What permit does Scottsdale require to dig a street to connect to the sewer?

Section 49-115 has three sentences, and each is a rule:

1. 1No one may excavate in a city street, alley or right-of-way to connect to the city's sewer system without complying with Article III of Chapter 47, the right-of-way use rules.
2. 2No one may fail or neglect to restore the street, alley or right-of-way to its original condition.
3. 3No one may uncover, connect to, open into, use, alter or disturb any sewer without complying with Article III of Chapter 47.

Article III is where the Permit to Work in the Right-of-Way (PWR) lives. Our right-of-way permit page explains what a PWR covers and requires.

Section 49-122 adds requirements for developers and owners who tap into or extend public sewers:

• Plans and specifications for extensions must be prepared by a professional engineer registered in Arizona and follow city standards.
• A developer or owner tapping into or extending a public sewer must get an encroachment permit from the city before work begins, and the plans for tap-ins are required exhibits on the application.
• Extensions built in the right-of-way or a public utility easement become city property after final acceptance.

• POTW: publicly owned treatment works, the city's sewer system. Connecting to it means tying into the public sewer, not a private line on your lot.
• Encroachment permit: the city's permit for tapping into or extending the public sewer, distinct from the PWR for using the street surface. The code lists them side by side, so plan for both.
• Restore to original condition: the code gives no specification in these sections. The improvement standards in Article III of Chapter 47 supply it.

Anyone whose sewer connection work reaches into the street: the owner of a new building, a tenant needing a bigger lateral, a developer extending a main and the contractor doing the digging. It does not cover work entirely inside your lot, and it does not decide who pays for a lateral repair. That question is on our lateral ownership page.

A new restaurant on a vacant pad. The building sewer runs to a tap in the street. The contractor files the encroachment permit with the tap plans, pulls the PWR and restores the pavement afterward.

A shopping center replacing a collapsed lateral. Digging in the alley requires the same permit route. The center's owner pays for the work because a commercial lateral is private up to the public sewer under Sec. 49-127.

The edge case: the city accepts the extension. A developer extends a sewer in a public utility easement. After final acceptance, the extension belongs to the city, and the developer no longer owns or maintains it.

1. 1Have a plumber or engineer locate the public sewer and the tap point, and note whether the work is in the street, an alley or an easement.
2. 2Ask your contractor who is pulling the PWR and the encroachment permit. Both need to be in hand before the trench opens.
3. 3For an extension, hire an Arizona registered engineer for the plans.
4. 4Plan the pavement restoration and get it approved by the city inspector.
5. 5Keep the permit copies with the lease or property file.

• "A plumbing permit covers the tap." The tap needs an encroachment permit, and the street work needs a PWR.
• "The city restores the street." The code puts the duty on the person who excavated.
• "Extensions stay ours." Extensions in the right-of-way or a public easement become city property after acceptance.

This page summarizes the code. The adopted text on Municode governs.