Who pays to extend a sewer main in Phoenix?

Article III of Chapter 28 opens with the developer's duties. A developer that seeks to connect a sewer main extension to a public sewer "must submit construction plans and specifications for approval to the Director, pay established fees and charges, and receive approved permits from the City before construction of the sewer main extension will be allowed." Then the cost rule: "The developer must pay for all the costs to design, permit, and construct the sewer main extension, including any costs of acquiring rights-of-way and easements, preparation of as-built plans, and for the Department to inspect construction of the sewer main extension."

The rest of the section adds four rules:

• No city engineering. The Department will not do field engineering or prepare detailed plans for a developer. The developer hires an Arizona-registered civil engineer for all of it.
• Sizing: extensions must be sized for adequate service at peak flows as the Director determines, and the Director decides the layout of public sewer mains.
• Lift stations: if hydraulic grade conditions do not allow a gravity main, the developer builds the public lift station at its own expense to city design standards.
• Acceptance: extensions, lift stations and other appurtenances built under the article become part of the public sewer once the City accepts them.
• City-required upsizing: under 28-23(B), "The Director may require a developer to increase the capacity of off-site infrastructure. If increased capacity is required, the City will be responsible for the cost of the increased capacity." That contribution is subtracted from the total cost used to calculate any repayment owed to the developer.

Section 28-23 lets a developer who builds oversized off-site sewer recover part of the cost from later connectors. It applies to two kinds of project:

• Class 1: an off-site sewer main eight inches or larger, built by one developer and connected to later by others, that is not a Class 2 project.
• Class 2: an off-site main 12 inches or larger, or a lift station with its force mains, or a combination, with infrastructure costs over $1,000,000 and a defined benefiting area that other developers will likely connect to.

The developer must submit at least three written sealed bids, engineering costs are capped at 20 percent of the low construction bid, and interest is not recoverable. Repayment agreements end ten years after execution for Class 1 and 20 years for Class 2, or when the full amount is repaid. Later connectors in the benefiting area pay a connection charge, and the Department keeps three percent of the money it collects, plus an administrative fee of $500 or $2.00 per acre of benefiting area, whichever is greater.

• Developer: anyone who subdivides land or builds, alters, relocates or enlarges any structure. A single commercial tenant improvement that needs a new main is covered.
• Off-site infrastructure: sewer needed for your project that sits outside your property.
• The Department and the Director: Water Services and its Director.

Any owner whose project needs public sewer that does not exist at the lot line, whether it is a subdivision or one commercial building. It does not cover a property that only needs a tap on an existing main, which is handled by the connection permit.

• A restaurant on the edge of an older neighborhood. The main ends two lots away. The owner is the developer for the extension, so the cost, the easements and the city's inspection fees land on the project.
• A warehouse whose main also opens a vacant parcel to service. If the extension is a qualifying Class 1 project, the developer can sign a repayment agreement and collect from the next connectors for ten years.
• The same warehouse, but no one else will ever connect to the main. The answer flips: repayment comes only from later connectors in the benefiting area, so with none the developer carries the full cost, whatever the pipe size.

1. 1Ask Water Services where the nearest public main and its capacity are before you buy or lease.
2. 2Hire an Arizona-registered civil engineer to prepare the plans, because the Department will not.
3. 3Submit the plans and specifications to the Director and pay the established fees and charges.
4. 4Obtain the approved permits before any construction starts.
5. 5If the project may qualify for repayment, collect three sealed bids and ask about a repayment agreement before you bid it out.

• "The city extends the main and bills me later." The section says the Department does no field engineering or detailed plans for a developer.
• "I only pay for my part." The code lists rights-of-way, easements, as-built plans and the city's inspection.
• "If the city makes me build it bigger, I pay for that too." Not under 28-23(B): the City pays for capacity above what the project needs.
• "Whatever I build is mine." The extension becomes part of the public sewer on acceptance, and the City owns and maintains public sewer lines.