§ 3-207 BUILDING SEWER INSTALLATION; PERMIT REQUIRED; EXPENSE; USE OF EXISTING SEWERS; MATERIALS, METHOD OF CONSTRUCTION; EXCAVATIONS AND BACKFILL; EXISTING UTILITY LINES; ELEVATION; CONNECTION TO PUBLIC SEWERS; UNLAWFUL CONNECTION; INSPECTIONS; TRAPS AND SCREENING; SUFFICIENCY OF WATER FLOW REQUIRED; PROTECTION OF PUBLIC PROPERTY RESTORED.
(A) (1) No unauthorized person shall uncover, make any connections with or opening into, use, alter or disturb any public sewer or appurtenance thereof without first obtaining a written permit from the Inspector.
(2) The permit application shall be supplemented by any plans, specifications or other information considered pertinent in the judgment of the Inspector. A permit and inspection fee of $5 for a residential or commercial building sewer permit and $5 for an industrial building sewer permit shall be paid to the municipality at the time the application is filed.
(2005 Code, § 3-228)
(B) All costs and expense incident to the installation and connection of the building sewer shall be borne by the owner. The owner shall indemnify the municipality from any loss or damage that may directly or indirectly be occasioned by the installation of the building sewer.
(2005 Code, § 3-229)
(C) Old building sewers may be used in connection with new buildings only when they are found, on examination and test by the Inspector, to meet all requirements of this article. All costs and expense incurred by examination and testing shall be borne by the owner.
(2005 Code, § 3-230)
(D) The size, slope, alignment, materials of construction of a building sewer and the methods to be used in excavating, placing of the pipe, jointing, testing and backfilling the trench shall all conform to the requirements of the Building and Plumbing Code or other applicable rules and regulations of the municipality. In the absence of code provisions or in amplification thereof, the materials and procedures set forth in appropriate specifications of the A.S.T.M. and W.P.C.F. Manual of Practice No. 9 shall apply.
(2005 Code, § 3-231)
(E) (1) All building and private sewers shall be constructed in open trenches carefully excavated in the proper direction, and to such width and depth as may be necessary to secure the correct alignment and faithful execution of the work which shall be vigorously prosecuted, so as to cause the least possible inconvenience to the traveling public. If the sides of the trenches will not maintain their vertical position, they shall be sheeted, shored and strongly braced. Prior to commencing the excavation in the public right-of-way, a permit from the city shall be obtained all the materials composing the sidewalks, roadway, paving and other similar improvements shall be carefully removed, and piled in some convenient place, and in such position as will ensure their safety, and where they will be out of street traffic. The material taken from out of the trenches shall likewise be so disposed as not to seriously interfere with the legitimate use of the sidewalks and roadways.
(2) After sewer and drain laying work has been finished and properly inspected the backfilling shall be done without delay, and as fast as deposited in the trench, it shall be thoroughly puddled and tamped to such an extent as to render subsequent settlement of the surface practically impossible. The plumber will be held strictly responsible for any disturbance or displacement to the roadway ballasting or paving, due to his or her negligence to faithfully conform to the requirements of this section.
(2005 Code, § 3-232)
(F) (1) If water, gas or other pipes or drains are encountered in the direct line of a sewer during its construction, the questions of carrying such sewer under, over or around such or similar obstructions, or of doing anything involving a deviation from the proper line of standard grade, shall only be decided by the Superintendent.
(2) If gas or water mains, or other pipes or drains, are encountered during the process of excavation for sewers, the same shall be carefully and thoroughly protected against injury or settlement by the contractor at his or her own expense.
(3) Whenever it is necessary to pass through or in any way disturb an existing sewer in actual use, such drainage pipe or sewer shall not be interfered with, cut through or connected in any way, without the consent of the Superintendent. No sewer or drain shall be carried immediately above or through a wooden drain, no matter whether the latter is in use or abandoned, nor through unstable or perishable material of any character, unless all such work is carefully placed upon a foundation of puddled earth, concrete or of brick or stone masonry, of such dimensions and methods of construction as may be directed by the Superintendent.
(2005 Code, § 3-233)
(G) Whenever possible, the building sewer shall be brought to the building at an elevation below the basement floor. In all buildings in which any building drain is too low to permit gravity flow to the public sewer, sanitary sewage carried by such building drain shall be lifted by an approved means and discharged to the building sewer.
(2005 Code, § 3-234)
(H) (1) The connection of the building sewer into the public sewer shall conform to the requirements of the Building and Plumbing Code or other applicable rules and regulations of the municipality, or the procedures set forth in appropriate specifications of the A.S.T.M. and the W.P.C.F. Manual of Practice No. 9. All such connections shall be made gas-tight and water-tight, and verified by proper testing. Any deviation from the prescribed procedures and materials must be approved by the Plumbing Inspector before installation.
(2) Whenever it is necessary to make connections between a building sewer and the public sewer, where no junction piece was originally placed in the public sewer adjacent to the lot, the junction piece shall be furnished by the owner, and the same shall be put in place by a licensed plumber under supervision of the Inspector. Under no circumstances shall plumbers or other outside persons break into sewers for the purpose of setting junctions or making any kind of connections whatsoever, without permission of the Inspector. All connections to the public sewer shall be in such manner as approved by the city.
(2005 Code, § 3-235)
(I) No person shall make connection of roof downspouts, interior and exterior foundation drains, areaway drains or other sources of surface runoff or ground water to a building sewer or building drain which in turn is connected directly or indirectly to a public sanitary sewer unless such connection is approved by the Superintendent for purposes of disposal of polluted surface drainage; provided that, if responsibility can be determined, the party responsible for disposal of polluted surface drainage into the public sanitary sewer shall pay a user charge equivalent to the cost of treating the polluted drainage.
(2005 Code, § 3-236)
(J) The applicant for the building sewer permit shall notify the Inspector when the building sewer is ready for inspection and connection to the public sewer. The connection and testing shall be made under the supervision of the Inspector or his or her representative.
(2005 Code, § 3-237)
(K) (1) All pipes connecting with the public sewer or laterals shall be trapped. All pipes, except water closet pipes, shall be screened. Removing screens, except for repairing pipes, is prohibited. In the use of water closets only tissue paper is allowed and all other paper or material is prohibited.
(2) All discharge pipes leading from kitchen sinks, laundry and stationary wash tubs, water closets and hand basins in private residences making direct connection with the main drain without passing through any trap shall have suitable traps.
(3) All stables, barns, carriage houses or garages, having a wash rack on which wagons, carriages, automobiles, trucks or other vehicles are washed, and connected with the city storm or sanitary sewer, shall be provided with a sand trap with an iron syphon outlet. All sand traps shall be cleaned frequently. No mud or sand shall be permitted to find outlet into the sewer.
(2005 Code, § 3-238)
(L) It shall be unlawful for any person in possession of premises into which a pipe or other connection with the city sanitary sewers and drains have been laid to permit the same to remain without adequate fixtures attached to allow a sufficient quantity of water to be so applied as properly to carry off all waste matter and keep the same unobstructed.
(2005 Code, § 3-239)
(M) (1) All excavations for building sewer installation shall be adequately guarded with barricades and lights so as to protect the public from hazard. Streets, sidewalks, parkways and other public property disturbed in the course of the work shall be restored in a manner satisfactory to the municipality.
(2) All openings made in the public sidewalks or roadways for the purpose of constructing public, private and building sewers shall be surrounded and efficiently protected at all hours by ample and sufficient barriers on which lights shall be placed and maintained at night time, together with such additional precautions as may be deemed necessary for the absolute protection of the traveling public. The conditions of this section are imperative, and plumbers will be held responsible for all claims that may arise from damages to persons or property following neglect or violation of any of its provisions.
(2005 Code, § 3-240)