Excavation is the main cause of damage to lines such as the gas service being installed above, utility officials say.
“Out of sight, out of mind” might work for relationships, but it certainly does not for homeowners’ responsibility for what’s underneath their property.
Property owners are usually responsible for any repairs on the gas, water, telephone, and sewer lines that run underground from the curb up to the house. Typical homeowner insurance policies don’t cover such repairs, and the bills can run into the thousands of dollars.
Damage to lines is infrequent, however. Water, natural gas, and sewer lines tend to cause the most problems, said Debra Schuster, one of the owners of Alternative Plumbing Plus in Toledo. Eighty percent of calls to her company involve lines that have worn out from old age.
The cases that wreak the most trouble, though, are those in which a homeowner or contractor is digging in a yard and strikes a gas line, she said.
“Typically, that’s done by someone using underground equipment, because the lines are fairly deep,” she said. “Closest to the surface are gas lines, which have to be down only about 18 inches.”
Gina Thompson, a spokesman for Columbia Gas of Ohio, said people sometimes think the utility is responsible for anything outside the house, but that’s not true. Columbia Gas, like most utilities, is responsible for leaks and repairs only along the street to the curb line or the public right of way next to the road.
From there to the house as well as inside the house are the owner’s responsibility. Columbia Gas will come out and turn gas off when a leak occurs, but the customer has to find a certified plumber to make the repairs and restore service, Ms. Thompson said.