Houston Water Leak Adjustment Form: Deadline, Documents, and Appeals

To request a bill credit after a plumbing failure, submit the Houston water leak adjustment form online at houstonwaterbills.houstontx.gov. The city calls it the Universal Adjustment Request, and it covers three different types of credits under the Houston Code of Ordinances. Your application must reach Houston Public Works within six months of the repair date, and the size of your credit depends on how quickly you fixed the problem.1City of Houston. City of Houston Adjustment Request Form

Pick the Right Adjustment Type Before You Start

The form asks you to choose one of three categories. Selecting the wrong one delays your request.

  • Leak Adjustment (LKA), Section 47-74. Available to residential or commercial customers who lost water through an excusable defect such as an underground pipe break or a crack behind a wall. Covers up to three consecutive billing months within a 12-month period.2City of Houston. City of Houston Approves Sweeping Ordinance Changes to Address High Water Bills
  • Unusually Large Bill (ULB), Section 47-75. Single-family residential only. Covers one month of unexplained usage exceeding 200% of your average consumption. Limited to one per 12-month period.1City of Houston. City of Houston Adjustment Request Form
  • Exceptional Circumstance Adjustment (ECA), Section 47-75.1. Open to residential, nonprofit, and commercial customers. Covers up to two billing cycles within 24 months when unexplained usage exceeds 200% of average consumption. Credit is capped at $10,000.1City of Houston. City of Houston Adjustment Request Form

Most people filing after a burst pipe use the Leak Adjustment. If your bill spiked but you never found a leak, the ULB may fit. The ECA covers unusual situations that don’t match either category.

How Much You Get Back

For leak adjustments under Section 47-74, the credit applies to water charges above your historical average. The percentage depends on how quickly you completed the repair after the leak began or after the city notified you of high usage.

Wastewater charges get their own credit. Water that escapes underground never reaches the sewer, but your wastewater fee is calculated from metered water volume. For approved leak adjustments, the city credits 100% of the excess wastewater charges on top of the tiered water credit.2City of Houston. City of Houston Approves Sweeping Ordinance Changes to Address High Water Bills

The Six-Month Deadline

For a Leak Adjustment, your application must reach Houston Public Works within six months of the repair date. For ULB and ECA requests, the deadline is six months from the high bill date. Miss either window and the city will not process the claim.1City of Houston. City of Houston Adjustment Request Form

What You Need to Complete the Form

Have this information ready before you open the form:

  • Billing account holder name, exactly as it appears on your water bill
  • Billing account number from a recent statement
  • Service address, including zip code, where the leak occurred
  • Daytime phone number and email address
  • Leak repair date
  • High bill date (the statement showing the spike)

You’ll also answer two yes-or-no questions: whether a private leak caused the high bill, and whether the leak has been repaired. The form is built for post-repair submission, so fix the problem first and then apply.1City of Houston. City of Houston Adjustment Request Form

Repair Documentation

You must upload proof of the repair. The city accepts a plumber’s statement or invoice, a receipt for parts, or a signed written statement describing work you did yourself. A notarized affidavit is not required for self-repairs.1City of Houston. City of Houston Adjustment Request Form

Whatever documentation you provide should show the repair date, the property address, the type of repair, and the cost. A plumber’s invoice typically has all of that. For self-repairs, write a specific description. “Replaced 4-foot section of ¾-inch copper pipe under front yard” is more useful than “fixed leak.”

The online form accepts JPG, GIF, or PNG images up to 4 MB each, and .doc, .docx, or .pdf documents. If your plumber gave you a paper invoice, take a clear photo or scan it. Blurry or cropped images that cut off the date or address are a common reason for delays.

How to Submit

The fastest route is the online form at houstonwaterbills.houstontx.gov. You enter your account details, upload the repair documents, and submit everything in one step. The portal ties your request to your account, which makes tracking easier.1City of Houston. City of Houston Adjustment Request Form

If you prefer not to file online, you can mail the completed request and supporting documents to:

Houston Public Works – Utility Billing
P.O. Box 4863
Houston, TX 77210-4863

You can also email documents to customer.service@houstontx.gov or call 713-371-1400, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., to ask about other submission options.3City of Houston. Utility Billing

Keep copies of everything you send. For mailed packages, certified mail gives you proof of delivery. For online submissions, save a screenshot of the confirmation page.

After You Submit

City staff will review your account’s usage history, compare it to your historical average, and check that the repair documentation lines up with the period of excess consumption. Approved credits appear on your next billing cycle and reduce your account balance rather than generating a cash refund.

You still owe the non-disputed portion of your bill, roughly your normal average, while the request is under review. Letting the whole balance go unpaid can trigger late fees or disconnection even with a pending adjustment. The city treats only the excess charges as disputed.

If the city denies the request, it will explain which criteria were not met. Frequent reasons include missing or unclear repair documentation, a repair date outside the six-month window, or usage that doesn’t clearly tie to a plumbing defect.

Appealing a Denial

Houston runs a three-step appeal process:

  • Administrative Review, the first reconsideration by city staff.
  • Administrative Hearing before an independent hearing examiner, which you request within 10 days of the review decision.
  • Water Adjustment Board review, which you request within 10 days of the hearing decision. The board can uphold, reverse, or modify the examiner’s ruling and has jurisdiction over LKA, ULB, and ECA requests.

Your water service will not be interrupted during the appeal as long as you keep paying the non-disputed portion of your bills.

Tips That Save Time and Money

The most costly mistake is waiting. Every day between the leak starting and the repair finishing pushes your credit down from 100% toward 50%. If you see a usage spike, call a plumber right away or shut off the main valve until you can investigate.

Professional leak detection, which uses electronic equipment to locate underground breaks without excavation, typically runs $150 to $600. That cost is often worth it if it gets the repair done inside the 30-day window and preserves the full credit.

Check that every field on the form matches your water bill exactly. A mismatched account number or address will bounce the request back. Save your repair receipt permanently; the city can audit adjustment credits later.

For renters, the adjustment applies to whoever holds the utility account. If the account is in the landlord’s name, the landlord files. If it’s in your name, you file. Responsibility for the underlying plumbing repair, though, generally falls on the property owner under the lease, so treat who pays for the repair and who files for the credit as two separate questions.