Backflow Preventer Relocation in Phoenix

Most relocations start with one of four problems.

• It's in a pit, vault or meter box. Older sites have RPs and double checks below grade. Phoenix City Code 37-144 now bars both from basements, meter boxes, pits and vaults. Arizona's rule allows an RP in a meter box, pit or vault only where adequate drainage is provided, since its relief valve has to discharge somewhere.
• Construction is coming. A new driveway, parking reconfiguration, building addition or sidewalk work puts the assembly in the way.
• Nobody can reach it. An assembly behind a locked tenant suite or above a ceiling makes every annual test a scheduling problem. Phoenix requires every assembly to stay accessible for testing and maintenance.
• It keeps getting stolen. A street-facing assembly is an easy target. Moving it can help, within the limits below.

The rules pull the assembly toward the meter. Phoenix's location guidance (TRT 00634) puts it this way: "The closer the assembly is located to the water meter the better." It also gives a little room. Past a driveway or sidewalk, close as practicable means the nearest point after the obstacle, but in no event beyond the first tap. Behind the front setback line or just around a building corner is typically fine if the reason is clear on the plan. The assembly can't go in a traffic visibility triangle.

Mesa and Tempe set the same hard limit in code: before the first branch line off the service. Scottsdale wants an accessible location as close as possible to the service connection, with clearances set by its standard details (Revised Code 49-63(b)).

Phoenix does allow one bigger move. Under City Code 37-144, a customer may ask to put the protection inside the building, but has to show the city the internal spot still protects the public supply.

Here's the thing most owners don't expect. A service assembly protects everything downstream of it. Slide it past a branch, say the line to the irrigation or a second building, and that branch is now unprotected. Tempe's program page warns that a relocated assembly "may no longer be serving as containment." That's why the first tap rule exists, and why the city reviews the plan before the work, not after. For the location rules in detail, see where an RPZ can be installed in Arizona.

The order matters.

1. 1Plan the new location and mark the water service piping between the meter and the assembly. Phoenix wants that piping shown on site plans for secondary assemblies.
2. 2Get approval and the permit. Phoenix's guidance requires a plumbing permit for installation, alteration or replacement of any assembly. Tempe requires one when an assembly is relocated.
3. 3Move it. The water is off during the work, so we schedule around your hours.
4. 4Test before service. Arizona's rule requires a test after relocation, and Phoenix wants an original test report on every relocated preventer (TRT 00641). Tempe adds an inspection by the department.
5. 5File the report so the city's inventory shows the new location.

• The location is legal and just ugly. Landscaping or an enclosure is a simpler fix than a permitted relocation.
• Theft is the only problem. Tempe suggests a cage, a lock or an assembly with less brass. See stolen backflow assembly replacement.
• A double check in a Tempe vault may already be approved. Tempe allows a double check below ground in a vault if approved in writing, case by case (City Code 33-104(d)). Check before you dig.

HQ relocates domestic backflow assemblies: we plan the new spot against the city's rules, handle the permit, move the assembly, test it and file the report with the city. Fire backflow assemblies and fire sprinkler work are outside what HQ does. If the move involves digging up the service line, we do the excavation and line work too.

We give free estimates, and the price is set up front before any digging starts. Related: commercial plumbing, sewer and excavation repair, property management plumbing and backflow assembly replacement.