On 2006-12-28, Dan_Musicant wrote:

Thanks. Well, I don't really know if these guys have gone into a
permit process for my drainage. They are a very old established
plumbing and heating company, and they come recommended, so I just
assumed that they have me covered there. The contract said that
their bid did not include costs of permits.

My understanding on permits: the homeowner has the ultimate
responsibility to see that permits are taken out. Now the contractor
has responsibility too, but the homeowner's responsibility is greater.
You should read the contract language to mean "we aren't going to deal
with permits." If you had a permit, you'd know it, since part of the
permit process is positing a copy in your window.

BTW, the Berkeley permit office is closed until Tuesday, January 2nd.

Anyway, it seems to me that at THIS point it's not too late to have
an inspection and be permitted. Everything is open and visible,
they've done no work. The plastic pipe is out there ready for
installation.

Right, from the point of view of pulling a permit, nobody comes to the
site until the first inspection, so if you haven't covered up any work
that needs to be inspected, there's no issue.

I assume you are referring to electrical bonding jumpers in regards
to copper water main installation. Where I am, I don't think they
use water pipes for grounds.

Water service pipes are not relied on as the primary ground, because
the water service can be plastic. But if the water pipes are metal
then they do provide a good ground. So I encourage you to go with a
copper service lateral, it will be the best ground you have until you
replace the foundation and have a Ufer ground.

BTW, I'm surprised at how high the quotes are for replacing the
service lateral are, although I've never bid the work. 60 ft of 1"
Type K soft copper can be had locally for $260 + tax. Beyond that
it's a matter of trenching between the meter and the house shut off
valve, laying the pipe on a bed of sand and making two connections. I
guess the difficult parts would be getting through the foundation and
unrolling the pipe to be nice and straight.

Good luck.

Cheers, Wayne