Connect to Water/Sewer Main

Procedures & Guidelines

Developing a property – whether building on a vacant lot or rehabbing a historic home – can be complicated. We’ve put together the following guide to help you understand our role in your project, what requirements you may face, and how to get the answers you need to reach your goal.

Step 1: Assess Your Situation

When you’re ready to connect your property to our citywide water or sewer systems, there are a few things you should know from the start.

  • Property owners or developers are responsible for installing any water or sewer lines within the private property’s boundaries using a licensed master plumber.
  • In all cases, before any public work can be done, you must show you have a permit for your private plumbing work.

Step 2: Ready to Connect

When you are ready to start your project, contact our House Connections Department at 504.585.2164 or through this online form.

Per the revised Louisiana statute 33:4090 , Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans no longer provides free water or sewer connections to lots of record. Residents are now required to cover the cost of connection.

When connecting your private property to the public mains yourself, your licensed contractor must apply in person with our House Connections Department at 625 St. Joseph Street, Room 261. Your contractor must have a state-issued Municipal and Public Works Contractor license and a certificate of insurance indemnifying SWBNO by at least $5 million in order to work on public property.

Your licensed master plumber must file for intent to establish new service connections at the property address with us before your contractor may apply.

Step 3: Permit Application and Fee

If you will be hiring your own contractor to connect your services to the public main, your licensed contractor must provide the following items:

  • Service Cut Application
  • Plan Drawing
  • Construction Cost Estimate
  • Construction Schedule
  • Contractor’s License
  • Certificate of Insurance

The House Connections Department generally takes up to two weeks to review each application and will notify you when the permit is approved and ready for pickup.

We charge an administrative fee of 20 percent of the estimated cost to construct the water and/or sewer connection. This fee covers the cost of inspections, technical reviews, necessary documentation and, if necessary, preparing your meter. We may adjust this percentage in response to your project’s schedule or the complexity of the proposed work. The contractor must pay the fee when picking up the permit packet from the House Connections Department.

If you have additional questions, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions page here. You can also contact House Connections at 504.585.2164 or Customer Service at 504.529.2837