Who owns and repairs the sewer lateral in Scottsdale?

The opening rule covers everyone. Building sewers and sewer laterals are private up to and including the tap on the public sewer. The property owner, or the association or management firm, owns and maintains them. The section also bars building sewers and laterals from a public utility easement or right-of-way except to connect directly to a public sewer.

Then it splits by property type:

• Obstructions (a): the account holder must find the location and cause of any obstruction that restricts flow in the building sewer or lateral and get repair estimates to clear it.
• Residential, on private property (b)(1): if an obstruction comes from root intrusion, pipe failure, sags or joint separation on private property, the owner or account holder pays for all corrective action, whether that is clearing the line or repairing or replacing it. Disputes about where the obstruction is or what was done are decided by the division director.
• Residential, in the right-of-way or easement (b)(2): if an obstruction in that stretch is caused by physical failure of the pipe material, a structural deficiency or a joint separation that was not caused by roots, sags or discharged waste, the city may repair that portion at no additional cost to the user.
• City repair funding (b)(3): the city budgets funds for this each year, uses them first-in first-served, and suspends service when the money runs out. It does not reimburse any repair the user paid for.
• Commercial, industrial and non-residential (c): the user, account holder, owner or property management association is responsible for cleaning, unstopping, repairing and replacing building sewers and laterals up to and including the connection to the public sewer main, and for all the costs.

• Building sewer or lateral: the pipe that carries waste from a building to the public sewer main. The code treats the two words together.
• Tap: the connection point on the public main. Ownership runs up to and including it, so the private line reaches the main.
• Account holder: whoever is billed for the water and sewer account. The code puts the duty to investigate an obstruction on the account holder.
• Division director: the city official who decides disputes about where a blockage is and how to fix it. The decision is at the director's sole discretion.

Every property on the Scottsdale sewer system. Homeowners get a narrow city-repair exception in the street. Commercial, industrial and non-residential laterals follow subsection (c). Ask the city to classify a shared or multifamily lateral before assuming which repair program applies. A landlord, an HOA or a management firm may carry the maintenance duty for shared laterals.

A restaurant with a slow main drain. The account holder must find where the blockage is and get repair estimates. If the break is under the alley, the restaurant still pays for the repair to the tap.

A homeowner with a cracked lateral under the street. The pipe shows structural failure and no roots. The city may repair it at no cost, but only while the year's funds last. If the funds run out, the owner pays and is not reimbursed.

The edge case: roots in the right-of-way. Roots invading the street section make the owner responsible even there, because the city exception excludes roots, sags and discharged waste.

1. 1Get a camera inspection so you know where the problem sits and what caused it.
2. 2Ask the plumber to mark whether the failed section is on your lot, in the easement or under the street.
3. 3For a section in the street, read the excavation permit page before work starts.
4. 4Homeowners with a street-side failure with no roots: contact Scottsdale Water before repairing it yourself, since the city will not reimburse work you paid for.
5. 5Commercial owners: plan the repair and budget for it, and check your lease to see who pays between landlord and tenant.

• "The city owns everything in the street." The lateral is private up to and including the tap, even in the street.
• "A business gets the same city help as a home." Subsection (c) puts all cost to the main on the commercial owner.
• "We fixed it ourselves and the city will pay us back." Subsection (b)(3) says the city makes no reimbursement.

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