Residential Water Tap

[Michael Gruber]

Hi! 

I'm trying to understand the full cost of a utility water hookup. What are the typical fees and costs associated with getting water to a property (Metering, Service Line,etc)? I'm in the Denver-Metro, Colorado area. 

Seems like it could easily be $20K-$30K... it could easily make or break a new build/spec. I imagine they keep the water and sewage tap on demo's of old properties?

City of Arvada tap fee is $19,720 

https://arvada.org/source/a%202019%20tap%20fees/2019%20in%20city.pdf

While Denver is a little bit more ambigious:

https://www.denverwater.org/contractors/construction-information/system-development-charges

Thanks!

[Emilio Ramirez]

It depends on which municipality you're looking at. As you've discovered each one has it's own pricing. Don't forget about the sewer tap fee. Or these other potential government fees. Plan review, Permit, impact fees, parking, parks, fire department, grading, roads, schools. In the Metro Denver Area those fees can be anywhere from $10k - $50k for a single family home. I recently built a duplex in Unicorporated Jeffco and the government fees came in at close to $100k. Developer still made $250k on the build and both sides were under contract in 24 hours. 

Typically Denver is the least expensive. Plus if you're doing a scrape you get a credit from the old house that you're tearing down. In Denver, those credits have reduced the cost for sewer and water tap fees about 90% for single family homes in my experience.