The short version
- VerifiedThe whole lateral is the owner's. The ordinance's "building sewer" runs to the public sewer and includes the portion in the right-of-way.
- VerifiedA repair needs a City permit. Both the ordinance and the utility's policy manual say so.
- VerifiedLining and pipe bursting are allowed under the utility policy the City currently links, alongside excavation.
- VerifiedTrenchless repairs are approved on video. Camera footage of the finished work goes to the utility.
- Not establishedStill open: responsibility for the tap or wye at the main, the permit fee, and where the application is filed today.
What counts as your pipe
Lawrence ordinance calls it the building sewer: the pipe that runs from your building drain to the public sewer. The definition expressly includes the portion of that pipe inside the public right-of-way. The building drain itself is treated as ending five feet outside the building wall, so almost everything between your foundation and the public main is the building sewer.
Other words for the same pipe are lateral, private lateral, and sewer service line. The utility's newsletters use "sanitary sewer lateral" for it.
Who is responsible for repairs
The ordinance places responsibility on the property owner who benefits from the connection: providing, installing, and connecting it, and making all necessary repairs, extensions, relocations, changes, or replacements. The utility has said the same thing in plain language to homeowners twice — in 2023, and again in August 2024, when it stated that residents are responsible for the maintenance and repair of their sanitary sewer laterals to the point of connection at the city's main sewer line.
The ordinance also lets the Director alter, modify, or waive those requirements where compliance is not possible because of extenuating circumstances.
Before you hire anyone: find out whose pipe is failing
Lawrence Utilities asks residents with a sanitary sewer problem to call its after-hours on-call line first, and gives a direct financial reason: the problem may be in the public main, and if you hire a contractor who comes out and determines the fault is in the public main, the utility does not reimburse those contractor costs. In its August 2024 newsletter the utility published 317-260-0220 as that after-hours on-call number.
The same newsletter notes something worth knowing if work has recently been done in your street: the utility reported an increase in sewer laterals damaged by contractors installing underground fiber optic lines for 5G upgrades, and said it can help where damage is determined to result from a third-party contractor working in the area. The utility does not say what that help consists of, and neither will we.
What a camera inspection can and cannot settle
A camera inspection is what turns "the drain keeps backing up" into something you can act on. A CCTV run through the line helps identify the type and condition of a defect, where it sits along the length of the line, and how much of the line is affected.
What it does not by itself establish is where that point is on the surface, or how deep the pipe is buried. Locating the line and its depth generally takes separate locating equipment or further investigation by the contractor. And which repair method suits your line is a professional judgment that depends on the pipe, the defect, the route, and site conditions together — this page does not make it for you.
Lawrence's policy manual treats camera work as a normal part of lateral work in both directions: the City may require a lateral camera inspection, with the video provided, instead of excavating to expose the pipe, and it requires video of the finished repair for trenchless methods (below).
In sequence, that is:
- A symptom appears — repeated backups, slow drains, or a finding from a camera.
- Establish whether the failure is in your lateral or in the public main.
- If it is the main, it is the utility's to fix. If it is your lateral, the decision is yours.
- A camera inspection identifies the defect and how much of the line is affected.
- You and the contractor choose a method: spot repair, full-length lining, pipe bursting, or open-cut replacement.
- The work is permitted, inspected, and — for lining or bursting — verified on video before it is accepted.
The repair methods you are choosing between
Lawrence's policy manual states plainly that the utility does allow rehabilitation of laterals using pipe-bursting and lining technologies with appropriate materials. That is the Lawrence-specific fact that matters here: under the City's current published policy both trenchless approaches are available alongside conventional excavation.
How each method physically works, and what the work involves. Which one suits your line is decided by the inspection and the contractor, not by this page.
Spot or sectional repair
- What happens
- A short section is repaired, or a sectional liner is set across one defect.
- What the work involves
- Lawrence's policy contemplates this: for a point repair with a sectional liner, the post-repair video must run from the cleanout to at least two feet past the repaired section.
Full-length lining (CIPP)
- What happens
- A flexible tube impregnated with a thermoset resin is installed inside the existing pipe and cured in place, forming a hard, impermeable liner pipe inside the host pipe.
- What the work involves
- The line is cleaned and inspected first; an obstruction that cannot be cleared by conventional cleaning or cutting equipment has to be dealt with before lining. Sewer service is interrupted while the liner is installed and cured.
Pipe bursting
- What happens
- The old pipe is fractured in place and its fragments pushed outward into the soil while a new HDPE or PVC pipe is pulled into the space left behind.
- What the work involves
- Excavation is still needed for an insertion pit and a reception pit, and specifications set clearances from nearby structures and buried utilities.
Open-cut replacement
- What happens
- The pipe is excavated and replaced.
- What the work involves
- Lawrence's installation standards then apply in full — materials, size, depth, slope, backfill, cleanouts, tracer wire, and inspection before backfilling. Surface restoration becomes part of the job.
The drawings are simplified schematics of each general method. They are not to scale and show no Lawrence-specific pipe, depth, or site.
What the City's own sewer work tells you
Lawrence publishes what it is doing to its own sanitary system, and two things in that record are useful to a homeowner.
First, the utility has publicly identified older clay sewer laterals as a local problem: it asks owners to replace clay laterals that are beyond their useful life, and says old clay pipe cracks and breaks easily, letting dirt and roots in and causing backups. It does not say how common clay laterals are in Lawrence, and neither do we.
Second, the City is actively rehabilitating parts of its system with the same family of methods being discussed for private laterals, including lateral lining inside its own projects.
Recent Lawrence sanitary sewer rehabilitation, compiled from the City's own documents. These are public-system projects.
71st Street Lift Station Basin Rehabilitation
- Area
- Oaklandon Northeast Addition — 71st Street, Oaklandon Road, Cable Drive, Old Orchard Drive, Meadow Lane, Brandon Street
- Documented method
- CIPP lining of 8-inch and 12-inch sewers; 6-inch sanitary lateral lining; new 12-inch PVC sewer; manhole rehabilitation
- Documented quantity
- ~3,000 ft mainline CIPP; ~1,300 ft of 6-inch lateral lining; 400 ft new 12-inch PVC
- Source
- Lawrence Lift, July 2025
Fort Harrison Collection System Capacity Improvements, Phase III
- Area
- Fort Harrison State Park, along Shafter Road
- Documented method
- Replacement of 18-inch gravity sewer; CIPP lining of existing 18-inch gravity sewer; new manholes; abandonment of old main
- Documented quantity
- 2,155 ft replaced; 2,478 ft CIPP lined; ~2,180 ft abandoned
- Source
- Lawrence Lift, July 2025
46th and Post I/I Removal
- Area
- 46th Street and Post Road area
- Documented method
- CIPP of 8-, 10-, 12- and 15-inch sewers with associated lateral lining; partial replacements with wyes; manhole lining
- Documented quantity
- Quantities not stated in the pre-bid minutes
One practical detail from the City's 2026 lining contract is worth carrying into your own conversation with a contractor, as a question rather than a rule: on that project the contractor must give affected customers 24 to 48 hours' written notice, because building sewer laterals are out of service during installation, curing, and restoration, with a maximum of eight hours without service. Your private repair is not governed by that contract, but the same physical constraint applies — so ask how long your line will be out of service and what you should avoid during it.
The permit Lawrence requires
Two separate sources say a permit is required. The ordinance makes it unlawful to repair, modify, or connect a building sewer without a valid sanitary sewer connection permit issued by the Director. The utility's policy manual requires a permit before repair, replacement, or relocation of any lateral connected to the City's sanitary sewer.
From application to approval, as documented
- Apply before the work The ordinance and the policy manual both require the permit first. For emergency repair work, the current form says to apply no later than the following business day.
- Start within 150 days The permit expires if work has not begun within 150 days of issuance, subject to an extension for good cause.
- Inspection, or video for trenchless work Open-cut work needs at least 24 hours' notice and an exposed line for inspection (the Director may waive it). For lining and bursting, camera video of the finished repair is submitted to the utility for approval.
- Approval The utility may withhold approval of a lined or burst repair if the video shows a defective repair.
- Not established The sewer-lateral permit fee, where the application is filed today, and the video format the utility accepts now.
What the current form asks for
The City publishes the current form: the Application for Sanitary Building Sewer Lateral Construction Permit. What it actually asks for:
- the type of work — it has boxes for New Line, Repair/Modification Work, and Replace/Relocate, so a repair is squarely within it;
- whether the work is an emergency. For emergency repair work, the form states the application must be made no later than the following business day;
- a plat drawing of the proposed project showing the location of work and the materials being used, carrying the statement that all work will meet or exceed City of Lawrence standards and specifications;
- the service address, property owner details, assessor parcel number, and legal description;
- the installing or repairing contractor's details, including a Lawrence registration number and its expiration date;
- a note that a separate grease trap application is required where a project needs one.
The ordinance separately requires owner and contractor information, the premises, and plans showing materials of construction and the installation method; the policy manual adds a drawing of existing and proposed structures and utilities. The obligation sits with the owner.
Who applies: Under ordinance § 5-1-2-1(E), an application normally comes from a plumbing contractor licensed by Indiana, Marion County, and Lawrence, or from another contractor meeting the City Building Commissioner's bond and insurance requirements. The Director may accept other applicants at the Director's discretion. Before work starts, ask the contractor who will apply, which registrations apply, and who will coordinate the City inspection. The ordinance also says the permit expires if work has not begun within 150 days of issuance, subject to an extension for good cause (§ 5-1-2-1(G)).
Inspection, and the video that gets trenchless work approved
For work done in the open, the ordinance requires at least 24 hours' notice that the sewer work is ready for inspection, and the building sewer must be exposed from the foundation to the connection so it can be inspected. The Director may waive that inspection, with or without conditions, and has a right of entry to inspect.
For lining and pipe bursting, the policy manual sets a different kind of proof:
- the contractor submits camera video of the repair to the utility for the work to be approved;
- for a full rehabilitation, the video has to cover the whole lateral, from the cleanout near the structure to the connection at the public main;
- for a point repair with a sectional liner, the video has to run from the cleanout to at least two feet past the repaired section;
- the utility may withhold approval if the video shows a defective repair.
A practical question to ask before the work starts: are producing and submitting that post-repair video included in the quoted scope, and who is responsible for them?
If the line is replaced rather than rehabilitated
The policy manual's installation requirements are specific. Among them:
- the owner hires a contractor licensed, bonded, and insured in the City of Lawrence;
- approved materials — SDR35 gasketed pipe, Schedule 40 PVC, or Schedule 80 PVC;
- 4-inch or 6-inch pipe, with a minimum 6-inch pipe inside the City right-of-way;
- at least 18 inches of cover at the building, and 4 feet beyond ten feet from the building where the stub depth allows, with minimum slopes set by pipe size;
- granular backfill to City standards where the lateral runs in or under a driveway or sidewalk, or within five feet of a roadway;
- cleanouts 1.5 to 3 feet from the building, at bends, and at least every 100 feet;
- tracer tape or wire;
- no backfilling before the utility's inspection, with 24 hours' notice for that inspection.
One more thing the utility asks of owners, which is cheap to check: sump pumps and downspouts must not be connected to the sanitary lateral. The utility cites city ordinance section 5-1-2-2 and says those discharges have to go to storm sewer pipes or ditches. It also asks owners to make sure the cleanout cap is sealed and secure.
What this page does not tell you yet
Being explicit about the gaps is part of the method. As of the last verification date, this project has not established:
- the current permit fee, or which office accepts the application today;
- the video format the utility accepts today;
- who is responsible for the tap or wye at the main itself;
- whether every address inside Lawrence city limits is served by Lawrence Utilities sanitary sewer;
- how often the Director's waiver is granted, and on what basis;
- whether any cost-share or assistance program exists for homeowners;
- whether the City applies its 2019 policy today without unpublished changes;
- how common clay laterals are in Lawrence housing stock, or how those lines typically fail here;
- what lateral repair costs in Lawrence.
Each of those is a question for Lawrence Utilities or your contractor. When we verify one, it will appear here with its source, or it will stay off the page.
Sources
City of Lawrence, Indiana (hosted by American Legal Publishing)
City of Lawrence Utilities / Utility Services Board
Application for Sanitary Building Sewer Lateral Construction Permit (current City form)
City of Lawrence Utilities
The Lawrence Lift, August 2024 (Issue 102), "Lawrence Utilities and Sanitary Sewers"
City of Lawrence Utilities
The Lawrence Lift, July 2025, "Sanitary Sewer Infrastructure Repair Projects"
City of Lawrence Utilities
Lawrence 46th and Post I/I Removal Project — Pre-Bid Meeting Minutes, February 19, 2026
City of Lawrence (prepared by American Structurepoint, Inc.)
The Lawrence Lift, August 2023 (Issue 90)
City of Lawrence Utilities
Hampton Roads Planning District Commission (Virginia regional government body)
Ordinance and policy documents change. These were read and verified on the dates shown, and are re-verified before this page is ever submitted for indexing. See how this resource works for the review and correction process.