(A) 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 a duly authorized agent.
(B) There shall be two classes of building sewer permits: for residential and commercial service, and for service to establishments producing industrial wastes. In either case, the owner or his or her agent shall make application on a special form furnished by the city.
(1) The permit application shall be supplemented by any plans, specifications, or other information considered pertinent in the judgment of the Inspector.
(2) A permit fee of $275, and an inspection fee of $75, shall be charged for a residential or commercial building. A permit fee of four hundred twenty-five dollars ($475), and an inspection fee of $75 shall be charged for an industrial building. All fees shall be paid to the Clerk-Treasurer at the time application is filed.
(C) No owner or occupant of any real property shall tap or drain either directly or indirectly into any public sewer until a sewer tap permit has been obtained and he or she has satisfied his or her obligation to pay all assessments, reimbursements, or pro rata shares of sewer extension costs laid against the property for public sewers installed to serve it.
(D) Tap permits shall be obtained from the Utility Department and shall be issued only to sewer tap contractors that are approved by the Board of Public Works and Safety. After making each sewer tap and building sewer installation, the tap contractor shall notify the Utility Department at least three hours in advance so that the tap and building sewer can be inspected and approved before the excavation is back-filled. All sewer permits shall be valid for one year after date of issue shown on the permit. If work is not completed in this year, it shall be necessary to secure a new permit.
(E) 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 city from any loss or damage that may directly or indirectly be occasioned by the installation of the building sewer.
(F) A separate and independent building sewer shall be provided for every building except where one building stands at the rear of another on an interior lot, and no private sewer is available or can be constructed to the rear building through an adjoining alley, court yard, or driveway, the building sewer from the front building may be extended to the rear building and the whole considered as one building sewer.
(G) Old building sewers may be used in connection with new buildings only when they are found, on examination and test by the said Inspector, to meet the current code requirements for building sewers.
(H) The size, slope, alignment, materials of construction of a building sewer, the methods to be used in excavating, placing of the pipe, jointly 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 city. 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.P. Manual of Practice No. 9 shall apply.
(I) 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 in the public sewer, sanitary sewage carried by such building drain shall be lifted by an approved means and discharged to the building sewer.
(J) No person shall make connection of roof downspouts, exterior foundation drains, areaway drains, or other sources of surface run-off or groundwater to a building sewer or building drain which in turn is connected directly or indirectly to public sanitary sewer
(K) 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 city, 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. Any deviation from the prescribed procedures and materials must be approved by the Superintendent before installation.
(L) (1) The building sewer shall generally enter the main or lateral by way of an existing wye or tee. In the event of the absence of a wye or tee, the connection to the sewer main or lateral shall be made by one of the methods indicted below:
(a) Installation of a manhole;
(b) Circular saw-cut of sewer main by proper tools (sewer tap machine or similar), and proper installation of hub wye saddle or hub tee saddle, in accordance with the manufacturer specifications; or
(c) Use of a pipe cutter to neatly and accurately cut out the desired length of pipe for insertion of proper fitting. Use of “bank seal” couplings or similar couplings with stainless steel shear rings and clamps to fasten the inserted fitting and hold it firmly in place. The manufacturer’s recommendations for installation shall be followed.
(2) If another method is desired, a detailed plan shall be submitted for review and must be approved by the Board of Public Works and Safety before the connection is made. Indiscriminate breaking of the sewer main pipe is not permitted.
(3) Connection of the building sewer to the wye or tee shall be made with a flexible type water-tight connection. Acceptable connections are Clow Corporation’s Bank seal Rubber Ring Adapters, Bank Seal couplings, or approved equal.
(M) All excavations for building sewer installation must 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 city.
(N) Any tap or building sewer installation not made in accordance with the foregoing provisions shall be deemed an illegal installation and upon discovery, shall be promptly disconnected at the expense of the property owner and shall remain disconnected until the provisions of this section have been complied with. The City Superintendent, prior to covering, must approve repairs.
(Ord. 2-2002, passed 4-23-2002) Penalty, see § 51.999