WATER PIPE

Philadelphia Code tit. 13, ch. 13-300

in effect

Philadelphia Code § 13-301 Restrictions on Laying Water Pipe.

§ 13-301. Restrictions on Laying Water Pipe. (1) No contract for laying water pipe in any street shall be entered into unless the street has been legally opened. (2) All work shall be done by contractors who the Water Department deems qualified to lay water pipe, on the basis of experience and capacity to perform the job according to specifications within the time required. Notes 6 | Source: 1862 Ordinances, p. 25; 1940 Ordinances, p. 331.

Philadelphia Code § 13-302 Authorization for Laying of Water Pipe by the City.

§ 13-302. Authorization for Laying of Water Pipe by the City. (1) The Procurement Department shall, upon request of the Water Department, enter into a contract for laying water pipe in any street if: (a) a street is to be paved or repaved pursuant to ordinance and there is no water pipe in the street; 7 or (b) it has been authorized by a special ordinance; 8 or (c) the owner of the entire frontage on any street requests the laying of water pipe therein and files a bond with the City conditioned upon payment of the entire cost and expenses. 9 Notes 7 | Source: 1891 Ordinances, pp. 50 and 300. 8 | Source: 1891 Ordinances, pp. 50 and 300. 9 | Source: 1883 Ordinances, p. 228.

Philadelphia Code § 13-303 Contracts for Laying Water Pipe.

§ 13-303. Contracts for Laying Water Pipe. (1) Except as otherwise provided by special ordinance, every contract for the laying of water pipe shall be prepared by the Law Department and shall provide that: (a) the assessment bills for laying the water pipe 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; (b) any amount in excess of such assessments shall be paid by the City; (c) any claim by the contractor for the adjustment and amendment of any 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; (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; (e) The contractor shall accept the assessment bills as payment in full and he 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. 10 (2) Whenever an ordinance for the laying of water pipe is enacted, the Procurement Department shall, except as provided in subsection 13-303(3), advertise for proposals and award contracts in accordance with plans and specifications prepared by the Water Department. 11 (3) Whenever a contract for the laying of water pipe is for new development, 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 water pipe is requested will be undertaken and completed as part of the current program of work. 12 Notes 10 | Source: 1923 Ordinances, p. 129; 1951 Ordinances, p. 838. 11 | Charter ref.: Section 8-200. 12 | Source: 1947 Ordinances, p. 29, expanded to apply to new development generally.

Philadelphia Code § 13-304 Water Pipe Bills and Assessments.

§ 13-304. Water Pipe Bills and Assessments. (1) When water pipe is laid in any street, the owners of the abutting properties shall be assessed for the laying of the pipe. 13 (a) The assessment shall be at a rate of four dollars and fifty cents ($4.50) for each foot of ground fronting on the street. 14 (b) When the Water Commissioner deems it advisable, the water pipe shall be laid inside the curb line, and the owners of ground fronting upon the side of the street in which the pipe is laid shall be assessed five dollars and fifty cents ($5.50) for each foot of ground fronting on the street. 15 (c) No additional assessments 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, water pipe laid along one of the fronts. 16 (.1) Before a connection may be made to a water pipe laid along the remaining front or fronts, the owner thereof shall pay a service charge equal to the assessment charge, established under subsection (d) hereof and subject to the multiple frontage allowance therein provided in effect at the time the water pipe was reconstructed. 17 (.2) Where water pipe 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 water pipe was constructed, except that the multiple frontage allowance provided in subsection (d) shall be applicable to such service charge. 18 (.3) The foregoing shall only apply to the laying of water pipe completed after the enactment date hereof. (d) Allowances for all other multiple frontage properties 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 water pipe is laid 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; 19 (.4) Where the lot has not received an allowance on the side where water pipe has been previously laid, an allowance shall be made on the remaining side, but more than one allowance shall not be made on any lot. (e) No assessment shall be made for water pipe laid in front of 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. 20 (2) When property has been assessed for the laying of water pipe the property shall not be assessed for subsequent laying of water pipe in the same street. 21 (3) Upon completion of the laying of any water pipe, the Water Department shall: (a) provide for the prompt computation of the amount of each assessment in accordance with 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. 22 (5) 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. 23 (6) 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. 24 Notes 13 | Source: 1951 Ordinances, p. 876. 14 | Amended, 1967 Ordinances, p. 402. 15 | Amended, 1960 Ordinances, p. 887. 16 | Amended, 1960 Ordinances, p. 887. 17 | Amended, 1972 Ordinances, p. 455. 18 | Amended, 1972 Ordinances, p. 455. 19 | Amended, 1972 Ordinances, p. 455. 20 | Source: 1899 Ordinances, p. 32; Act of May 16, 1923, P.L. 207, 53 P.S. § 7108. 21 | Amended, 1972 Ordinances, p. 455. 22 | Source: 1923 Ordinances, p. 129. 23 | Added, 1971 Ordinances, p. 599. Enrolled bill erroneously numbered this as subsection (4); renumbered by Code editor. 24 | Source: New; to supplement Act of May 16, 1923, P.L. 207, 53 P.S. § 7142, so as to require the City to give property owners the same notice as is given by private contractors; amended, 1972 Ordinances, p. 455.

Philadelphia Code § 13-305 Connections to Water Pipe Laid at Public Expense.

§ 13-305. Connections to Water Pipe Laid at Public Expense. (1) Whenever water pipe has been laid at public expense and its cost has not been assessed against any abutting property, any person desiring to connect to the water pipe shall pay to the City the water pipe assessment rate in effect at the time the connection is made. No service charge shall be made against property which is exempt from assessment at the time the connection is requested. 25 Notes 25 | Source: 1855 Ordinances, p. 40; amended, 1975 Ordinances, p. 1434.

Philadelphia Code § 13-306 Water Pipe Laid by Property Owners.

§ 13-306. Water Pipe Laid by Property Owners. (1) The Water Department may grant permission to an owner of property to lay water pipe 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 lay the pipe without expense to the City. (3) The contractor selected by the property owner shall file a bond with the City, in the amount fixed by the Law Department, conditioned upon compliance with the Water Department's regulations and specifications. (4) Upon completion of the laying of such pipe 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 2 years after completion, no permit shall be granted for a connection to the pipe to anyone other than the person who paid for laying the pipe 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 laying the pipe. 27 (6) After the expiration of 2 years from its completion, no permit shall be granted for a connection to the pipe for a person other than the person who paid for laying the pipe or his successor in title unless the applicant has paid to the City frontage charges in effect at the time the connection is made. 28 (7) The title to water pipe laid as provided in subsection 13-306(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 laying of pipe in that street. (8) If a water pipe built without cost to the City is located on 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 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 water pipe 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 water pipe and water service infrastructure connecting to City water pipe 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. 29 (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 water main, at no cost to the City. (10) The penalty for laying water pipe in any street of the City without authority from the Water Department is a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100), together with imprisonment not exceeding 30 days if the fine and costs are not paid within 10 days. 30 Notes 26 | Source: 1909 Ordinances, p. 114; 1928 Ordinances, p. 418; 1947 Ordinances, p. 114; revised to allow the Water Department to grant permission in situations other than the City's inability to lay the pipe. 27 | Time reduced from 10 years to 2 years, to conform to similar provision concerning sewers. 28 | Amended, 1975 Ordinances, p. 1434. 29 | Added, Bill No. 180554 (approved October 17, 2018). 30 | Renumbered, Bill No. 180554 (approved October 17, 2018).

Source: City of Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Code and Home Rule Charter (American Legal Publishing, codelibrary.amlegal.com)URL: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/philadelphia/latest/philadelphia_pa/0-0-0-286537Fetched: 10/27/2026