Developers & Contractors

Yellow hardhat resting on top of some unrolled site plans.

The new City of Durham construction standards for Water and Sewer are available below. These include Preapproved Product Lists, Details, and Specifications. See the Letters to Industry below for more information concerning these new standards and contact Water Management at 919-560-4381 with any questions. Future updates will be posted here.

Please visit the Development Services Center for applications, maps, regulations, process overview, and other important documents.

  1. Letters to Industry
  2. Preapproved Product Lists
  3. Details
  4. Specifications

Department of Water Management staff members in a number of divisions interact with developers and contractors on a regular basis. Utility Engineering staff review plans in the Land Development Office (LDO) process to evaluate impact of projects on the City’s water and sewer systems. The process starts with the Development Office in the Public Works Department.

The Cross-Connection Control (CCC) and Industrial Waste Control (IWC/FOG) staff also review plans in the LDO system. CCC staff review plans to make sure that the appropriate backflow preventer devices have been selected for the project. Staff tracks the plans and inspect installations before the Certificate of Occupancy (CO) can be issued. CCC staff also issue the permit for the backflow prevention installation.

IWC/FOG staff review plans for food service establishments to ensure that grease interceptors are appropriately sized and located for routine maintenance. Making sure that adequate devices are in place helps to reduce the potential for sewer overflows and blockages due to grease build-up in the sewer collection system.