a public nuisance the District has to abate, the District may recover the cost of its time and materials from the property owner, together with interest and attorneys' fees, under the Health and Safety Code section that collects such sums on the property tax roll. So the bill for a spill from your lateral is not capped at the clean-up.
What else is worth knowing
Sources
Union Sanitary District, Sewer RepairsWhat the rules say
Some of these requirements are issued by Union Sanitary District rather than by Union City.
Most relevant if you are remodelling or adding a unit
An accessory dwelling unit can bring a sewer capacity charge with it here, and the line is drawn by floor area. Union Sanitary District's capacity charge for an ADU "applies to detached ADUs or ADUs that expand a primary residence in excess of 150 square feet", and it states the other side of the line in the same breath: "no capacity charges shall be levied on ADUs within the living area of an existing single family home or ADUs that do not expand the existing residential structure by more than 150 square feet".
What to do: Settle the floor area before the drawings are final, because 150 square feet is the whole difference between a capacity charge and none. Ask the District for the current charge - it is set by ordinance and revised, so the figure on an old page is not reliable. Get the city building permit first, then the District's sewer permit, and allow the 24 hours' notice before the sewer work starts. Note the District's own pages give 24 hours in one place and 48 in another, so confirm which applies to your job.
Union Sanitary District, Capacity FeesWhy this matters
This is a number a project is designed around rather than billed for afterwards. A conversion inside the existing footprint - a garage, a basement, a spare room - carries no capacity charge at all. A detached unit, or an extension of more than 150 square feet, does. The difference is a design decision made months before anyone applies for anything. The sewer permit itself is separate and is also timed: the District issues it "upon payment of all fees and evidence of a city building permit", so the city comes first for this one, and once it is issued the District asks you to "call 24 hours before beginning sewer construction to schedule an inspection".
- Who issues it:
- Union Sanitary District
- What it covers:
- demolishing a building served by the sewer, and capping or abandoning the lateral that served it
Knocking a building down here needs the District's permission before the city will give you its own. Union Sanitary District states that "in order to obtain a demolition permit from the cities of Fremont, Newark or Union City, you will be required to obtain a Demolition/Sewer Capping Permit from Union Sanitary District". The reason is the pipe left behind: the District's inspector "will verify that the lateral is properly capped", and it requires capping "so that debris will not get into our sewer lines".
What to do: Apply to the District before applying to the city, because the city's demolition permit depends on this one. Decide early whether the lateral is being abandoned or kept - if it is being kept, budget for a CCTV survey before reconnection, and ask the District what it will accept as a pass. The capping itself is the owner's contractor's work, not the District's.
Union Sanitary District, DemolitionsWhy this matters
The order matters more than the paperwork - this permit comes before the city's, not after it, so a demolition booked on the city's timetable alone will stall. The money is published: "the total permit/inspection fee will be $200, plus a $500 refundable deposit", and the deposit comes back on final inspection. And the lateral need not be a write-off. The District allows the existing one to be reused, on a condition worth knowing before anyone fills the trench: the lateral "can be temporarily capped or permanently abandoned", and "if you choose to reuse your existing lateral, you will be required to televise that lateral before re-connecting". A camera survey of an old lateral is cheap next to a new one, and it is the decision point between the two.
Also in force here
- Who issues it:
- City of Union City
- What it covers:
- construction or improvements in the public right-of-way
Union Sanitary District states that where "a sewer lateral repair involves digging in a street or other public right-of-way, an encroachment permit will also be required" from "the agency that maintains the street". In Union City that is the City, and its encroachment permit asks for a completed application, plans of work, a certificate of insurance "for applicant and all subcontractors", a traffic control plan - "site-specific plan required for work on arterial roads", with federal MUTCD typical applications "acceptable for residential needs" - and a "Faithful Performance Bond in the amount of 110% of the estimated cost of work ... due before permit issuance".
What to do: Ask the City's engineering contact about the bond before accepting a quotation, because the amount follows the estimate and a surety bond takes time to arrange. Confirm whether your street counts as arterial, since that decides whether a traffic control plan has to be drawn for the site. And treat this as the second permit rather than the first: Union Sanitary District requires its own repair permit even for work on private property.
City of Union City, PermitsWhy this matters
That bond scales with the job rather than sitting at a fixed figure. A $15,000 lateral replacement means $16,500 lodged before anybody digs - more than the repair. It can be a surety bond on the City's form rather than a cheque, which is the difference between a cost and a financing problem, but either way a homeowner who has budgeted the repair has not budgeted this. The traffic control requirement is tiered: on a residential street the standard federal diagrams may be accepted, where Walnut Creek and Danville want a plan drawn for the site whatever the road.
- Who issues it:
- Union Sanitary District
- What it covers:
- any work before it begins, including repairs on private property
"before any work is begun, a USD repair permit is required (even for repairs on private property)". It adds that "if a sewer lateral repair involves digging in a street or other public right-of-way, an encroachment permit will also be required", and that those "are available from the agency that maintains the street. In most cases, this is the city".
What to do: Get the District's repair permit before work starts, on (510) 477-7500, whichever side of the property line the work is on. If the job reaches the street, ask your city for the encroachment permit as well - the District publishes the numbers: Fremont (510) 494-4700, Newark (510) 578-4589, Union City (510) 675-5305.
Union Sanitary District, "Sewer Repairs"Why this matters
The words in brackets are the part to notice. This permit covers the whole lateral on either side of the property line, before any work begins. And a repair that reaches the street needs a second permit from a second body - so replacing a lateral that runs under the road means dealing with the District and the City, neither of whom mentions the other's requirement as your problem.
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
- Union City (municipality)
- Sewer service
Where else this answer applies
The same authorities settle this in the places below too:
Each of them gets its answer from the same authorities.
How this compares to neighbouring cities
6 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; your water line stops being yours at the meter.
Who owns the water service line in Union CityNearby cities and further reading
Look up a specific address
This page describes what applies to properties in Union City in general. To see which authorities serve one address, and what records exist for it, search for it.
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