Terms
These terms cover the use of this website and the introduction service it provides. They are short on purpose. Read them before you send a request.
What this site does
This site takes requests from homeowners and property owners in Syracuse and the surrounding Onondaga County area and arranges drain cleaning, sewer line cleaning and root removal, sewer backup work, and sewer line inspection and repair. We arrange the introduction. We do not perform the work and we do not set the price. An independent contractor carries out the job, quotes you directly, invoices you directly, and holds their own trade credentials and their own insurance for it. Your agreement for the work itself is with that contractor and not with this site.
Plumbing work here is regulated, and the credential belongs to the contractor
Onondaga County Local Law No. 9 of 1988, as amended in 2004, provides that only persons the Onondaga County Examining Board for Plumbers has found competent, and whom the Department of Water Environment Protection then licenses as Master Plumbers or as Plumbing Contractors Class B or Class C, may obtain a permit to install plumbing in the county. That credential belongs to the contractor who does the work and never to this site, and nothing on these pages should be read as a claim that we hold one. Section 3.2 of the Examining Board's requirements separately obliges every licensed plumbing contractor working in the county to keep certificates of insurance on file with WEP Plumbing Control, and that is the document worth asking to see.
Who owns which piece of pipe
Section 5.3 A.3 of the Onondaga County Examining Board for Plumbers requirements states that all sewer lateral repairs shall be reconstructed to the curb line, and that where the licensed plumbing contractor determines there is an obstruction within the service lateral that cannot be cleared and the obstruction is under the street bed, it is the contractor's responsibility to contact the City sewer department and demonstrate the same. We publish that because it decides who pays. It is not a promise about your address. Village and town codes in this county differ, the Consolidated Sanitary District does not cover every property inside its member municipalities, and only an inspection of your own line can say where the fault actually sits.
Quotes, prices and what nobody can tell you in advance
What a drain or sewer job costs turns on where the blockage sits and what the pipe is made of, and neither is known until someone has opened the line and looked down it. Any figure given before that point is an estimate against a description, not a price, and a contractor pricing an excavation without having located the fault is pricing a guess. Requests sent through this site carry no obligation, and neither we nor any contractor introduced through it will hold you to a number given before the line has been surveyed.
Emergencies, and what this site is not
If wastewater is entering the building, that is a health matter as well as a plumbing one. The EPA states that where basements flood with sewage the damaged area must be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected, and that rugs, curtains, flooring, wallboard and upholstered furniture that contact sewage usually have to be replaced. This site arranges the plumbing work. It does not carry out cleaning, disinfection or insurance restoration, and nothing on it is medical, legal or insurance advice.
Information on this site
The local, regulatory and code statements on these pages carry a visible source and the date it was checked. They are published as general information to help you work out what to do next. They are not a substitute for someone inspecting your own line, for legal advice, or for advice from your insurance carrier about what a policy will pay. Code sections, county requirements, village ordinances and published guidance all change. Where a statement matters to a decision you are making, follow the link and check it for yourself.
Permits, inspections and who is responsible for them
A permit is required before plumbing work starts in this county, and obtaining it is part of the contractor's job under your contract with them rather than part of the introduction we make. Where the work is a new lateral connection to an existing main, or the re-use of an existing lateral, Onondaga County requires a Capacity Assurance review first, with feedback or approval provided within 45 days and an inflow and infiltration offset plan possible as a condition of approval. That is a timetable to plan around, not a surprise to discover halfway through. If you are unsure which office applies to your address, ask before the work is scheduled rather than afterwards.
Limits
We take reasonable care over who we introduce and over what this site says. We do not control how a contractor performs the work, what they charge, or how long they take, and we are not a party to the contract you sign with them. Nothing here creates a warranty on the work itself. Disputes about the work, the price or the timetable are between you and the contractor.
Using this site
Do not submit a request for a property you have no connection to, and do not use the form to send automated or commercial messages. The text, the sourced material and the layout of these pages are ours. Quote them with a link, but do not republish them wholesale.
Changes
These terms may change as the service changes. The version on this page is the one that applies, and a change to what the site collects is made in the privacy policy at the same time.
The $100 credit
We credit $100 against the first job you book through this site. The credit is funded by us, not by the contractor who carries out the work. The contractor quotes and invoices their own normal price for the job; the $100 is credited by us out of the fee we take once the job is booked and quoted, and the contractor is told about the credit when we hand the job over.
One credit per customer per property, on the first booked job. The credit applies once the job is booked and quoted, not to a quotation on its own.
To claim it, mention this offer when you book. Requesting a quote through this site records the offer against your request, and we confirm it with you before the job is booked, so nothing is lost if you forget to raise it first.
The offer is valid through December 31, 2026. The job must be booked on or before that date. We do not set or control the contractor's price, and this credit is not a reduction of that price.