Southwest Gas owns and maintains everything up to and including the meter. Every pipe past the meter outlet belongs to the property side, not the utility. Between landlord and tenant, the lease decides who pays, but tenant-installed piping and appliance hoses usually belong to the tenant, and buried yard lines and shared building piping usually belong to the landlord.
Where does Southwest Gas's part stop?
At the outlet of the meter. Southwest Gas's Arizona tariff says the meter, regulator and service pipe on your site "shall continue to be the property of the Utility." The utility keeps them in safe working order. The tariff calls the handoff point the point of delivery. For most buildings, that's the outlet side of the meter.
From there on, it's the customer piping system. That's every pipe, valve and fitting from the meter outlet to each appliance's shutoff valve. The tariff adds that "The term excludes appliance connectors and appliances." Those are the business's own equipment.
The customer's duty is spelled out too. The customer must keep that piping "in good, safe and leak free condition." And the utility says it doesn't take on "the duty of inspecting the customer piping system." Regular checks are on the owner.
Who owns the buried line from the meter to the building?
The property side does. Southwest Gas calls it a customer-owned yard line, or COYL. It's the main gas line running underground from the meter to the building. Southwest Gas owns the lines up to and including the meter. After that, "COYLs must be maintained by the property owner." The utility notes that older buildings often have the meter set away from the building, so the owner has more pipe to maintain. That describes a lot of older Valley strip centers, where a bank of meters sits at the back of the lot or the property edge.
Federal pipeline rules require the utility to say this in writing. Under 49 CFR 192.16, the gas company has to tell customers that buried piping it doesn't maintain "may be subject to the potential hazards of corrosion and leakage." The notice says to check it for leaks, check metal pipe for corrosion, and repair anything unsafe. Southwest Gas's buried piping brochure says the same thing and lists the options: have a leak detection company or licensed plumber locate and inspect the line, or have the meter moved, at your expense, next to the building so there's less customer-owned pipe to maintain.
Because a yard line serves the building rather than one suite, it usually sits with the landlord under the lease. Check the lease before assuming.
How does the piping split between landlord and tenant?
By location and by who installed it, then by the lease. The lines below are the usual pattern. They aren't law, and your lease controls who actually pays.
| Piece | Usually sits with | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Service line, riser, meter, service regulator | Southwest Gas | Tariff: the utility's property |
| Buried yard line from the meters to the building | Landlord | Serves the property; Southwest Gas calls it a customer-owned yard line |
| Shared headers, roof piping, risers serving several suites | Landlord | Common building system |
| Piping inside a suite added for that tenant's build-out | Tenant | Installed for the tenant's use |
| Appliance connectors and appliances | Tenant | The tariff excludes them from the piping system; they're the tenant's equipment |
Our page on commercial plumbing repairs: tenant or landlord walks through how triple-net and gross leases change the answer, and which clauses to read.
### What does the code require in a multi-tenant building?
A shutoff each tenant can reach. Section 409.3 of the 2024 International Fuel Gas Code, which Phoenix enforces, says that "Where a single meter is used to supply gas to more than one building or tenant, a separate shutoff valve shall be provided for each building or tenant." Section 409.3.1 adds that "shutoff valves shall be provided for each tenant. Each tenant shall have access to the shutoff valve serving that tenant's space." Section 409.3.2 puts the valves outdoors at each building when one system serves several buildings.
Many centers give each suite its own meter instead. Southwest Gas's tariff lets the utility require all meters in a multi-tenant building "to be located at a central point." Either way, every tenant should know which meter or valve is theirs and have it labeled.
### What if the center has one master meter?
Then the rules change. Southwest Gas's tariff defines a master meter customer as one who takes gas at a central point and pipes it on to tenants. The City of Phoenix gas clearance table treats that setup differently. Permitted work on a master meter system needs a city and state inspection and a state clearance, and "Southwest Gas requires a clearance from the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) in order to reinstate service on a 'Master Meter System'." If you manage a master-metered property, confirm the status with the ACC before gas work starts.
Who fixes a gas leak in a strip center?
Southwest Gas makes it safe; the owner of the leaking pipe pays for the fix. When the utility finds a hazard on customer piping, it can shut off service without notice and tell the customer what has to be corrected before gas comes back. Phoenix lists a meter "locked off by SWG due to leak detection on the customer side of the gas meter" as needing a city permit, inspection and clearance before gas is restored.
The repair itself is plumbing work on customer piping, so a licensed plumber does it under a permit. Who gets the bill follows the table above and the lease. A leak in a tenant's kitchen manifold is a tenant item in most leases. A leak in the buried yard line or a shared roof header is usually the landlord's. Our page on what a Southwest Gas red tag means covers the path to getting gas back on.
If anyone smells gas, don't sort out ownership first. Get people out, then call 911 and Southwest Gas at 877-860-6020 from outside. Our page on a gas smell in a restaurant lists the other warning signs.
To head off arguments before something breaks, landlords and tenants can:
- Map which meter serves which suite, and label every tenant shutoff.
- Keep as-built drawings and pressure test records from each build-out.
- Write the gas split into the lease, naming the yard line and shared piping.
- Have old buried steel lines checked. Our page on why underground gas lines at commercial buildings fail explains what to look for.
HQ Plumbing & Air repairs and replaces commercial gas piping for landlords, property managers and tenants across the Phoenix area, from buried yard lines to kitchen manifolds, with 24/7 emergency service. We'll show you where the problem sits so the right party can approve the work, with a free estimate and the price up front.
Up to the meter: Southwest Gas. Past it: the property. The lease decides the rest.