Who owns the commercial water service line from the street to the meter?

At the meter, in most of the systems reviewed. Phoenix's water service page describes a full service as a tap and meter installed from a main in the right-of-way or easement. City crews install the tap from the main to the property line, and the box, meter and tap remain the property of Water Services. Phoenix's outside-city policy defines a water service connection as a water line serving an individual property that extends from the distribution main to the meter, located at the property line or the easement line.

Mesa words it as a repair rule. All connections must be made, and all meters set, by the city on its distribution mains. All repairs on mains, meters, service laterals to the meter, check valves and fire hydrants must be made by the Department or as approved by the Director. Mesa also defines the point of delivery as generally the outlet side of the metering equipment. The customer provides right-of-way or easements at no cost for the service laterals and other facilities up to that point, and grants the city a license over the property for reading, connecting and disconnecting service and for operating and replacing the system.

Mesa adds a point that matters for sites on big roads. Service must come from a distribution main in the right-of-way or an acceptable public utility easement, and "service is not available from transmission mains." If your frontage has only a large transmission main, the connection point may be a main that has to be extended to you, which is offsite work the developer pays for.

Arizona Water Company, a regulated private utility, shows the same split in a different way. Under Arizona Corporation Commission rule R14-2-405, where service is provided for the first time the customer provides and maintains a private shutoff valve within 18 inches of the meter on the customer's side, and the utility provides a like valve on its side.

Customer-side domestic piping is generally private, subject to the utility’s actual service terms. In Phoenix's code, a private booster pump station, storage or pressure reducing valve that a building needs because of its elevation must sit downstream of the point of service delivery. It stays privately owned, operated and maintained at the property owner's sole cost. The same idea covers the piping to your building, the shutoff, and the fixtures.

On a commercial site that usually includes:

• The service pipe from the meter to the building. This line can be long on a pad lot or a large lot, and a leak in it is yours to fix.
• Customer-maintained backflow assemblies. Confirm the utility’s requirements for the particular assembly. A fire-line plan review point of service does not establish the fire-line maintenance boundary. Our page on commercial backflow testing in Arizona covers testing.
• Pressure control and shutoffs on your side. Plan for a labeled shutoff you can reach. See planning a commercial water shutoff.
• Storage, pumps and surge protection for critical uses. Mesa's code says customers whose machinery or process needs constant flow or pressure must install storage, pumps or tanks at their own expense to prevent damage if service is interrupted. The city may also require, at the customer's expense, equipment that limits flow and pressure swings caused by the customer's own operations. Mesa customers also agree to hold the city harmless for damage from pressure fluctuations, interruptions and supply shortages, so protect sensitive equipment on your side.
• Separate irrigation and fire connections. Phoenix requires separate service connections for domestic, fire and landscape demand, so each has its own line and its own meter or valve.

The arrangement changes the details you must confirm. Phoenix’s meter guideline allows a master-meter arrangement for certain buildings or developments on the same lot and describes separate connections and manifolding when an assured continuous supply is needed. Have Water Services confirm the permitted design and responsibility boundary for each connection. New service connections are limited to 50 percent of the service main's diameter, so the size of the line is tied to the main.

If your building submeters tenants, the plumbing beyond the master meter is still yours. Our page on landlord water submetering in Arizona covers what a landlord can charge.

Report a suspected utility-side leak to the utility and arrange assessment of private piping when appropriate. A surface wet spot alone does not establish which buried pipe is leaking or who owns it; water can travel before appearing above ground. Our page on how to do a water meter leak test shows how to tell.

Write down what you see before you call: the date, the meter read, and photos of the wet area and the meter box. Ask the utility to tell you in writing which side it considers the leak to be on. That record helps if there is a dispute over who pays for the repair. It also helps the next owner or property manager, who will otherwise have to work out the boundary all over again when the next leak shows up.

Two cautions. First, do not dig in the right-of-way without the permits: see permit to dig in the right-of-way. Second, do not move or remove a meter yourself. Phoenix code allows only authorized Water Services staff to install, remove or reinstall water meters, and a developer who moves one pays the city to restore it. Mesa has its own rule that meters are set by the city.

Some utilities draw the boundary at a different point, such as the property line or the customer's shutoff valve. Ask the utility for its written service terms and a sketch of where its responsibility ends. Then mark that spot on your as-built plans so the next owner or property manager can find it.

Five questions worth putting to the utility in writing:

1. 1Where exactly does your responsibility end: the meter outlet, the property line or a shutoff valve?
2. 2Who repairs a leak on the utility side of the meter, and who do we call after hours?
3. 3Who owns and maintains the meter box, the lid and any check valve or backflow assembly at the meter?
4. 4If we upsize or relocate the meter, who does the work and what does it trigger?
5. 5Do you have a record drawing of our tap and service line?

For the plumbing on your side of the meter, HQ Plumbing & Air is licensed and insured, and the estimate is free. For the wider picture of onsite and offsite lines, see what offsite plumbing is and how a tap works.

This domestic meter description does not establish the maintenance limit for a private fire line. Phoenix’s Design Standards Manual places owner maintenance from the fire-line control valve in the public right-of-way or water easement. See fire-line ownership and approvals.