Who is responsible for a broken sewer line in Phoenix?

Article I of Chapter 28 has the owner rule and the repair rule. The section titled "Property owner responsible for cleaning, repair, and replacement of building sewers and connections" is 28-5. The Water Services page on general service issues summarizes it: "home or property owners are responsible for cleaning and maintaining the sewer line that runs from the house to the connection with the city sewer main in the street or alley," and the city "will ONLY repair broken service lines within the public right of way."

The repair rule (28-5.1) reads, for single-family and duplex property: "The owner of single-family or duplex property is responsible for determining the approximate location of damaged or broken section of piping serving the property. If the damaged or broken section is located in the public right-of-way, the property owner must contact the Department. The Department will verify the damaged or broken location through inspection. If the damaged or broken section is verified to be in the public right-of-way, and is sufficient in nature to require repair, the Department will repair or replace that piping section. The property owner must repair or replace the broken piping section located on private property."

For everything else, the same section (28-5) says the opposite. Where a broken section of building connection piping "serves other than a single-family or a duplex property, and the damaged or broken section is located off property in a street or alley, the owner or the owner's contractor is responsible for the repair or replacement of the damaged or broken section and must obtain a permit from the City before the owner or the owner's contractor performs work in a public right-of-way."

"Disputes as to the location, extent of damage, method of repair, or replacement of the damaged or broken piping section will be resolved at the sole discretion of the Director." The Director is the Water Services Director.

• Building sewer: in Chapter 28, the extension from the building drain to the building connection.
• Building connection: the extension from the sewer tap on the main to the property line or easement line of the property served.
• The Department: the Water Services Department.
• Public right of way: the street or alley strip. It is the city's part of the line only when the break is verified there.

Owners of every Phoenix property on city sewer. The split is by property type: single-family and duplex owners get the city's street-section repair, and everyone else (a fourplex, a strip mall, a restaurant, an office building) pays for the street or alley section too and needs a city permit to work in the right of way. The private-side duty is the owner's in both cases.

• A duplex with a root blockage. A camera shows a crack under the alley. The owners call Water Services, the Department inspects and verifies the break, and the city replaces that section. The owners fix the pipe on their lot.
• A restaurant with the same crack in the same alley. The answer flips. The owner or the owner's contractor replaces the alley section and must get a City permit before working in the right of way. The city does not do it.
• A break the Department says is not bad enough. The city repairs a verified section only if it is "sufficient in nature to require repair." A disagreement goes to the Director.

1. 1Have a plumber camera the line to find the approximate location of the break. That is the owner's job under the code.
2. 2Measure from the cleanout or building to the property line to see whether the break is on your lot or in the street or alley.
3. 3If it may be in the right of way and the property is single-family or a duplex, contact Water Services so the Department can verify it by inspection. For any other property, plan for your contractor to do the street section under a City right-of-way permit (see the tap permit page).
4. 4Repair the private section. Replacing concealed defective pipe needs a plumbing permit under Section 105.2 of the Phoenix building code amendments.
5. 5If sewage is overflowing from a manhole, call Water Services at 602-262-6691 (6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. weekdays) or 602-261-8000 after hours, weekends and holidays.

• "The city owns everything in the street." It repairs a verified section in the right of way, and for single-family or duplex property.
• "Commercial owners get the same deal as homeowners." The city's street-section repair is limited to single-family and duplex property. Everyone else pays for it and permits it.
• "The city decides where my line ends." The owner finds the approximate location, and the Department verifies it.
• "Every lateral rule is the same in the Valley." Glendale's city excavates streets for any owner, and Chandler's owner pays for the street section unless it is a house or duplex.