How long can a Tempe business leave a water leak unfixed? City Code 33-123

Section 33-123 is one sentence. It is "hereby prohibited for anyone to" permit the excess use, loss or escape of water through breaks, leaks or malfunction in the water user's plumbing or distribution facilities, "for any period of time after" the escape should have reasonably been discovered and corrected.

The neighboring sections add detail:

• 33-121(a) says no person shall waste water supplied within the City service area. Waste includes water not put to beneficial use, use "in excess of that reasonably necessary," willfully or negligently letting water flow into the public right of way enough to cause flooding, and failure or neglect to maintain pipes, valves, hoses, pools, spas and similar facilities.
• 33-121(b) lists what is not waste. Examples are flow from firefighting, storm run-off, flow from City water system failures, and water that reaches adjacent property or the right-of-way when caused by vandalism by someone other than the owner or occupant, wind, emergencies or natural disasters.
• 33-124 lets the Public Works Director or designee grant an exemption on a written application if compliance would be detrimental to the health, safety and welfare of the public, with a water conservation audit as a minimum condition.

Each step is counted per matter and mostly within a 12-month window.

1. 1First violation (33-125). The City issues a verbal notice and provides educational materials, including a copy of the article. A second violation for the same matter cannot be declared sooner than 14 days after the first notice, though more contacts may occur first.
2. 2Second violation (33-126). A written notice of violation within a 12-month period, a required water audit of the facility and a written compliance schedule.
3. 3Third violation (33-127). A written notice and a surcharge on the next monthly bill equal to 25 percent of the average monthly bill for the previous six months for the meter that supplied the wasted water, plus another compliance schedule.
4. 4Fourth violation (33-128). The same, at 50 percent.
5. 5After the fourth, within 24 months (33-129). A penalty surcharge of one month's average billing, and the City discontinues water to the premises or meter where the violations occurred. Restoring service costs two and one-half times the existing rate for activating service, and the Director must first find reasonable assurances that violations will not recur. A security deposit may be required.

Section 33-133 caps any penalty or surcharge at $2,500 per violation per day.

The article runs through the Public Works Director or designee.

• Verbal notice (33-130). Given to the water user "in person or by telephone," with educational materials delivered in person or by regular mail. It tells you the Public Works Director or his designee "will continue to monitor for compliance" and that failure to correct the problem within fourteen (14) days will result in a written second notice.
• Written notices (33-131). The second notice goes in person or by regular mail to the water user. Later notices go in person or by certified mail to the person identified on the account for the meter that supplied the wasted water. Each one states the facts, the possible penalties and "his right to a hearing on the violation." Section 33-131 adds: "The effective date of violation shall be the date of issuance of the notice of violation."
• Hearing (33-132). Any person against whom a penalty is levied under the article has a right to a hearing before the Public Works Director or designee.

• Should have reasonably been discovered. The code does not define it. A reading: a leak that ordinary attention, such as a meter check or a visible wet spot, would have caught. It is a knowledge standard, not a clock.
• Water user. The customer on the account; see 33-131 below for who receives later notices.
• For the same matter. Violations count against the same problem. A new leak elsewhere is a different matter.
• Surcharge. A charge added to the next monthly bill for that meter. Nonpayment of any part of a bill may lead to termination of service (33-127, 33-128).

Anyone using water supplied within the City service area. For a commercial property that means the account holder, which may be a tenant, a landlord paying the meter, or a management company.

It does not cover flow resulting from City water utility system failures or malfunctions, which 33-121(b) lists as not water waste. The prohibition in 33-123 also runs only for the period after the leak should reasonably have been discovered and corrected.

A restroom flush valve that runs all weekend. The meter shows flow overnight. The manager sees it Monday. The City visits, gives a verbal notice and sends the article. Fixing the valve resolves it.

A strip center irrigation break that nobody checks. The leak floods a parking apron and reaches the street. Section 33-121(a) names flooding of the right of way. Whether the owner or the tenant holds the account decides who gets the notice.

The edge case: the second leak. A building has a slab leak that is repaired, then a different one two months later. The code counts violations "for the same matter" and does not define the phrase, so ask the City whether it treats the new leak as a new matter before assuming the count starts over.

A tenant who never sees the bill. The landlord pays the meter and the tenant runs the fixtures. Section 33-131 sends later notices to the person identified on the account for the meter, and the surcharge is added to that meter's bill, so the account holder is the one who receives them.

1. 1Shut off the affected fixture or line, then check the water meter with everything off. A reading that still moves points to a leak you have not isolated yet.
2. 2Have a plumber or leak detection technician find and repair it (see the leak detection quote scope FAQ). Keep the invoice, the date you found the leak and photos.
3. 3If the City calls or visits, write down the date and who called. That verbal notice starts the 14-day window under 33-130.
4. 4If a written notice arrives, treat the compliance schedule date as your deadline. From the second violation on, the water audit and compliance schedule are required (33-126, 33-131). Use the Public Works contact printed on the notice.
5. 5To contest a penalty, ask for the hearing before the Public Works Director or designee under 33-132, and bring the invoice, dates and photos.
6. 6Check whether the repair involves replacing pipe. Tempe's permit rules for leak repairs are on the tenant improvement permit page.
7. 7Put the meter on someone's weekly checklist. A recurring check is the cheapest defense against the 33-123 standard.

• Waiting for the City to say something. The prohibition runs from when the leak should have been found, not from a notice.
• Assuming the fine is a flat amount. Surcharges are a percentage of the average bill, which grows with building size, up to a cap of $2,500 per violation per day.
• Ignoring which meter supplied the water. The surcharge is figured on the average bill for that meter.
• Ignoring the first call. The verbal notice starts the 14-day clock toward a written second violation.
• Using another city's number. Surprise says 72 hours, Scottsdale charges a flat fifty-dollar fine on the third violation, Tempe uses percentages.

The city's code text governs; this page explains it.