§ 13-401. Restrictions on Constructing Sewers. 31

   (1)   No contract shall be entered into for the construction of sewer in any street unless the street in which the sewer is to be constructed has been legally opened.

   (2)   All work shall be done by contractors who the Water Department deems qualified to construct sewers, on the basis of experience and capacity to perform the job according to specifications within the time required.

 

Notes

31	Source: 1872 Ordinances, p. 228; 1940 Ordinances, p. 331.

§ 13-402. Authorization for Construction of Sewers by the City.

   (1)   The Procurement Department shall, upon request of the Water Department, enter into a contract for construction of sewers in any street if:

      (a)   a street is to be paved or repaved and there is no sewer in the street or;

      (b)   it has been authorized by a special ordinance; 32 or

      (c)   the owner of the entire frontage on any street requests the construction of a sewer therein and files a bond with the City conditioned upon payment of the entire cost.

   (2)   The Procurement Department shall, upon request of the Water Department, enter into a contract for the laying of necessary lateral house connections from the sewer to the curb line on each side of the street if:

      (a)   a sewer is to be constructed in any street; or

      (b)   a street is to be paved or repaved. 33

   (3)   The property owner shall pay fifteen dollars ($15) to the City for each lateral house connection at the time he connects it to his property.

 

Notes

32	Source: 1891 Ordinances, pp. 50 and 300.
33	Source: 1893 Ordinances, p. 156.

§ 13-403. Contracts for Constructing Sewers.

   (1)   Except as otherwise provided by special ordinance, every contract for the construction of sewers shall be prepared by the Law Department and shall provide that:

      (a)   the assessment bills for constructing the sewer shall be collected by the contractor, or in the discretion of the Water Department by the City, from the owners of property abutting on the street according to their respective fronts, as provided in Section 13-304; 34

      (b)   any amount in excess of such assessments shall be paid by the City; 35

      (c)   any claim by the contractor for the adjustment and amendment of an assessment bill, or for additional sums, shall be made within 6 months from the date of delivery of the assessment bill to the contractor or filing of a lien, whichever is later; 36

      (d)   where the assessment bills on the contract are in excess of the amount due to the contractor, the excess shall be collected by the City; 37

      (e)   the contractor shall accept the assessment bills as payment in full and shall collect them at his own expense without recourse to the City.

         (.1)   The contractor may use the name of the City and employ all remedies or proceedings, including lien, which would be available to the City, provided that the contract has been fulfilled and all work under it has been done in accordance with its terms. 38

   (2)   Whenever an ordinance is enacted for the construction of sewers, the Procurement Department shall, except as provided in subsection 13-403(3), advertise for proposals and award contracts in accordance with plans and specifications prepared by the Water Department. 39

   (3)   Whenever a contract for the construction of sewers is for new development, unless otherwise provided in such ordinance, no advertisement shall be made for the work required until evidence satisfactory to the Water Department is filed by the applicant evidencing that the development for which the sewer is requested will be undertaken and completed as part of the current program of work. 40

 

Notes

34	Source: 1951 Ordinances, p. 838.
35	Source: To conform with similar Section concerning water pipe.
36	Source: To conform with similar Section concerning water pipe.
37	Source: To conform with similar Section concerning water pipe.
38	Source: 1951 Ordinances, p. 838.
39	Charter ref.: Section 8-200.
40	Source: 1952 Ordinances, p. 269, expanded to apply to new development generally.

§ 13-404. Sewer Bills and Assessments.

   (1)   When sewers are constructed in any street, the owners of the abutting properties shall be assessed for the construction of the sewer. 41

      (a)   The assessment shall be at the rate of nine dollars ($9.00) for each foot of ground fronting on the street. 42

      (b)   No additional assessment shall be made against a property upon which a residence, maintained solely as such, has been erected, having a front on more than one street, where an assessment has been previously made for, or a lawful connection has been made to, a sewer laid along one of the fronts. 43

         (.1)   Before a connection may be made to a sewer laid along the remaining front or fronts, the owner thereof shall pay a service charge equal to the assessment charge, established under subsection (c) hereof and subject to the multiple frontage allowance therein provided in effect at the time the sewer was constructed. 44

         (.2)   Where a sewer is simultaneously laid on more than one front of a property upon which a residence, maintained solely as such, has been erected, an assessment shall be made for one front only. If the frontages are unequal, the assessment shall be made for the shorter or shortest frontage. In the event that the first connection is made to a long front, there shall be charged for each additional connection to any remaining front or fronts a service charge equal to the full assessment charge for that long front in effect at the time the sewer was constructed, except that the multiple frontage allowance provided in subsection (c) shall be applicable to such service charge. 45

         (.3)   The foregoing shall only apply to the laying of sewer pipe completed after the enactment date hereof.

      (c)   Allowances for all other multiple frontage lots shall be made as follows:

         (.1)   An allowance shall be made of two-thirds the length of one of the fronts, but the allowance shall not exceed 75 feet on any lot;

         (.2)   The allowance shall be made on the street having the longer frontage; in case both fronts are equal the allowance shall be made on the side where the sewer is constructed last;

         (.3)   Where a full block has not been subdivided, the frontage of the lot for computing the allowance shall be taken as one-half the length of the block; 46

         (.4)   Where the lot has not received an allowance on the side where a sewer has been previously constructed, an allowance shall be made on the remaining side, but more than one allowance shall not be made on any lot.

      (d)   No assessment for the construction of sewers shall be made against places of religious worship, non- profit places of burial, institutions of purely public charity, alleys, driveways, street intersections, or other properties exempt by statute or ordinance. 47

   (2)   When property has been assessed for the construction of a sewer the property shall not be assessed for subsequent laying of sewer pipe in the same street. 48

   (3)   Upon completion of any sewer, the Water Department shall:

      (a)   provide for the prompt computation of the amount of each assessment in accordance with the provisions of this Section, including all items of regulation and measurement;

      (b)   assess such amounts against the properties abutting on the street in which the work was done, in the name of the registered owners; and

      (c)   prepare assessment bills.

   (4)   The Water Department shall endorse each assessment bill so as to indicate that the work has been completed in accordance with the provisions of the contract. 49

   (5)   When the assessment bills are retained for collection by the City, a copy of the assessment bill shall be served by the Water Department upon the registered owner of each property. If the registered owner cannot be found the bill may be left upon the premises. These assessment bills shall contain a notice that if the bill is not paid within 30 days from service, it will be forwarded to the Law Department for lien and collection. 50

   (6)   The Redevelopment Authority of the City of Philadelphia shall be required to pay the assessment bill made against any residential property in an urban renewal area where the Redevelopment Authority of the City determines the improvement is a general benefit to the urban renewal area as defined by Title I of the United States Housing Act of 1949, as amended. 51

 

Notes

41	Source: 1951 Ordinances, p. 838.
42	Amended, 1967 Ordinances, p. 402.
43	Amended, 1960 Ordinances, p. 885.
44	Amended, 1972 Ordinances, p. 457.
45	Amended, 1972 Ordinances, p. 457.
46	Amended, 1972 Ordinances, p. 457.
47	Source: 1905 Ordinances, p. 234, revised to conform with similar Section concerning water pipe.
48	Source: New; amended, 1972 Ordinances, p. 457.
49	Source: 1951 Ordinances, p. 838.
50	Source: New, to conform with similar Section concerning water pipe; amended, 1972 Ordinances, p. 457.
51	Added, 1971 Ordinances, p. 599. Enrolled bill numbered this as subsection (8); renumbered by Code editor.

§ 13-405. Connections to Sewers Constructed at Public Expense.

   (1)   Whenever a sewer has been constructed at public expense and its costs have not been assessed against any abutting property, any person desiring to connect to the sewer shall pay to the City the sewer assessment in effect at the time the connection is made. No service charge shall be made against the property which is exempt from assessment at the time the connection is requested. 52

 

Notes

52	Source: 1928 Ordinances, p. 417; amended, 1957 Ordinances, p. 103; amended, 1975 Ordinances, p. 1434.

§ 13-406. Sewers Constructed by Property Owners. 53

   (1)   The Water Department may grant permission to an owner of property to construct a sewer in any street upon which his property abuts, under the supervision and direction of the Department and in accordance with its regulations and specifications.

   (2)   The property owner shall enter into an agreement with the City, in form satisfactory to the Law Department, to comply with these requirements and to construct the sewer without expense to the City.

   (3)   The contractor selected by the property owner shall file a bond with the City, in an amount fixed by the Law Department, conditioned upon compliance with the Water Department's regulations and specifications.

   (4)   Upon completion of the sewer the Water Department shall provide for the preparation of a plan thereof which shall be kept on file with the Water Department and the Department of Licenses and Inspections.

   (5)   For two years after completion, no permit shall be granted for a connection to the sewer to anyone other than the person who paid for building the sewer or his successor in title unless the applicant produces a release or receipt from him evidencing that the applicant or his predecessor in title paid his proportionate share of the cost of constructing the sewer.

   (6)   After the expiration of two years from its completion, no permit shall be granted for a connection to the sewer to a person other than the person who paid for building the sewer or his successor in title unless the applicant has paid to the City the frontage charges in effect at the time the connection is made. 54

   (7)   The title to sewers constructed as provided in subsection 13-406(1) shall vest immediately in the City, but the owner or his successors in title to property fronting thereon shall be relieved from assessment charges for the future construction of sewers in that street.

   (8)   If a sewer built without cost to the City is located in private property, it shall be the obligation of the owner to maintain it without expense or other liability to the City, except that when in the judgment of the Water Department it is in the best interest of the City the Water Department may assume the obligation, provided the owner of the property executes and records an agreement, satisfactory to the Law Department, whereby an easement or right-of-way of sufficient width to protect and maintain the sewer is granted and the Water Department is given the right of entry for inspection, repair and reconstruction.

   (9)   In accordance with the Philadelphia Plumbing Code, private sewer infrastructure connecting to City sewer infrastructure shall be permitted to be constructed on private property without cost to the City to serve some or all units within a Condominium or Planned Community where the private infrastructure is to be owned and maintained by a Unit Owner's Association formed pursuant to PA Title 68 Chapter 33 or Chapter 53. 55

      (a)   If the parcel is subdivided subsequent to initial plan approval by the Water Department, the Department may require the subdivided unit to make an individual connection to a public sewer, at no cost to the City.

 

Notes

53	Source: 1909 Ordinances, p. 94; 1947 Ordinances, p. 114.
54	Amended, 1975 Ordinances, p. 1434.
55	Added, Bill No. 180554 (approved October 17, 2018).