Domestic Commercial Meters

PROCESS: Customers must check if their property has been annexed and platted to the City of Laredo. They may set up an appointment with a planner at the Planning & Zoning Department for information. Having a current domestic meter does not mean the property has been annexed and platted.

PROCESS: A customer sets an appointment with a GIS Technician to check existing services to their property. A plan showing the existing mains will be provided to the customer and, if interested, they will have to submit the GIS plan with the Building Permit Application. i. CCTV Inspection – Customers have the option to find their sewer service via a CCTV camera that is introduced to our main. For this option, the customer needs to contact the City Hall Annex and pay the proper fees.

PROCESS: Civil Plans showing proposed and existing services must be submitted to the Building Department to be reviewed by the Utilities Department for compliance. A meter sizing worksheet needs to be included as part of the submittals for a project. You may download a copy here

PROCESS: Once water & sewer plans are submitted for review with a Building Permit Application, they will immediately be set in line to be reviewed. By ordinance, twenty-one days are given for City Reviewers to review the plans. A letter will be provided by the Utilities Department stating if the plans were found to be within compliance.

PROCESS: If plans are found to be within compliance, the Utilities Engineering Division will provide the customer with a cost statement covering construction services the City of Laredo is eligible to provide.

PROCESS: The Building Department will provide a Building Permit to the customer once all departments involved in the review process have found the project plans to be within compliance.

PROCESS: The The Utilities Department will provide two types of construction meters to ongoing projects. Only one of these two types of construction meters will be provided to the customer. Projects that require grading will only be provided with a fire hydrant type of construction meter. TYPE 1: FIRE HYDRANT METER i. PROCESS: Customers will submit a fire hydrant request application to the City Hall Annex, which will be reviewed by the Engineering Division for eligibility. Once the application is found within compliance, the City Hall Annex Customer Service Representative (CSR) will take the payment for the meter to be installed. ii. METER RELEASE: A work order to install a fire hydrant meter will be requested by the City Hall Annex once all documentation has been reviewed and all fees have been paid TYPE 2: TEMPORARY BACKFLOW PREVENTER & TEMPORARY CONSTRUCTION METER i. PROCESS: Due to possible health hazards, a temporary backflow preventer is required to be installed by the customer before a temporary domestic meter is requested. Once the temporary backflow preventer is installed, please register it with our Water Pollution Division, then the customer will need to set up an appointment with a Utilities Inspector for a field verification. If all prior steps and requirements have been followed, the customer will be provided with a temporary domestic meter. ii. METER RELEASE: A work order to install a fire hydrant meter will be requested by the City Hall Annex once all documentation has been reviewed and all fees have been paid. NOTE 1: The Utilities Department will NOT provide any construction meters to projects whose plans are not within compliance by the Utilities Department.

PROCESS: Customers whose projects require Utilities inspections will need to set up an appointment with our inspectors by calling 956-721-2000 and get an approved final inspection report. Due to our shorthanded staff, a 72 hours notice is required. To check if there are any pending fees in your project you may call 956-721-2000.

PROCESS: Once all requirements are met with our Building Department, a Certificate of Occupancy will be issued to the customer.

PROCESS: If no temporary domestic meter has been provided to the customer, the Utilities Engineering Division will release a permanent domestic meter once the Certificate of Occupancy has been released. Customer is advised to inform the City Hall Annex once they are done using a temporary domestic meter for construction purposes. If the customer has not done this yet, the City Hall Annex will transfer the status of the account to permanent.