Commercial Plumbing in Arvada, CO

Does every backflow assembly in Arvada need a yearly test?

Yes. Under the city's Backflow and Cross Connection Control Program, every backflow prevention assembly on the system must be inspected and tested annually. Testers register on the city's SAMS portal and submit results there, so the record lives with the city. For a restaurant, a car wash, a medical office or a building with fire sprinklers or irrigation, that means at least one test date a year to track. If an assembly fails, it has to be repaired and retested.

Who fixes a sewer backup between our building and the street?

Usually the owner. Arvada says property owners are responsible for the sewer service line from the building to the city main, and the city does not cut, clean or televise residential sewer laterals. The city maintains more than 450 miles of sewer pipe that feed Metro Water Recovery for treatment. Some parts of Arvada are served by Clear Creek Sanitation or Ralston Valley Water and Sanitation instead, so check your bill. On the water side, the city owns the service line from the main to the meter pit, and the owner has the pipe from the pit to the foundation. Work in the public right-of-way requires a City of Arvada General Municipal Contractor's license, so a repair that reaches the street may involve a contractor with that license.

Arvada's code also forbids routing sump pump discharge into the sanitary sewer and flushing wipes or paper towels, a point worth repeating to staff in restrooms that see heavy use.

What should we know about permits and older buildings?

Arvada Building Services at 8101 Ralston Road handles permits and inspections. Replacing or installing water heaters and other plumbing appliances needs a permit, as does installing, repairing or disconnecting a water or sewer service. Contractors with an active Arvada license apply online. The city's median build year is 1979, and about 53% of its homes went up before 1980 (city-wide ACS data), so commercial buildings from the same decades can carry original drain lines and older fixtures worth a camera look before a remodel.

The city's own water is treated with chlorine and is fairly soft, with reported averages around 43 ppm and 65 ppm at its two plants, so scale is less of a worry here than in some neighboring cities.

A short Arvada note

Lead and pre-1960 galvanized service lines are prohibited on Arvada's system, and the city's inventory has found mostly copper and no lead. If your building's line shows as unknown, the city asks owners to get in touch.