Who Owns the Sewer Line From the Building to the Main, by City

Tempe has the clearest and strictest rule in the Valley. City Code 27-175, amended in January 2026, defines the owner's line as "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." That covers the pipe under the sidewalk and street and the fitting on the main itself. Then it puts the whole thing on the owner, who is "responsible for cleaning, unstopping, maintenance and repair."

Chandler uses nearly the same definition in City Code 51-6, with one difference: a single-family or duplex owner gets the city to fix a broken section under the street. A commercial owner doesn't.

The rest of the Valley sorts into three groups:

• Owner pays to the main, every property (Tempe). Goodyear's code speaks only to the part inside the lot, which is the owner's.
• City fixes the street section, homes only (Phoenix, Chandler, Avondale, Surprise, and Scottsdale while its budget lasts). Commercial owners pay to the main.
• City fixes the street section for any property (Mesa, Gilbert, Glendale, Queen Creek and the Fountain Hills Sanitary District), usually after verifying where the break is.

The codes use different names for the same pipe, which is half the confusion.

• Building sewer, lateral, building service line, building connection. All mean the pipe from your building to the public main. Avondale splits it: the "house sewer" runs from the building to the property line, the "house connection" from the property line to the main.
• Tap and saddle. The opening cut into the city main and the fitting clamped over it. Tempe, Chandler and Scottsdale all put the tap on the owner's side.
• Private main. A sewer serving more than one building on a private site, such as a shopping center. Scottsdale 49-118 and Surprise 58-315 say it stays private until it enters the public manhole.
• Off-property. Our shorthand, and Gilbert's: any part of the line outside your lot line.

Every property connected to a city sewer, with a split between homes and everything else. "Everything else" includes apartments over two units, retail, restaurants, offices, industrial and HOA-owned lines in Scottsdale, which names "the property's association or management firm."

It does not apply where a sanitary district, not the city, owns the sewer: Fountain Hills runs its own district rules. It also doesn't settle who pays between a landlord and a tenant; that's in the lease.

A Tempe cafe backs up and the camera shows a broken joint under the curb. The owner hires the plumber and pays for the street section, the right-of-way permit and the patch. Nothing flips it, even for a house: Tempe has no single-family exception.

The same break at a Glendale cafe. The owner calls the city, which does the excavation in the street at no cost. The owner still pays to clear the stoppage and fix anything on the lot.

A Chandler duplex versus a Chandler fourplex. The duplex owner gets the city to repair the broken street section up to the property line. The fourplex owner pays for the same repair. One more unit flips the answer.

A Gilbert business with roots in the street section. The town coordinates the off-property repair, but the user removes roots from "its entire individual sewer line," and the town can bill the user if their actions caused the damage.

Get proof of where the problem is before anyone digs.

1. 1Clear the stoppage and camera the line from a cleanout, recording distance so the break can be placed on or off the lot.
2. 2Find the property line on the plat or survey. The public right of way often runs past the curb to include the sidewalk strip, so the street half can start closer to your building than you'd think.
3. 3Look up your city's rule in the table above, using the property type (single-family, duplex, or other).
4. 4If the city handles the street section, call the city first. Phoenix and Avondale verify the location by inspection or video before repairing.
5. 5If you pay for it, line up the permits: the city's right-of-way or encroachment permit, and in Surprise a separate lateral repair permit, pulled by the contractor.
6. 6Get the repair inspected before the line goes back in service (Gilbert requires an inspector to accept it).

• "The city owns everything past my cleanout." Tempe and Chandler define the owner's line as reaching the tap on the main.
• "Commercial is treated the same as a house." Scottsdale's code gives commercial and non-residential owners "all associated costs" up to the main, while homes may get a city repair.
• "The city will fix it if it's in the street, whatever the cause." Scottsdale excludes roots and sags, Surprise requires that the user didn't cause the damage, and Gilbert can bill the user.
• "Any plumber can dig up the street to fix it." Peoria requires a contractor whose license covers right-of-way work, plus an Engineering permit.

Surprise requires a repair permit and an encroachment permit before any off-property lateral excavation, and Gilbert won't let a repaired line back into service until an inspector accepts it. Scottsdale and Phoenix leave disputes over the break's location to the division or department director.

If your commercial sewer line needs a camera inspection or a repair that crosses into the street, HQ handles sewer repair and right-of-way plumbing across the Valley, with free estimates.