DIVISION 12. - BUILDING SEWER DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION

Footnotes:

--- (11) --- Editor's note— Ord. of 3-9-2010 renumbered Div. 11, §§ 21-161—21-183, as Div. 12, §§ 21-161—21-183.

Sec. 21-161. - Permit required.#

No unauthorized person(s) 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 the town. The permit shall not be issued unless the work is to be done by a master plumber or licensed town drain layer.

(Ord. of 1-2002, Art. XI, § 1; Ord. of 3-9-2010)

Sec. 21-162. - Applicable rules.#

Pursuant to section 21-161 and the applicable sections of chapter 26 (plumbing and drainage code) of this Code, the following rules are to be followed and adhered to by all master plumbers or licensed town drain layers.

(Ord. of 1-2002, Art. XI, § 2)

Sec. 21-163. - General requirements.#

The contractor shall carry comprehensive general liability insurance providing for a limit of not less than three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000.00). The contractor shall also maintain a performance bond of a surety company licensed to do business in the State of Rhode Island for a limit of not less than five thousand dollars ($5,000.00). (The town may require, at its discretion, that the contractor maintain a performance bond greater than five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) based upon the estimated cost of the construction of the building sewer connection.)

(Ord. of 1-2002, Art. XI, § 3; Ord. of 3-9-2010)

Sec. 21-164. - Permits and inspections.#

The contractor shall obtain a building sewer permit and a street opening permit prior to any construction. There shall be two (2) classes of building sewer permit: (a)

For residential and commercial services; and

(b)

For service to establishments producing industrial wastes.

For residential and commercial services, the owner(s) or its agent shall make application on a special form furnished by the town at least seven (7) days prior to said service connection. For an establishment discharging industrial wastes, the application shall be made at least forty-five (45) days prior to said service connection. The street opening permit shall be obtained from the department of public works director.

The building sewer permit application shall be supplemented by any plans, specifications or other information considered pertinent in the judgment of the town. A permit and inspection fee shall be paid according to the current fee schedules maintained in the building inspector's office and established by the town.

The contractor shall provide the town with a minimum of two (2) working days' notice in advance of any building sewer construction to allow sufficient time to schedule town inspection work. Building sewer construction shall be performed weekdays between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Construction on weekends, holidays or at night is prohibited unless prior approval in writing is granted by the town. Where such permission is granted, the contractor shall be responsible for any and all costs incurred by the town to accommodate such request.

If the owner/contractor fails to adhere to the permit and notification requirements listed above, the parties will be subject to the enforcement and penalty sections of this article.

(Ord. of 1-2002, Art. XI, § 4; Ord. of 3-9-2010)

Sec. 21-165. - Connections.#

The connection of the building sewer into the public sewer shall be made at the "Y" or "T" branch if such branch is available at a suitable location. If the public sewer is twelve (12) inches in diameter or less, and no properly located "Y" branch is available a "Y" branch shall be installed in the public sewer as part of the building connection at the location specified by the town. Where the public sewer is greater than twelve (12) inches in diameter, and no properly located "T" branch is available, a neat hole may be cut into the public sewer to receive the building sewer, with entry at an angle of about ninety (90) degrees. A cast iron connection with a bell end having rubber gaskets shall be used to make such connection. The invert of the building sewer at the point of connection shall be at least eight (8) inches below the crown of the public sewer. The connection shall be made secure and watertight by complete encasement in three thousand (3,000) psi concrete. Where the invert of the public sewer is greater than three (3) feet below the invert of the building sewer, a chimney may be constructed as shown on the drawings.

(Ord. of 1-2002, Art. XI, § 5; Ord. of 3-9-2010)

Sec. 21-166. - Pipe.#

The building sewer pipe shall be one of the following types conforming to the listed specifications: Pipe Specification

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) ASTM D-3033-74, 75 and ASTM D3212-73T

Cast-Iron pipe ANSI A21.1, A21.6, A21.8 and ANSI A21.11

Ductile-iron Pipe ANSI A21.50, A21.51 and ANSI A21.11

(Ord. of 1-2002, Art. XI, § 6)

Sec. 21-167. - Joints.#

All joints and connections shall be made gastight and watertight using premolded gasket joints having resilient properties conforming to the listed specifications above. Joints between different sizes of pipe and different pipe materials shall be with suitable adapters or couplings conforming to the specification for the lighter grade of pipe being connected.

(Ord. of 1-2002, Art. XI, § 7)

Sec. 21-168. - Location and alignment.#

The building sewer shall be laid in a straight horizontal alignment from the building drain to the connection to the street lateral and, where required, from the street lateral connection to the public sewer. Where changes in alignment are required, cleanouts will be provided as shown on the drawing. The size and slope of the street lateral and the building sewer and the elevation where the building drain shall be brought into the building shall be as shown on the drawings except as approved by the town.

(Ord. of 1-2002, Art. XI, § 8; Ord. of 3-9-2010)

Sec. 21-169. - Illicit connections.#

Building sump pumps, roof leaders, and property underdrains are prohibited from connecting to the town sewer system.

(Ord. of 1-2002, Art. XI, § 9)

Sec. 21-170. - Precautions.#

All excavations for building sewer installation shall be adequately guarded with barricades and lights so as to protect the public from hazard. Whenever, in the opinion of the authorized representative of the town, the sides of the building sewer trench may collapse, adequate sheeting and bracing shall be used to prevent it. Every effort shall be made to locate and protect underground utilities. The drain-layer shall be held responsible for any damage to existing structures or injury to persons due to his work.

(Ord. of 1-2002, Art. XI, § 10; Ord. of 3-9-2010)

Sec. 21-171. - Cleanup.#

After acceptance of the building sewer by the authorized representative of the town, the pipe shall be cleaned throughout its entire length, the trench backfilled; and in public rights-of-way, the pavement shall be restored to equal or better than the original pavement.

(Ord. of 1-2002, Art. XI, § 11; Ord. of 3-9-2010)

Sec. 21-172. - Procedure.#

The applicant (property owner) shall submit the completed application form to the town either seven (7) days for a residential or commercial connection or forty-five (45) days for an industrial connection, before the applicant desires to connect to the public sewer. After the application has been approved, the applicant or his designated drain layer shall notify the town at least two (2) days prior to performing the work. The connection to the public sewer, the street lateral and the building sewer shall not be covered until examination and approval by the town's designated representative. When installing a new "Y" branch or cutting into the public sewer, the work shall be done under the direct supervision of the town's authorized representative. The drain layer shall complete the drain layer's certification and return it to the town within two (2) days after the completion of the work.

(Ord. of 1-2002, Art. XI, § 12; Ord. of 3-9-2010)

Sec. 21-173. - Separate building sewer per building; exceptions.#

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, rear, or driveway, the building sewer from the front building may be extended to the rear building and the whole considered as one building sewer, but the town does not and will not assume any obligation or responsibility for damage caused by or resulting from any single connection aforementioned.

(Ord. of 1-2002, Art. XI, § 13)

Sec. 21-174. - existing building sewer.#

An existing building sewer may be used as part of a new building service only when it is found to meet all requirements of this article, by means of examination and testing by the town's authorized representative.

(Ord. of 1-2002, Art. XI, § 14; Ord. of 3-9-2010)

Sec. 21-175. - Standard requirements.#

The town shall from time to time establish standard requirements or specifications to regulate the sizes, materials, methods and workmanship to be used in the construction of sewers, house connections and other similar work and appurtenances thereto connected or intended to be connected or to discharge, directly or indirectly, into any public sewer of the town. These requirements shall be in revision to or in addition to those of the town plumbing and drainage code. Such standard requirements shall provide for gastight and watertight connections, minimum requirements as to size, depth, slope or rate of grade for such pipes, shall regulate the kinds of pipe, fittings, methods of laying, jointing, materials used, manner of connecting to preexisting sewers and drains, and general consideration as to location and other pertinent features. Any such requirements or specifications as the same may from time to time be amended are hereby made a part of this article.

(Ord. of 1-2002, Art. XI, § 15; Ord. of 3-9-2010)

Sec. 21-176. - Elevation.#

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 to the public sewer, sanitary sewage carried by such building drain shall be lifted by an approved means and discharged to the building sewer.

(Ord. of 1-2002, Art. XI, § 16)

Sec. 21-177. - Surface runoff and groundwater.#

No person(s) shall make connection of roof downspouts, foundation drains, areaway drains, or other sources of surface runoff or groundwater to a building sewer or building drain which in turn is connected directly or indirectly to a public sanitary sewer.

(Ord. of 1-2002, Art. XI, § 17)

Sec. 21-178. - Inspection and testing.#

The applicant for the building sewer permit shall notify the town when the building sewer is ready for inspection and connection to the public sewer. The connection and testing shall be made under the supervision of the town's representative.

(Ord. of 1-2002, Art. XI, § 18; Ord. of 3-9-2010)

Sec. 21-179. - Excavations.#

All excavations for building sewer and/or street lateral installation shall 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 town.

(Ord. of 1-2002, Art. XI, § 19; Ord. of 3-9-2010)

Sec. 21-180. - Plumbing and drainage code requirements.#

The requirements of the town plumbing and drainage code shall be observed with respect to piping and fixtures inside or within five (5) feet of buildings and within the areas of jurisdiction of said code. In the event of conflict between said code and any division of this article, the requirements of this article shall apply.

(Ord. of 1-2002, Art. XI, § 20)

Sec. 21-181. - Service connection standards.#

Sewer service connections from the public sewer to the street line shall be laid at such depth and gradient and in such location as the town may determine. No sewer service connection shall serve more than one (1) building, except by permission of the town. All pipe joints and connections shall be made gastight and watertight using premolded gasket joints having resilient properties conforming to the specifications listed in this division. The following design standards for building sewers are considered acceptable: (1)

The pipes for building sewers from the public sewer to the property line shall be six (6) inches in diameter, but the town may require larger sizes. The building sewer from the property line to the building drain shall be a minimum of four (4) inches in diameter, but the town may require larger sizes.

(2)

Building sewer pipes and street laterals shall be laid with a minimum gradient of at least one-quarter of an inch per foot. Such pipes shall be laid accurately to straight lines and gradients, except that junctions with public sewers shall be made at an angle, by installing a six-inch by six-inch wye or tee (as shown in the service connection detail in the [exhibit A]) such that flow from the building sewer and the street lateral shall not be opposite to the direction to the flow in the public sewer.

(3)

Where depth of the public sewer is such that a chimney is required, such chimney shall be installed per exhibit A. The connection of the street lateral into the public sewer shall be made at the wye or tee branch, if such branch is available at a suitable location. If no branch is available, the connection shall be made by tapping the existing sewer by an approved method, then inserting an approved wye or tee saddle, all encased in concrete. Approval of tapping method and saddle shall be made by the town.

(4)

No service pipes for other utilities shall be laid in the same trench with a building sewer.

(5)

Cleanouts shall be installed on the building sewer at every change in pipe direction, and at fifty-foot intervals of straight pipe.

(Ord. of 1-2002, Art. XI, § 21; Ord. of 3-9-2010)

Editor's note— It should be noted that Exhibits A referenced above are not set out at length herein, but are on file and available for inspection in the office of the town clerk.

Sec. 21-182. - Individual pumping stations.#

In all buildings in which the building drain is too low to permit gravity flow to the public a sewer, sewage may be pumped by means of a prefabricated individual wastewater grinder-pumping unit. The town shall approve the use of grinder pump units on a case-by-case basis. Acceptable manufacturers of individual grinder pumping units are Environment One, Interon, or Myers, or as approved by the town. If approved, however, the town shall have no responsibility for the operation and maintenance of such equipment. It shall be the property owner's responsibility for maintaining all components of an individual pressure sewer service (i.e. waste pipe, pumping unit and force main) up to the point of discharge at the public sewer.

(Ord. of 1-2002, Art. XI, § 22; Ord. of 3-9-2010)

Sec. 21-183. - Discontinuance of use.#

Whenever any sewer user under this division shall cease operation, notice shall be given to the town, and the waste lines sealed under the supervision of the building inspector.

(Ord. of 1-2002, Art. XI, § 23; Ord. of 3-9-2010)

Secs. 21-184, 21-185. - Reserved.#