# Sidewalk Repair in Norfolk, VA: Who Pays? | Who Pays the Repair?

> Norfolk is a city-maintains city: the public works director keeps sidewalks in repair; owners pay only for improvements or damage they cause (Code 42-7/42-21).

**Who pays:** city

Norfolk is a city-maintains outlier: the public works director keeps sidewalks in repair, and whoever damages a sidewalk pays the city’s estimated repair cost while the city does the actual repair.

**Boundary:** The director of public works keeps the sidewalks in repair as a city function (§ 42-7). A person who damages a sidewalk pays the city an estimated repair cost and "the director shall repair the same", the city, not the abutter, performs the repair (§ 42-21). Owners are assessed only for improvements/new construction, capped at $8/linear ft (§ 42-5).

**Property owner:** No general repair-the-abutting-walk mandate. Owners pay a benefit-based assessment (max $8/linear ft) for new/replacement work; anyone who damages a sidewalk reimburses the city’s estimated repair cost.

**City / agency:** Director of public works keeps sidewalks in repair and performs the actual repair (recovering estimated cost from whoever caused the damage).

## Sources
- [Norfolk City Code § 42-21: city repairs, charges whoever damaged the walk](https://library.municode.com/va/norfolk/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=COCI_CH42STSI_ARTIINGE_S42-21GEREPADASI) — "Any person damaging any sidewalk shall, when required by the director of public works, pay to the city treasurer such an amount as shall be estimated by the director to be necessary to repair the damage and the director shall repair the same." (accessed 2026-09-12)
- [Norfolk City Code § 42-7: director keeps sidewalks in repair](https://library.municode.com/va/norfolk/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=COCI_CH42STSI_ARTIINGE_S42-7SAEPMOEXMAREABOW) — "Whenever the director of public works shall, in keeping the sidewalks in repair, find it necessary to repave the same, and the owner of any property abutting on the sidewalk desires to have a more expensive sidewalk than that proposed, then the director shall, if he deems it expedient, put down the more expensive sidewalk" (accessed 2026-09-12)
- [Sec. 42-5. Sidewalk Improvements: Assessments For](https://library.municode.com/va/norfolk/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=COCI_CH42STSI_ARTIINGE) — "The assessment upon the abutting property owner or owners when making, constructing, improving, replacing or enlarging walkways or sidewalks shall be measured by the peculiar benefits to such abutting property owner or owners resulting from the improvements but in no event more than eight dollars ($8.00) per lineal foot." (accessed 2026-09-27)

_Last verified 2026-09-13. Source: Who Pays the Repair? — https://whopaystherepair.com/rules/norfolk-va-sidewalk-repair/ — every claim checked against a primary source before publication (see /methodology/)._