Skip to main content
BelowGrid

Who pays for the sewer lateral in Richland, WA

Which part of the pipe is yours

  • Sewer lateral

    Yours all the way to the main under the road

    Why, and what to do
  • Water service line

    Yours from the meter to your building — if certain conditions are met

    Why, and what to do
your buildingproperty linesidewalkstreetmain
The thick length is yours. A dashed marker means the position depends on your property — see below.

If something’s wrong

If a repair needs a permit or an inspection

  • Before work on the pipe · Permit

    Who issues it:
    City of Richland - permits from the city, including the city engineer's permit for work in public rights-of-way or easements
    What it covers:
    maintenance of a building sewer that requires excavation or replacement of existing sewer facilities

    Richland Municipal Code section 17.16.030 provides that "Where such maintenance requires excavation or replacement of existing sewer facilities, the owner shall apply for and receive appropriate permits from the city."

The repair rule in full, with its sources

No rule on file here is specific to selling, buying, remodelling or adding a unit; that does not mean none exists.

Who to call first about the sewer lateral

BelowGrid has no first-call guidance on file from Richland about the sewer lateral.

Richland: official site(opens in a new tab)The documents this answer is built on

Who is responsible for which part

In Richland the property owner is responsible for the whole building sewer, from the building to the public sewer, including its connection to the public sewer and any part in an easement or the street. Section 17.16.030 of the Richland Municipal Code provides that "The owner of property served by a building sewer is responsible for the building sewer's connection to the public sewer, and for the entire length of the building sewer from the public sewer to the building the line serves."

The property owner
The building sewer and its connection to the public sewer. The same section provides that "The city assumes no responsibility for the maintenance of any building sewer lines on private property or in easements or street rights-of-way."

What else is worth knowing

The dividing point is the public sewer: the owner's responsibility includes the connection to it. Each owner must operate, maintain, repair or replace the building sewer at the owner's sole expense so that it does not obstruct the public sewer, and must act on the City's notice of an obstruction traced to it. Where that work needs excavation or replacement, the owner must get City permits first.

Sources

Richland Municipal Code section 17.16.030

Checked

What the rules say

Most relevant if you have a backup or blockage

No rule on file here is specific to a backup or blockage; that does not mean none exists.

Also in force here

  • Before work on the pipePermit
    Who issues it:
    City of Richland - permits from the city, including the city engineer's permit for work in public rights-of-way or easements
    What it covers:
    maintenance of a building sewer that requires excavation or replacement of existing sewer facilities

    Richland Municipal Code section 17.16.030 provides that "Where such maintenance requires excavation or replacement of existing sewer facilities, the owner shall apply for and receive appropriate permits from the city."

    What to do: Before excavating or replacing a building sewer, apply to the City of Richland for the permits the work needs, including a permit from the city engineer for any work in the street or an easement.

    Why this matters

    The owner is responsible for the whole building sewer and its connection to the public sewer, including any part in the street, so digging up or replacing it is the owner's work and needs City permits first. Section 17.16.020 separately requires a permit from the city engineer before sewer work in public rights-of-way or easements or a connection to a public sewer.

    Current wording dates from · Checked

    Richland Municipal Code section 17.16.030

    Also quoted:

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
Richland (municipality)
Sewer service
No map of sewer providers is held here. BelowGrid cannot say which sewer provider serves an individual address.

The closest places BelowGrid has checked

The 4 nearest cities draw the line in the same place. Each authority publishes only its own rule.

Distances are approximate, in a straight line between the places’ centres.

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 Richland

Nearby cities and further reading

Look up a specific address

This page describes what applies to properties in Richland in general. To see which authorities serve one address, and what records exist for it, search for it.

Search for an address