Water and Sewer Tap Permits and City Fees, by Valley City

Phoenix's Chapter 28, Article IV starts with a flat rule: no one may "uncover, make any connections with or opening into" a public sewer without a Water Services permit. A sewer tap application needs "a valid plumbing permit issued by the Planning and Development Director" first. Then the fee: "Applications for sewer taps to be constructed by the Department will include a fee of $95.00 for each sewer tap."

Two other Phoenix details matter on a new building:

• Dye test: a $50 fee, refunded if the test shows the tap isn't in service.
• Water tap size: Phoenix's meter sizing guideline says all new service taps "shall be a minimum of 1-inch in size," even for single-family lots.

• Tap. The fitting that cuts into the main, water or sewer. A "machine tap" (Tempe) is the tap alone, without the excavation and pavement.
• Service line. The pipe from the main to the property line or meter. Scottsdale and Chandler price it separately from the meter.
• Meter set fee. What the city charges to set its meter once the tap and box are in.
• Capacity or impact fee. A one-time charge by meter size for system capacity. Mesa calls it a capacity fee and charges it before installing the meter.
• Dye test. Dye flushed down a fixture to prove which sewer tap a building drains to.

Anyone connecting a building to a public main: a new commercial pad, an ADU with its own meter, a restaurant upsizing its water service, or an owner abandoning a septic system for city sewer. It also covers the contractor making the tap, since several cities let a licensed contractor do the work under a permit and inspection.

A Tempe restaurant pad on a local street. A new six-inch sewer tap built by the city carries an $1,800 fee including pavement replacement. On an arterial the charge is actual cost, and taps outside the city run one and a half times the table.

A Scottsdale office adding a 2-inch meter. The city can tap the main and install the service line and meter for a $4,790 fee, or a state-licensed contractor installs the line to city standards and the city sells the meter for $930.

A Chandler developer running its own service lines. Because the developer installs the line and box, the city charges only the meter fee: $419 at 3/4 inch inside the city and $587 outside it.

A Mesa owner upsizing from 1 inch to 2 inches. The capacity fee is charged on the increase from the original meter size to the larger one, per 8-10-13.

1. 1Size the meter first. It drives the tap fee and any capacity or impact fee. Phoenix won't go below 1 inch on new taps.
2. 2Pull the plumbing permit for the building side. Phoenix and Glendale require it before the sewer connection.
3. 3Ask the city who makes the tap. Some tap themselves, some let a licensed contractor do it under inspection.
4. 4Add the right-of-way permit if the tap is in the street, plus pavement restoration (see the pavement cut table).
5. 5Pay capacity or impact fees before the meter is set; Mesa and El Mirage both require payment first.
6. 6Schedule inspection of the tap and service before backfill.

• "The listed fee is the whole bill." Mesa's capacity fee alone is $9,528 at 3/4 inch, far more than any tap fee here.
• "Fees are the same everywhere." A 3/4-inch city-installed service is $2,730 in Scottsdale and $1,819 in Chandler.
• "Anyone can tap the main." Every city here requires a permit, and several reserve the tap for their own crew.
• "The city pays for the street." Chandler adds its concrete and asphalt repair cost to the meter fee.

When your building's tap, service line or lateral needs work, HQ can inspect and repair building water and sewer lines. Review the utility boundary, permits and approved contractor requirements before scheduling work at a public main.