Water service utility plans and submittals

What the plan shows

A water service plan shows the point of connection to the utility's main, the tap, the meter and the backflow prevention assembly, and the service line to the building. Where the site needs one, it shows the fire line too. The utility that will serve you, a city, a district or a water supply corporation, reviews it against its own standards.

When you need one

• A new commercial pad, drive-thru or small-footprint site.
• A site moving off a private well onto utility water.
• A multi-site program, where each utility sets its own service rules.

What we do

1. Confirm the provider and the connection. Who serves the pad, whether there is capacity, where the connection point is, whether a main extension is needed, and how long the utility's letter lasts.
2. Size the tap and meter from the building's fixtures and equipment, using the utility's worksheet and the plumbing code the city adopted.
3. Pick the backflow protection your equipment needs. Some equipment, such as beverage carbonators, needs a reduced-pressure assembly.
4. Draw the plan on the site survey, matching the site and utility sheets of the civil set.
5. Submit to the utility and answer its review questions.

A line in state highway right of way also needs a TxDOT utility permit, filed by the utility that will own it.

What you get

• A water service plan sealed by a professional engineer licensed in the site's state.
• The utility submittal and written answers to its review.
• A plan that matches the civil set, so the city and the utility review the same design.

What affects time and cost

• The utility's clock. It runs apart from the city's, so we file the utility application alongside the civil submittal, not after it.
• The main. A main extension, and who builds it, changes the scope.
• The tap. Some utilities make the tap themselves; others let an approved contractor do it.
• The equipment. The fixture count and the backflow assembly set the meter and the details.