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COMMERCIAL SEWER REPAIR · METRO ATLANTA
Get a free estimate
or call (678) 863-5620The short answer
Commercial sewer repair means fixing the private building sewer that carries a restaurant, store or office's wastewater to the public main. Georgia utilities such as NCWSA, DeKalb, Gwinnett and Rockdale make the owner responsible for that pipe. Atlanta Water & Sewage Solutions, based in Oxford, GA, excavates, repairs and restores it for inspection.
Reviewed by Atlanta Water & Sewage Solutions · Last updated
Who does the work
One crew, the whole line
Key facts
Each row links to the agency, code or publisher it comes from. Tap a source to check it yourself.
| Topic | What it says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Who owns the building sewer (Newton County, NCWSA) | The owner, from the building through the tap at the main; NCWSA keeps the public sewers between manholes | NCWSA — Customer vs. NCWSA Responsibilities |
| Minimum building sewer size (NCWSA) | No less than 4 inches; a 4-inch line no flatter than 1/8 inch per foot; size and slope subject to Authority approval | NCWSA Rules and Regulations for Sewer Use and Industrial Pretreatment Program (adopted July 18, 2018; rev. April 10, 2019), 2019 |
| Pipe near a water service (NCWSA) | Any part of the building sewer within 10 feet of a water service pipe must be ductile iron | NCWSA Rules and Regulations for Sewer Use and Industrial Pretreatment Program (adopted July 18, 2018; rev. April 10, 2019), 2019 |
| Inspection before backfill (NCWSA) | No backfill until the work has been inspected and approved | NCWSA Rules and Regulations for Sewer Use and Industrial Pretreatment Program (adopted July 18, 2018; rev. April 10, 2019), 2019 |
| Gwinnett mainline sewer tap fee | $550 each; the customer provides excavation, backfill and pavement repair | Gwinnett DWR Rates and Fee Schedule — January 2026, 2026 |
| Gwinnett sewer TV initial inspection | $45 base + $0.46 per linear foot | Gwinnett DWR Rates and Fee Schedule — January 2026, 2026 |
| Covington sewer tap, 2-inch meter and service | $19,700 (over 4-inch or nonresidential: calculated by the City Engineer) | City of Covington — Tap Fees |
| Georgia 811 locate notice | No less than two business days before digging (O.C.G.A. 25-9-3, 25-9-6) | Georgia 811 — Law (Georgia Underground Facility Protection Act, O.C.G.A. 25-9), 2026 |
| Typical market range, sewer line replacement | $60–$250 per linear foot (HomeAdvisor, 2026; not our price) | HomeAdvisor — Sewer Line Replacement Cost (updated June 19, 2026), 2026 |
Plain definitions
Warning signs
Building backing up? Call (678) 863-5620 — we'll tell you how fast we can be there
Who owns what
Newton County Water & Sewerage Authority (NCWSA)
The owner maintains and repairs the private service line from the building to the connection with the public main, including stub-outs and the connection point. NCWSA maintains the public sewers between manholes.↗
Where the line sits: Tap at the public main
NCWSA (policy change, 2021)
Since March 1, 2021 customers pay to clear blockages from the building through the tap at the main; before that NCWSA maintained the segment from the main to the right-of-way.↗
Where the line sits: Tap at the main, typically in the street
City of Covington
Under § 13.16.070 the customer keeps the private sewer pipe maintained and clean out to whichever is closer: the city street line or the city main.↗
Where the line sits: Street line or main, whichever is nearer
Rockdale Water Resources
The county owns wastewater service lines from the main or manhole to the street right-of-way; the customer owns the line from the right-of-way to the building, plus the required cleanout at the right-of-way limit.↗
Where the line sits: Street right-of-way (cleanout at the limit)
DeKalb County Watershed Management
The owner maintains and repairs the building sewer on private property; the county maintains it within county rights-of-way and sewer easements (Sec. 25-220). The owner pays for any damage to the public sewer caused by an installation (Sec. 25-215).↗
Where the line sits: Property line / edge of right-of-way or easement
Gwinnett County DWR
The owner owns the whole private lateral to the county connection in the right-of-way, including that connection. DWR clears blockages in the main or in the lateral inside the right-of-way; DWR must see the excavated lateral before a reimbursement claim.↗
Where the line sits: Right-of-way cleanout / sewer stub
City of Monroe
All costs of installing and connecting the building sewer are the owner's (Sec. 98-144(c)), and a city permit is required to connect to or open any public sewer (Sec. 98-144(a)).↗
Where the line sits: Public sewer main
The whole story
Most commercial building sewers in east metro Atlanta don't run under grass. They run under the customer lot, the drive-through lane, the dumpster pad or the loading dock, because that's where the civil engineer put the pipe when the building went up. So the repair starts with pavement. We mark the line and saw-cut a clean rectangle over the dig, so the patch has straight edges and the surrounding asphalt or concrete isn't torn up by the bucket.
On a lot that stays open, the open cut is the problem to solve. Where traffic has to keep moving past the dig, steel traffic plates can bridge the trench between shifts. Cones and barricades keep customers and delivery trucks off the edge. That isn't just courtesy: NCWSA's sewer use rules say building sewer excavations must be guarded with barricades and lights, and any public street or sidewalk disturbed must be restored to the Authority's satisfaction (§2.9(F)).
Backfill under pavement is not the same as backfill under a lawn. Under a drive lane the trench is filled and compacted in lifts so the patch doesn't sink the first time a box truck parks on it. Then comes the base course and the new asphalt or concrete. Gwinnett's fee schedule states the same division of labor plainly: when DWR makes a mainline tap, the customer provides the excavation, backfill and pavement repair. Budget for restoration as its own line item, because on a commercial lot it can rival the pipe work.
Commercial lines are often bigger and deeper than the 4-inch line behind a house. NCWSA sets 4 inches as the floor for any building sewer and leaves the final size and slope to the Authority's approval. A restaurant, a strip center or a multi-tenant office commonly needs more. Bigger pipe means a wider trench, heavier fittings and more careful bedding, and it is one reason a commercial repair takes more planning than a residential one.
Worth knowing
Every hour the building sewer is out is an hour your restrooms are closed. For a restaurant that is a closed dining room; for an office it can mean sending staff home. So the schedule is part of the repair plan, not an afterthought. On the estimate visit we ask when your slowest hours are, when deliveries arrive, and whether a weekend or early-morning start keeps you open.
The order of work is built around that window. Locates and saw-cutting can happen while you're open. The dig down to the pipe can often be done before the flow has to stop. The part that actually shuts off your drains, cutting out the bad section and setting new pipe, is kept as short as the repair allows. When a job needs the building offline for longer, we tell you before the day starts, not halfway through.
Some repairs can't wait for a quiet window. If sewage is coming up through a floor drain in a kitchen, the health risk decides the schedule. Call now and we'll tell you how fast we can be there.
Every hour the building sewer is out is an hour your restrooms are closed.
Your options
OPTION 01
When it fits: One break, one offset joint or one root intrusion, with the rest of the pipe in sound condition on the video.
OPTION 02
When it fits: Multiple defects, a long belly, deteriorated pipe, or a utility order to stop inflow along the line.
OPTION 03
When it fits: The line is repairable but hard to service: no cleanout near the building, or a utility asking for a monitoring point.
NCWSA can require a monitoring manhole on a building sewer at the user's expense, built to plans it approves (§3.2(E)).
OPTION 04
When it fits: Sometimes considered when the line sits under a building slab or a high-traffic entrance.
What we do is excavate and replace or spot-repair. If a trenchless method fits your line, it's an option we'll talk through with you.
Worth knowing
On a single-owner building the question is simple. The owner owns the building sewer up to the utility's line, and the utility table above shows where that line falls. On a leased building it gets harder, because the lease decides who inside the private side pays for the repair: the landlord, the tenant, or everyone through common-area charges.
We aren't lawyers and won't read your lease for you. What we can give you is the facts that settle most of these conversations: where the break is, which side of the utility line it's on, and whether it serves one tenant's space or the whole building. A video with footage marked by distance from the cleanout is hard to argue with. Get the landlord and the tenant looking at the same inspection before the repair is authorized.
When the defect is on the public side, don't pay to fix the utility's pipe. In Gwinnett, if the only blockage turns out to be inside the right-of-way, the policy lets the owner file for reimbursement. But DWR must see the excavated lateral before it is repaired (Gwinnett lateral policy). That's why we stop and call the utility when an excavation reaches its side of the line.
Worth knowing
A commercial connection lives under the utility's sewer use ordinance in a way a house never does. NCWSA's is a good example because it spells out both the construction rules and the pretreatment program in one document. The building sewer must be ductile iron or ASTM D3034 PVC, with tight, waterproof joints. Ductile iron is required anywhere the line comes within 10 feet of a water service pipe. The building sewer can't share a trench with the water service. It can't run parallel to or within 3 feet of a bearing wall. And no backfill goes in until the Authority has inspected and approved the work (NCWSA §2.6, §2.9).
Pretreatment rules matter to a repair because they can put structures in the line. NCWSA can require grease, oil and sand interceptors when a business discharges enough to cause trouble; residential users are exempt. It can require a monitoring manhole on the building sewer, and industrial wastewater may not bypass that manhole. Monroe's grease control article requires a sampling manhole after the interceptor for food service establishments. So a restaurant lateral in Monroe isn't just a pipe. It's interceptor, sampling manhole, then pipe, and the repair has to keep all three working.
Rain is the other thing sewer use ordinances care about. Roof downspouts, foundation drains and other stormwater may not be tied into a building sewer under NCWSA's rules. If a line lets in groundwater or rainwater, NCWSA can require the owner to repair it, charge a higher rate for the extra treatment, or require disconnection. A commercial repair is a good time to find and remove any illegal storm tie-in, because the trench is already open.
Grease itself, including how often traps must be pumped and where the manifests go, is covered on our grease and sewer line page. This page stays on the pipe.
A commercial connection lives under the utility's sewer use ordinance in a way a house never does.
Homes & businesses
Residential
A home's sewer lateral is usually a 4-inch line under a lawn or a single driveway, serving one family. The utility's interest mostly ends at your side of the tap. The main pressure on schedule is getting a household's toilets back.
Commercial
A commercial building sewer often runs under paved lots and drive lanes, may be larger than 4 inches, and can carry interceptors or a monitoring manhole the utility requires. Restoration, traffic control, tenant notices and shutdown timing are part of the job. The utility may inspect before backfill and bill connection work by ERU or engineering calculation.
How the job runs
Tell us what backs up, where, and when it started, plus your hours and whether the building is leased. Call (678) 863-5620. The on-site estimate is free.
A locate request goes in through Georgia 811, which requires no less than two business days of notice before excavation begins. Commercial lots are crowded with gas, power, telecom, storm and irrigation lines, and the private ones are often unmarked.
O.C.G.A. 25-9-3(2), 25-9-6(a)Georgia 811 — Law (Georgia Underground Facility Protection Act, O.C.G.A. 25-9)
A sewer camera inspection from the cleanout shows what the line is doing and how far from the building the problem sits. That footage is also what the landlord, the tenant and sometimes the utility will look at.
You get the repair plan, the pavement area to be cut and the shutdown window. Tenants who share the line need to know when the water should stop running. If the defect sits on the utility's side, the utility gets a call first.
Utilities regulate work on building sewers. NCWSA requires an application and a permit and inspection fee for building sewer work. DeKalb requires a plumbing permit from a licensed sewer/plumbing contractor before a private sewer line is installed. We handle the permit paperwork that applies to our work and tell you up front if another licensed party must pull one.
DeKalb County Planning & Sustainability — Watershed Packet (revised 5/6/25)
The pavement is saw-cut, the trench dug and shored or sloped as depth requires, and the open cut barricaded. Where traffic has to pass, plates cover the trench between work periods.
The bad section or full run is replaced with pipe and joints that meet the utility's standard, at a grade that keeps a self-cleaning flow. Cleanouts are added where access was missing.
Where the utility inspects, the trench stays open until the inspector signs off. NCWSA's rules say no backfill until the work has been inspected and approved, and connections to the public sewer are tested under the Authority's supervision.
NCWSA Sewer Use Rules §2.6(A)(4), §2.9(E)NCWSA Rules and Regulations for Sewer Use and Industrial Pretreatment Program (adopted July 18, 2018; rev. April 10, 2019)
The trench is filled in compacted lifts, then base and asphalt or concrete go back so the patch carries traffic. The flow goes back on and we run water from the building to confirm it drains.
Permits & the Georgia rules
Confirm which utility serves the building and where its responsibility ends (tap, street line, right-of-way or easement).↗
File the utility's building sewer application with any plans it asks for, and pay the permit and inspection fee (NCWSA §2.9(A)).↗
In DeKalb, a plumbing permit by a licensed sewer/plumbing contractor is required before the private sewer line is installed; a county connection permit only grants the right to connect at the owner's expense.↗
Submit the Georgia 811 locate request and wait out the notice period before excavating.↗
Notify the utility when the work is ready; keep the trench open for inspection and have connections tested under its supervision.↗
Restore any public street, sidewalk or right-of-way disturbed by the work to the utility's satisfaction (NCWSA §2.9(F)).↗
Georgia rule NCWSA Sewer Use Rules §2.6(A)(4)
“no backfill shall be placed until the work has been inspected and approved.”
Georgia rule NCWSA Sewer Use Rules §2.9(E)
“The connection and testing shall be made under the supervision of the Authority or its representative.”
Georgia rule Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 511-3-1-.03(1)(a)
“the building sewer shall be installed so that it will insure gravity flow at a self-cleaning velocity throughout.”
Newton County (NCWSA and Covington)
NCWSA's commercial sewer fee is calculated by its Engineering Division, and NCWSA inspects sewer taps it doesn't make ($75 inspection fee). Inside Covington, nonresidential and over-4-inch taps are calculated by the City Engineer on a 350-gpd ERU.↗
Every service line must have a customer-owned cleanout at the right-of-way or easement limit, which is usually where a commercial repair starts (Sec. 98-10).↗
Non-residential sewer access fees are based on population equivalent proportionate to a single-family unit, per the county's 2022 rate sheet.↗
DWR charges $45 plus $0.46 per foot for a sewer TV initial inspection and $550 per mainline tap, with the customer doing the excavation, backfill and pavement repair.↗
Walton County (City of Monroe)
Monroe prices commercial redevelopment sewer connections at $2,220.41 per ERU (300 gpd) and requires a city permit to connect to or open any public sewer.↗
What it costs
Sewer line replacement, total project
$1,388–$5,323
per job
HomeAdvisor's normal range; its reported average is $3,319.
Typical market range — HomeAdvisor — Sewer Line Replacement Cost (updated June 19, 2026), 2026
Complete sewer line replacement
$60–$250
per linear foot
Typical market range — HomeAdvisor — Sewer Line Replacement Cost (updated June 19, 2026), 2026
Broken or cracked pipe repair
$600–$1,050
per repair
Typical market range — HomeAdvisor — Sewer Line Replacement Cost (updated June 19, 2026), 2026
Video sewer inspection
$100–$500
per inspection
Typical market range — HomeAdvisor — Sewer Line Replacement Cost (updated June 19, 2026), 2026
Sewer line permits
$400–$1,600
per job
HomeAdvisor's national figure; metro Atlanta utility fees are listed in the key facts and county notes above.
Typical market range — HomeAdvisor — Sewer Line Installation Cost (updated June 17, 2026), 2026
Landscaping restoration after sewer work
$1,200–$6,200
per job
HomeAdvisor lists driveway repair at around $1,700; commercial asphalt or concrete restoration is priced by area and thickness.
Typical market range — HomeAdvisor — Sewer Line Installation Cost (updated June 17, 2026), 2026
These are published third-party typical market ranges (HomeAdvisor, 2026), not our prices. Every commercial site is different; we give free on-site estimates.
Free estimate: (678) 863-5620FAQ
Straight answers, with the rule or record behind them. Still unsure? Call and ask the crew that digs.
(678) 863-5620Usually yours, up to the utility's dividing point. NCWSA puts the whole private line through the tap at the main on the owner. Covington uses the street line or main, whichever is nearer. Rockdale, DeKalb and Gwinnett split at the right-of-way or easement. The line under your lot is almost always private.
Often the closure can be kept short. Locates, saw-cutting and most of the excavation can happen while you're open. The drains only have to stop while the damaged pipe is cut out and replaced, and we plan that window around your slowest hours. Long replacements may need a planned closure, which we'll tell you about in advance.
The utility only cares that the private owner's side gets fixed. Between landlord and tenant, the lease decides. What helps settle it is a camera inspection that shows exactly where the defect is, which side of the utility line it's on, and whether it serves one unit or the whole building.
Many do. NCWSA's sewer use rules say no backfill until the work is inspected and approved, and connections to the public sewer are tested under the Authority's supervision. Gwinnett must see an excavated lateral before approving a reimbursement claim. Ask your utility before the trench is closed.
It depends on the building's flow and the utility's approval. NCWSA sets 4 inches as the minimum for any building sewer, with a 4-inch line no flatter than 1/8 inch per foot. Restaurants, multi-tenant buildings and larger offices commonly need bigger pipe, which changes trench width, fittings and cost.
It's an access structure on your building sewer where the utility can observe and sample your wastewater. NCWSA can require one at the user's expense, built to plans it approves. Monroe requires a sampling manhole after the grease interceptor for food service establishments. Your utility tells you if you need one.
Clearing a line removes the blockage, not the reason it formed. A belly, an offset joint, a crack with roots or a partial collapse keeps catching paper and grease. A camera inspection after cleaning shows whether the pipe itself needs repair. If it does, repeat cleaning just resets the clock.
Under-slab sections are the hardest part of a commercial line: the options are cutting the slab, rerouting around it, or a trenchless method where one fits. We excavate and replace, and if a trenchless method fits your line we'll talk it through with you. The camera footage decides which is realistic.
Keep going
Sources
Rules, costs and local facts on this page link to the agency, code or publisher that states them. Cost figures are third-party market ranges, not our prices — estimates are free.
Reviewed by Atlanta Water & Sewage Solutions · Last updated
Ready when you are
When the building sewer under your lot fails, every restroom and floor drain in the building stops with it. We find the break, dig it out of the asphalt, repair it to the utility's standard and put the lot back so you can reopen.
(678) 863-5620Free estimate
or call (678) 863-5620