Who pays for the sewer lateral in West Covina, CA

Who is responsible for which part

The whole run from the main to your building is yours to maintain, with one exception that West Covina writes into the ordinance rather than onto a department's web page. Where the city verifies that damage or blockage between the main and the street right-of-way "occurred due to a city authorized and owned tree, the city will assume the cost of repairs for that portion". Beyond the right-of-way line, towards your house, "the owner of the property served is responsible for the total cost of the repairs for that other portion".

The property owner

Everything between the City's main and the building. Section 23-114 requires that "all house sewer connections, industrial connection sewers and appurtenances thereto between the mainline public sanitary sewer and the facility being served, now existing or hereafter constructed, shall be maintained by the owner of the property served in a safe and sanitary condition", and that the devices and safeguards the article requires "shall be maintained in good working order by the owner of the property served".

What else is worth knowing

The pipe is not split, but one named cause on one named stretch moves the bill, and West Covina is unusual in putting that in the code rather than in a claims leaflet. Section 23-114 provides that where "it is verified by the city that damage or blockage of that portion of a house sewer connection between the public mainline and the street right-of-way (within a public street and/or parkway) occurred due to a city authorized and owned tree, the city will assume the cost of repairs for that portion of the house sewer connection". Four things decide whether that helps you. The cause has to be a city authorized and owned tree, not any tree near the verge. The damage has to be verified by the city. The stretch is the one between the main and the right-of-way line, not your front garden - the same section says that for "the other portion ... between the street right-of-way line and the house being served, the owner of the property served is responsible for the total cost". And the evidence for all of that exists while the trench is open. Where it does apply, the wording is stronger than almost any comparable wording: the city "will assume the cost", by ordinance.

Checked 2026-09-15

What is required

• Any timeClaim possible

  West Covina puts the city-tree question in its ordinance, and answers it more favourably than any other city BelowGrid has read. Where "it is verified by the city that damage or blockage of that portion of a house sewer connection between the public mainline and the street right-of-way (within a public street and/or parkway) occurred due to a city authorized and owned tree, the city will assume the cost of repairs for that portion of the house sewer connection." The limit is in the next sentence: for "the other portion of the house sewer connection between the street right-of-way line and the house being served, the owner of the property served is responsible for the total cost of the repairs".

  What to do: If a city street tree stands over the line between your property and the main, tell the City before the repair starts, not after, and ask for the damage to be verified while the trench is open - verification by the city is one of the conditions in the sentence. Have your plumber photograph the pipe in place, note where the break sits relative to the right-of-way line, and record whether roots entered through an existing break or caused it. Quote section 23-114 when you call; it is the City's own ordinance and it names the outcome.

  Why this matters▸▾

  Most authorities here either say nothing about tree roots or say something that works against you - Salinas presumes root intrusion was caused by bad installation and makes the owner pay whoever owned the tree, and Pomona allows an exception it calls rare, on a web page rather than in its code. West Covina's is an ordinance and it says the city "will assume the cost". What decides whether it reaches your repair is evidence, and evidence is what disappears first: which tree, which stretch of pipe, and whether the roots caused the break or followed it are all visible while the trench is open and unanswerable once it is filled in. Note too which stretch is covered. The City's half of the sentence stops at the right-of-way line; everything from there to your house is expressly yours, in the same section.

  In force since 2000-05-02 · Checked 2026-09-15

  West Covina Municipal Code, Chapter 23 Utilities, Article II Sewers and Sewage Disposal, Division 5 House Connection Sewers

Who governs and serves this area

Jurisdiction

West Covina (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.