Tempe City Code 27-175: who owns and repairs the sewer line, even under the street?

The section defines the pipe first. The building service line and private mains "shall consist of all piping, both on the owner's property and in the city right-of-way, down to and including the tap and tapping saddle on the city sewer main."

Then it assigns the job: "The property owner shall be responsible for cleaning, unstopping, maintenance and repair of the building service line and any private sewer mains from the owner's home or building to the public sewer main."

That is the whole section, and it was amended on January 22, 2026 (Ord. O2026.03). As codified, it has no carve-out for single-family homes, for pipe under a street or alley, or for pipe damaged by something other than the owner. Chandler has one of those carve-outs, and Scottsdale has another.

• Building service line: the pipe that carries waste from the building to the city sewer main. Also called a lateral.
• Private sewer main: a shared or larger private line on the owner's property, such as one serving several buildings.
• Tap and tapping saddle: the fitting where the service line connects to the city main. The line is yours up to and including it.
• Right of way: the public strip, usually the street or alley, where the city main runs.

The property owner. That means a commercial owner, an HOA, a landlord or a homeowner. Whether a lease pushes the cost to a tenant is a lease question. The code names the owner.

A restaurant with a slow back-of-building drain. A camera inspection finds a cracked pipe 30 feet out, under the alley. In Tempe the cracked section is the owner's to fix, even though it sits in the alley.

A landlord and a tenant. The tenant calls in a backup. The code puts the repair on the owner. Whether the tenant reimburses depends on the lease, not on 27-175.

The edge case: roots from a city tree. The section has no exception for roots or for who caused the damage. Scottsdale, by comparison, will repair some right-of-way pipe failure for homes, and Gilbert can bill a user only when the user's actions caused off-property damage. If a city tree caused it in Tempe, ask Public Works before you pay, and get the answer in writing.

1. 1Find where the failure is. A camera inspection with the footage marked at the property line tells you which piece it is.
2. 2Call Arizona 811 before you dig.
3. 3Ask the Permit Center (480-350-4311) what approval the work needs. Anyone tapping the main has separate rules in 27-174.
4. 4Get a written repair estimate for the whole run, including the section under the street.
5. 5Keep the camera footage and invoice. A landlord, tenant or insurer may ask for them.

• "The city owns everything past the property line." In Tempe the owner's line runs to the tap on the main.
• "The city fixes the part under the street." The text of 27-175 does not say so.
• "Every Valley city works the same way." Chandler repairs some single-family street sections, and Gilbert splits on-property and off-property work.
• "The tenant is responsible because the tenant called." The code names the owner. The lease decides who pays whom.