Sheet 16 of 18 · City of Fairfax
City of Fairfax: laterals, caps and billing
The City of Fairfax is a separate city from Fairfax County, where Fairfax Water supplies water and bills wastewater, and customers own the sewer lateral all the way to the main.
Sheet revised November 3, 2026 · who makes this map
| Water | Fairfax Water supplies water to the city and does the wastewater billing. source |
|---|---|
| Sewer | City code makes customers responsible for wastewater laterals all the way to the main. source |
| Permits | We could not confirm which city office issues plumbing permits. Ask the city before work starts. source |
| Licensing | State law sorts contractors into classes by job value; the city's permit office should say what it checks. source |
| Lead pipes | Fairfax Water has a lead-free page that stayed closed to us. Put the question about your own line to the supplier. source |
Not the county, despite the name
The City of Fairfax and Fairfax County are separate governments. The county's rules in the other sheets, such as the McLean sheet, do not automatically apply to a house inside the city, and the county's backup line is for county sewers. Plumbers and neighbors who say "Fairfax" mean either one. Your tax bill names the real one.
The lateral runs all the way to the main
The city code puts the owner's duty all the way to the main. That puts a repair beneath the street on your account. See sewer lateral repair for how other places split it.
The city's repair program and its two sets of numbers
The city runs a Wastewater Lateral Repair Program that reimburses part of a repair. An $18 annual charge on residential accounts funds it. The city's two web pages disagree on the limits. One page lists 25 percent of the cost up to $3,250 for private-side-only work and 75 percent up to $6,500 for full repairs. The other page lists 25 percent up to $2,500. We cannot tell you which is current. Ask the city for the caps in writing, and ask whether a repair must be approved before work begins, because the pages do not make that clear to us.
Billing is not the same as ownership
Fairfax Water sends the wastewater bill, but sending a bill does not make it responsible for your pipe. The city's code does that. If you suspect the main, ask the city which office takes the report, because the bill is a billing channel only. Compare the Town of Herndon sheet, where the town runs its own sewer.
What the map can't tell you
- Which of the city's two sets of caps applies to a repair booked today.
- Which city office issues plumbing permits. We found no confirmed page.
- Whether your lateral has been inspected by the city. No lookup was found.
- Where the city line ends and the county line begins on a street that straddles the boundary.
Check your own address
- Ask the city which department handles it, and ask which version of the lateral repair caps is in force; get the figures in writing.
- Look for the $18 annual charge on your account to see whether you are enrolled in the funding.
- Ask whether a repair needs a permit before the plumber digs, and who inspects it.
- Confirm on a utility bill or tax bill that you are inside the city, not the county.
- If sewage backs up, keep people and pets away from it and stop using drains.
Survey notes: sources for this page
- City of Fairfax Wastewater Lateral Repair Program. Known to us only from a search listing of the page; the site would not open for us.
- City of Fairfax Wastewater Repair Program. Known to us only from a search listing of the page; the site would not open for us.
- Fairfax Water lead-free page. Known to us only from a search listing of the page; the site would not open for us.
- Virginia Code 54.1-1100. Opened November 3, 2026.