Oakland sewer repair is becoming increasingly difficult for consumers to contract because the lure of fast money is corrupting some otherwise honest contractors.  There are plumbers in Oakland who don’t have the required license to help people get the EBMUD Oakland sewer certificate.   Since January 16^th 2012 the Oakland private sewer lateral ordinance has been in effect.  The new Oakland private sewer ordinance mandates that all properties being sold pass an Oakland sewer lateral test using either air or water.  This means that in order to close escrow on the sale of their property sellers must get and pass an Oakland sewer test to receive the Oakland sewer certificate which is good for 20 years.

Now that the Oakland sewer certificate is required many property owners and buyers find themselves in need of Oakland trenchless sewer repair to obtain the sewer certificate to close escrow.  Recently people involved in real estate transactions have been calling Oakland plumbers to get the sewer test.  During the air or water test the private sewer lateral fails the test which forces the people involved in the real estate transaction to have an Oakland sewer replacement done.  The problem is that many Oakland plumbers don’t have the required C-42 Sanitation Systems license and can only repair the sewer lateral on the property meaning if the problem is in the street they can’t fix it.  Many homeowners say they don’t tell them 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.

Obtaining the Oakland sewer certificate is serious business.  You should be cautious  when hiring an Oakland sewer repair plumber.  Make sure that the Oakland plumber has a license that allows them to do all the required work.  Here is an example of a bad situation:

• 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.

Be careful when deciding who the best Oakland plumber is for your specific situation before signing a contract.