How to Get Commercial Water Service From Cleveland Water

The short answer

Any property served by Cleveland Water that is not a 1- to 4-family, owner-occupied home needs a commercial water service application to get new or changed water service. You submit the application packet with site utility drawings, Cleveland Water decides the tap, meter, piping and backflow device sizes, and the city says applications are usually processed within 30 business days.

This guide from the ACC Solutions team walks through that process for owners of storefronts, offices, apartment buildings and repurposed buildings. ACC coordinates commercial plumbing in Cleveland and quotes every job after a walkthrough. Cleveland Water's own documents, linked below, are the final word on its rules.

When you need a commercial application

Cleveland Water's Commercial Service page defines the line: residential means a one-, two-, three- or four-family, owner-occupied housing unit. Everything else, including a rented duplex owned by an investor, a mixed-use building or a restaurant, goes through the commercial application. Common triggers:

• A new building, or an addition that needs more water than the old line can deliver.
• A vacant or repurposed building with no active water account.
• A new fire sprinkler line or lawn irrigation line.
• A change of use that raises demand, such as a retail space becoming a restaurant.

The process isn't limited to addresses inside the City of Cleveland: the packet lists county contacts for Cuyahoga, Medina, Summit and Geauga, and asks for a street opening permit from whichever local community the building is in. Check your water bill to confirm Cleveland Water supplies the building before you start.

What goes in the application packet

The Commercial Water Service Application is a set of forms; skip the ones that don't apply. The core pieces:

1. Form G1, general information about the property and owner. Required for every new water service request; it sets up the billing account.
2. Site utility drawings. North arrow, a location map with the nearest intersection, lot lines with frontage dimensions, existing mains along the frontage, the proposed tap location and its distance to the nearest hydrant or valve, existing connections and meters, the proposed meter size and type, and any backflow device type, size and location.
3. Form E1, existing water service connections. The owner has to research what connections already exist along the frontage. Cleveland Water will provide maps and records of connections on request (Engineering, 216-664-2444 ext. 5526).
4. Forms D1 and D2, domestic flow, pressure and fixture data. Your peak instantaneous demand in gallons per minute, plus any fixtures that need a minimum pressure.
5. Form L1 (irrigation) and Form F1 (fire service) if those services are part of the project.
6. Form B1, backflow letter of intent, signed by the owner and notarized, when a backflow device is required.
7. Form S1, the water service summary table, listing each service, meter and backflow device.
8. Form V1, meter vault easement, if a required vault can't sit in the public right-of-way.

Submissions go to Cleveland Water Engineering, 2nd floor, 1201 Lakeside Ave., Cleveland, OH 44114. For application questions, the city lists WaterServiceApplication@clevelandwater.com or 216-664-2444 ext. 75209.

Cleveland Water sizes the service, not your contractor

The packet is blunt about this: Cleveland Water reviews the submittal and specifies the sizes, materials and configuration for the service piping, valves, meters, meter assemblies, backflow devices and vaults. You can propose sizes, but the water department makes the call. Good flow data is how you get the size you need instead of the one someone guessed.

A few sizing rules from Cleveland Water's service connection specifications and the packet:

• New taps and service connections must be at least 1 inch; no tap may be larger than 12 inches or larger than the main that serves it.
• Mains 20 inches and larger, and any 16-inch main designated a transmission main, can't be tapped for service.
• A meter vault is required when the meter is 3 inches or larger, or when the building's point of entry is more than 150 feet from the right-of-way.
• System pressure can range from about 40 psi to upwards of 175 psi, and Cleveland Water advises a pressure regulator where pressure exceeds 85 psi.
• All service taps on active mains are made by Cleveland Water's Tap Unit.

Can you reuse the old connection?

This is the question that matters most for older Cleveland commercial buildings. Cleveland Water recommends a new connection for all new water services, and its specifications list connections that can't be reused:

• Any connection 1 inch or smaller installed before 1950, because those are likely lead. The connection may be older than the building, so a building built after 1950 may still sit on a lead line.
• A connection too small for the projected demand.
• Galvanized steel, wrought iron, asbestos cement or other unapproved materials.
• Cast iron 3 inches and larger without cement mortar lining (usually before 1970).
• Any connection that is too corroded or deteriorated.

If you believe an old small line is not lead, it can be exposed at the customer's expense and, if a Cleveland Water inspector verifies it is not lead and is in good condition, reused. And when a building is razed or a new building is constructed, the existing customer-side line has to be replaced. If the building has several old connections along its frontage, the packet warns that you may be required to pay to plug the unused ones.

Private-side materials and joints

Everything between the curb valve and the building belongs to the owner, and the specifications are specific:

• Two-inch and smaller service from the curb valve to the building: Type K copper for runs of 100 feet or less from the right-of-way. Couplings must be mechanically restrained (flared or pack joint). Solder/sweat, push-connect, compression and press-connect joints are not permitted.
• PEX (AWWA C904, SDR 9) is allowed only for runs over 100 feet, with the meter in a vault, a backflow device right after the meter and other conditions in the specifications.
• Over 2 inches: Class 52 or higher cement-lined ductile iron pipe. Local building and fire codes still apply, and some fire departments require ductile iron for fire lines.

Joint and material choices are among the items Cleveland Water's inspector checks, so settle them before anything goes in the trench.

Street opening permit and fees

Any new tap, or any digging, tunneling or boring in the public right-of-way, needs a street opening permit or a hold-harmless letter from the community where the building sits. Cleveland Water won't approve the water service permit without it. If an existing service can be used with no excavation in the right-of-way, it isn't required.

Once the application is approved, Cleveland Water prepares a quote for its fees. After you pay and submit the street opening permit or letter, it sets up the billing account and issues work orders to its Tap Unit, Meter Installation Unit and a Permit and Sales inspector.

Inspection, meter and backflow, in order

1. Install the private side once the application is approved and fees are paid. It can go in before or after the public portion; if it goes first, the tap location may shift and any alignment fix happens downstream of the curb valve.
2. Schedule the inspection with Permits and Sales at 216-664-2444, at least 24 hours ahead. The packet suggests taking clear digital photos showing pipe material, bury depth (5½ feet minimum on the outside checklist) and joint types; photos don't replace the inspection.
3. Prepare the meter setting. For an inside meter, run a 3-strand, 18-gauge wire from the meter location to the remote-read end point before the appointment. Vault meter assemblies are built and tested by Cleveland Water from materials you deliver to its Meter Shop (216-664-3120).
4. Book the meter install through customer service at 216-664-2444 after the service passes inspection. Someone has to be on site for water to be turned on. Book early: the packet says Cleveland Water may bill at an estimated rate until the meter is installed.
5. Test the backflow device. The owner hires a State of Ohio certified tester, the result is filed online at bsionlinetracking.com, and the test repeats every year. Our post on commercial backflow testing in Cleveland covers the annual cycle.

Mistakes that slow down commercial water service

• Guessing the demand. Thin flow data leads to a wrong-sized meter or a review that goes back and forth.
• Forgetting the hold-harmless letter. No street opening permit or letter, no water service permit.
• Skipping the well paperwork. A property with a well, pond or cistern needs a county alteration or abandonment permit first; keeping the well also means a reduced pressure backflow assembly.
• Expecting the water department to waive sewer charges. Cleveland Water provides billing for various sewer agencies and says it cannot waive sewer charges without authority from your sewer agency. A deduct meter for water that never reaches the sewer needs a permission letter from that agency first (NEORSD, if you're in its system).

How ACC helps with a commercial water service

The application is paperwork, but the answers come from the building: what connections exist, what fixtures and fire demand the space has, and where the meter can go. On a walkthrough we look at the existing service, meter location and fixture count, then quote the private-side plumbing and coordinate it with the application, inspection and meter steps. ACC partners with several plumbing companies and coordinates the work, so you have one point of contact.

If the new service is part of a bigger build-out, see our commercial rough-in and build-out plumbing page. For an older building where the supply lines inside are failing too, our guide on repiping versus repairing helps frame the decision. Apartment owners can start with multifamily plumbing in Cleveland.

Call the plumbing desk at (216) 480-8899 or request a plumbing project review with the address, the building's use and any Cleveland Water correspondence.