Oakland sewer repair has become a shady business lately for some plumbers in Oakland who don’t have the proper license to help homeowners get an Oakland sewer certificate.  At the beginning of 2012 the Oakland private sewer lateral ordinance went into effect.  The new Oakland sewer ordinance requires all properties being purchased to pass an air or water test of their Oakland sewer lateral.  This means that in order to close escrow on their new home buyers must get and pass an Oakland sewer test to receive the Oakland sewer certificate which is good for 20 years.

As a result of the requirement to get the certificate many property owners and buyers find themselves in need of fast Oakland sewer repair to close escrow.  What has been happening is that people involved in a real estate transaction begin calling plumbers to get the sewer test.  The sewer lateral fails the test which forces the people involved in the real estate transaction to have an Oakland sewer repair done.  The problem is that many Oakland plumbers can only repair the sewer lateral on the property meaning if the problem is in the street they can’t fix it.  Of course they don’t say this until they have already repaired the portion of the sewer line they could.  This wastes time and ultimately leads to thousands of dollars in unnecessary repairs for the homeowner.

It is important to be selective when hiring an Oakland sewer repair contractor.  Make sure that the plumber has a license that allows them to do all the required work.  This is the worst case scenario:

• Oakland Sewer Repair Is Needed To Close Escrow – Buyer or seller calls a plumber to do the sewer repair.  The plumber has a license but it doesn’t allow them to dig in the street.  Instead of informing the homeowner that they can’t do the work the plumber takes advantage of the need to close escrow and replaces the portion of the sewer line they are allowed to even if it doesn’t require repair.  Then when sewer line fails the test again they say they can’t dig in the street and to call someone who can.

Make sure you are diligent about determining who the best Oakland plumber is for the job before signing a contract to have sewer repair in Oakland California.  This Oakland sewer repair expert has over 18 years of experience handling Oakland plumbing and they have a clear understanding of how the Oakland sewer lateral ordinance works.