Due Diligence for Access, Utilities, and Off-Site Improvements

1. Legal and Physical Access

Review access as a chain from the public road network to every project phase, parcel, lot, building, facility, and construction area. The diligence record should address:

• frontage and connection to public or private streets;
• fee ownership, easements, licenses, offers of dedication, and access agreements;
• ingress, egress, emergency, fire, service, construction, pedestrian, bicycle, and maintenance access;
• width, geometry, grade, turning, sight-distance, gate, and control requirements;
• public, private, temporary, and interim conditions;
• shared access with adjacent property or future phases;
• improvement, maintenance, repair, replacement, and cost responsibilities;
• agency and fire-authority review; and
• timing of right acquisition, construction, acceptance, and opening.

Compare title, survey, map, civil, fire, circulation, and agreement records. Identify any gap between the physical route shown on plans and the legal rights supporting use, construction, and maintenance.

Diligence output: an access exhibit and rights matrix showing route, purpose, owner, legal instrument, improvement status, approval, cost, and phase availability.

2. Potable Water Supply and Service

Identify the proposed water source, provider, service area, capacity, infrastructure, rights, and approval sequence. The review may include:

• public water system or other lawful source;
• service-area and jurisdictional status;
• demand assumptions and fire-flow requirements;
• supply, treatment, storage, transmission, and distribution capacity;
• connection points and required on-site or off-site facilities;
• water rights, contracts, allocations, or provider conditions;
• meters, fees, deposits, and cost participation;
• construction, testing, acceptance, and service activation;
• drought, phasing, expiration, or allocation conditions; and
• evidence supporting each conclusion.

Government Code section 66473.7 applies its sufficient-water-supply verification framework to a proposed residential development of more than 500 dwelling units and to the defined 10-percent connection threshold for certain public water systems with fewer than 5,000 service connections, subject to the statute’s full terms and exceptions. Determine applicability with counsel, the agency, the water provider, and the appropriate technical professionals.

For every provider communication, record the date, author, scope, demand basis, units or phase covered, conditions, required improvements, validity period, decision authority, and next action.

Diligence output: a water-supply and service matrix with statutory applicability, demand, capacity, infrastructure, agreements, costs, evidence, and delivery dates.

3. Wastewater Collection, Treatment, and Disposal

Trace the wastewater path from each project phase to the ultimate treatment or disposal system. Review:

• responsible provider or permitting authority;
• collection, lift, force-main, treatment, disposal, or septic concept;
• current and projected flows;
• downstream and treatment capacity;
• connection location and elevation;
• on-site and off-site improvements;
• easements, access, and construction rights;
• pretreatment or special-use requirements;
• fees, capacity charges, reimbursement, and cost participation;
• plan approval, permits, inspections, testing, and acceptance; and
• phase, occupancy, and activation sequence.

A provider’s general service availability and the project’s engineered connection path may sit at different evidence levels. Record each separately and identify the work required to connect them.

Diligence output: a wastewater delivery diagram and responsibility schedule from project generation through final treatment or disposal.

4. Drainage, Stormwater, and Flood-Control Systems

Review drainage as a watershed and ownership system. Relevant questions may include:

• existing and proposed drainage patterns;
• on-site collection, treatment, detention, retention, infiltration, or conveyance;
• off-site discharge points and receiving facilities;
• flood-control district or other agency requirements;
• easements and maintenance access;
• downstream capacity and improvement obligations;
• water-quality and construction stormwater requirements;
• private, association, district, or public maintenance responsibility;
• interim drainage during phased construction; and
• inspection, acceptance, and long-term operating obligations.

Connect the hydrology and civil design to title, mapping, conditions, environmental documents, maintenance agreements, community budgets, and public-report disclosures.

Diligence output: a drainage responsibility map showing flow path, facilities, rights, approvals, maintenance, costs, and phase transitions.

5. Electricity, Gas, Communications, and Other Dry Utilities

For each provider and service, identify:

• service territory and point of connection;
• load or demand assumptions;
• capacity and upgrade requirements;
• relocation, undergrounding, trenching, vault, transformer, cabinet, meter, and equipment needs;
• joint-trench or coordination requirements;
• easements and access rights;
• application, design, deposit, procurement, and construction milestones;
• long-lead equipment and provider scheduling;
• cost estimates and allowances;
• energization or activation prerequisites; and
• phase-by-phase service dates.

Record the provider’s current written position and the conditions attached to it. Establish a refresh date for letters or designs that may expire or depend on changing capacity.

Diligence output: a utility-provider matrix with load, connection, facilities, rights, applications, payments, lead times, and activation dates.

6. Off-Site Improvements and Property Rights

Create a separate record for each required improvement located outside the project’s owned property. Examples may include roads, intersections, signals, sidewalks, drainage facilities, water or sewer extensions, utility relocations, fire facilities, or regional improvements.

For each item, identify:

• the governing condition, plan, agreement, or agency requirement;
• the improvement scope and design authority;
• property ownership and the right needed;
• acquisition, negotiation, dedication, easement, license, permit, or agency proceeding;
• environmental and permitting requirements;
• utility conflicts and relocations;
• cost estimate and funding source;
• reimbursement, credit, fee, district, or cost-sharing arrangements;
• construction, inspection, acceptance, and maintenance responsibility; and
• the map, permit, occupancy, public-report, or phase milestone affected.

Government Code section 66462.5 provides a specific statutory framework for certain tentative-map conditions involving off-site improvements where sufficient title, easement, or license is unavailable at final-map filing. Counsel and the local agency should confirm the project-specific path.

Diligence output: an off-site improvement register joining the obligation, property right, design, funding, agency path, construction, acceptance, and delivery milestone.

7. Funding, Fees, Agreements, and Security

Translate each access and infrastructure obligation into a financial and contractual record. Capture:

• application, plan-check, capacity, connection, impact, and inspection fees;
• deposits, advances, true-ups, and refund provisions;
• construction and contingency estimates;
• improvement, utility, reimbursement, acquisition, and maintenance agreements;
• bonds, letters of credit, set-asides, assessment financing, or other security;
• credits, reimbursements, cost-sharing, or district participation;
• escalation, expiration, and renewal terms;
• lender, investor, or closing dependencies; and
• the party bearing cost during each phase.

Separate amounts supported by adopted schedules, provider estimates, engineer’s estimates, bids, executed agreements, and working assumptions. Record the date and source of each figure.

Diligence output: an infrastructure obligations schedule with amount, evidence basis, payer, timing, agreement, security, reimbursement, and forecast exposure.

8. Phasing, Validity, and Delivery Sequence

Test each system against the actual development sequence. A project may have sufficient ultimate capacity and still face an interim delivery gap. Review:

• which phase generates demand;
• which improvement or right must precede that demand;
• temporary and permanent service arrangements;
• shared systems built in an earlier or later phase;
• provider letters, permits, designs, allocations, or agreements with expiration dates;
• construction windows and seasonal constraints;
• adjacent-project or third-party dependencies;
• acceptance and activation timing;
• fallback paths; and
• the decision date for each fallback.

Create a phase-by-phase utility and access release schedule. Connect the schedule to mapping, permits, construction, DRE filings, sales, closing, and occupancy milestones.

Diligence output: a systems critical-path schedule with evidence refresh dates and contingency decisions.

Build the Systems Inventory

List every access, water, wastewater, drainage, dry-utility, and off-site improvement required by the proposed development and each phase.

Assign Evidence Levels

Grade every material assumption and identify the next document, analysis, approval, right, agreement, payment, or construction event required to advance certainty.

Reconcile Technical and Legal Paths

Compare plans and studies against title, easements, provider territory, agreements, conditions, and agency authority.

Quantify the Delivery Obligations

Create a current schedule of fees, improvements, rights, agreements, security, cost allocation, reimbursement, and timing.

Test the Phase Sequence

Map each system to the phase that needs it and confirm that rights, capacity, construction, acceptance, and activation occur before the dependent milestone.