# Sewer Lateral Repair in Los Angeles, CA: Who Pays? | Who Pays the Repair?

> In Los Angeles the owner pays for the entire sewer lateral, including the lower lateral out to the main in the middle of the street. The city owns only the main.

**Who pays:** owner

Los Angeles puts the entire sewer lateral on the property owner, from the building all the way to the middle of the street.

**Boundary:** Owner owns and maintains both the upper lateral (building to property line) and the lower lateral (property line to the main in the middle of the street). The city owns only the main itself.

**Property owner:** LA Sanitation: "The public sewer mainline belongs to the city, but the pipe connecting your home or business to that mainline is a private line called a sewer lateral," and "Property owners are responsible for the maintenance and repair of their entire lateral."

**City / agency:** The city owns and maintains only the sewer mainline, not any part of the lateral.

## Sources
- [LA Sanitation: Managing and Protecting LA Underground Sewer System (owner owns entire lateral)](https://sanitation.lacity.gov/programs/managing-and-protecting-las-underground-sewer-system) — "Property owners are responsible for the maintenance and repair of their entire lateral." (accessed 2026-09-07)
- [LA Sanitation (LASAN) official site](https://www.lacitysan.org/) (accessed 2026-09-07)
- [LA Sanitation: Managing and Protecting LA Underground Sewer System (owner owns entire lateral)](https://sanitation.lacity.gov/programs/managing-and-protecting-las-underground-sewer-system) — "The public sewer mainline belongs to the city, but the pipe connecting your home or business to that mainline is a private line called a sewer lateral," (accessed 2026-09-27)

_Last verified 2026-09-07. Source: Who Pays the Repair? — https://whopaystherepair.com/rules/los-angeles-ca-sewer-lateral/ — every claim checked against a primary source before publication (see /methodology/)._