Do you need a permit to connect to or work on a public sewer in Phoenix?

The whole first paragraph is one sentence: "No person may uncover, make any connections with or opening into, use, alter, or disturb any public sewer or appurtenance thereof without first obtaining a permit from the Department." "The Department" is Water Services. Two more things sit in the same article:

• Industrial users: the section says they "must obtain a permit in accordance with the provisions of Article VI of this chapter," the industrial user and pretreatment article.
• Temporary discharges (28-27.1): anyone discharging industrial wastewater, chiller water, distribution system maintenance and development water, potentially contaminated remediated groundwater or stormwater to the sewer for no more than one month must submit a temporary discharge authorization request form at least ten days before the discharge starts. It may not begin before the Director approves it. Discharges over 5,000 gallons may incur sewer charges.

The next sections turn the permit into a process. Section 28-28 requires a valid plumbing permit before Water Services approves a sewer tap. Section 28-30 lets the City authorize a developer in a new subdivision to install taps under an engineer's supervision.

• Public sewer: the city-owned main and its structures, such as manholes. Chapter 28 gives the City exclusive ownership of the public sewer lines it maintains or accepts.
• Appurtenance: a structure that belongs to the sewer, such as a manhole or cleanout on the main.
• Discharge authorization: permission to send a specific temporary flow, such as dewatering or chiller water, into the sewer.

Any person: owners, tenants, plumbers, excavators and developers. A contractor who taps or cuts into the main is covered even when the owner hired someone else to do it. The section does not carve out repairs, so a repair that opens a public sewer needs the permit too.

• A new building on a vacant lot. The lateral has to be tapped into the main. Water Services will not approve the tap without a valid plumbing permit from the Planning and Development Director.
• A contractor dewaters a deep excavation for three weeks. The discharge is under a month, so the temporary authorization rule applies, and the form is due ten days before pumping starts.
• The same dewatering runs into month two. The answer flips: 28-27.1 is written only for discharges "no greater than one month." A discharge that runs longer is not covered by that form, so ask Water Services which authorization applies before month two.
• A subdivision developer sets taps for all the lots. Under 28-30 the City may let the developer install the taps, provided a registered civil engineer supervises and sealed connections are inspected before backfill.

1. 1Get the plumbing permit for the building first. It is the ticket to the tap application.
2. 2Apply to Water Services for the sewer tap, and read the right-of-way permit requirements on the sibling page if the work is in a street or alley.
3. 3For temporary discharges, submit the request form at least ten days before the first gallon and wait for approval.
4. 4If your wastewater is industrial, ask Water Services which Article VI permit applies before you connect.
5. 5Keep the permit and inspection records with the property file.

• "A plumbing permit is enough." 28-27 is a separate permit from the Department.
• "Only the tap counts." The section also covers using, altering or disturbing the public sewer.
• "Temporary means informal." The temporary discharge authorization is a form with a ten-day lead time and an approval.
• "The engineer's stamp replaces the permit." In 28-30, the engineer supervises and submits as-built plans, but plumbing permits are still required before building sewer construction starts.