It may be helpful to discuss this with the plumbing inspector, more for your own educational purposes than leverage.

You can’t *do* a thing. You don’t own the house until closing. Bear that in mind for all of your objections. Unless you’re willing to overpay a ridiculous amount, nothing will change from how they usually do it.

I don't see any problem with what you describe except that you don't like it. The builder would have to pay to have it changed and they don't want to.

If there is a in the area you are talking about, you would shut it off at the street. 99% of leaks are at the fixture and there (presumably) are no fixtures before the shut off valve. And even if that 1% happened, you would go outside and shut the water off. The idea of a whole house shut off is to make shutting things off fast if there is a leak - and that doesn't usually happen on a pipe in the wall. In every situation, there is some pipe in the wall before the shut off valve. (Not true, we have a 2nd home that is on pilings and the shut off valve is on a piling which is really stupid and I have replaced it after 5 years- but that is unique).

So are you complaining that it goes 30 feet before the shutoff valve instead of the 10 you think it should? Would it be longer underground with your vision? Would that underground be more costly and difficult to do?

Is the tap off the main line in a certain place that they can't easily change?

Is that location dictated by the city?

My $.02 - this is the one of the smaller potatoes that I can think of. Be prepared for 100x worse.

Please see attached picture. My concern is , if there was leak between source on the street and shut-off valve , damage would be widespread if we were take long route. Thank you for comments . Appreciate it

I see your point, but it really isn't something you can make the builder fix unless you pay them to do so and that is assuming it is a custom build. A production builder likely won't care even if you're willing to pay.

"Non issue. Complete non issue."

I second lwo's motion.

And I’m the one who had a leak between the pipe entering the slab and the water meter in the furnace room, where the whole house shutoff is. Good news is, I didn’t pay for any of the “lost” water. I also had a sump pump that saved us. The street shutoff was under many feet of snow at the time. The pathway does not make any sense to me either...but since it looks like it would cost more to go that way, there is probably a reason. Where is your meter?

In the big picture of things, the red route may be a better route.

@fissfiss water meter is in front of the garage.

@Mark Bischak, Architect Wondering if you could share your thoughts on why you think red route is better please

Slab or a basement?

@millworkman slab

water meter is in front of the garage.

Where EXACTLY in front of garage? Can you show on your diagram?

This is probably too simple, but are you located in a cold climate? Is the garage heated?

@shead water meter located at star in the picture

I do not know if it is better or not. It is hard to tell from a partial floor plan. I do know that usually things happen on a construction site for good reasons. I have seen some pretty funky things on construction sites, and when they are explained to me, they make a lot of sense. That may not be the case here, but I am sure it was done for a reason.

@littlebug zone 5 Missouri No we are not in cold climate

There is usually also a shut off at the water meter or street. Non issue.

I agree. Non-issue. Our meter is 1000 feet away but we have a shutoff inside the house. As long as your shutoff is before any fixture, you shouldn't have to worry, especially using modern plumbing lines instead of CPVC which gets brittle over time.

@Sai,

I always want the main shutoff as close to the point of entry into the structure as possible. If that's in a crawl space, for example, I'll add a second valve someplace accessible. I absolutely try to avoid the situation that you have.

Indeed, there is a shutoff at the curb - that shutoff may or may not be user accessible and may or may not require a curb key.

Besides the potential for a leak inside the structure, but prior to the main shutoff, there's the issue of damage to the water line due to digging / landscaping in this circuitous route. Yes, it's always a good idea to call utility location services before you put the roses in... but why would a builder do that? There may be a good reason, but "because we always do it that way" isn't a good reason.

If I were to do this, I'd probably route the line outside of the garage and driveway slab to the extent possible and then go into the garage with a shutoff. See below. It's direct, there's a shutoff at the point of entry, and if you have to repair/replace the line it's mostly not buried under concrete.

I do agree that you are going to have bigger fish to fry, and in the end this just may not matter. Do learn to pick your battles.

Our water company when responding to a digsafe call, is only required to mark the shutoff at the street. This is in stark contrast to the electric and cable companies, who are required to mark the underground lines on our property.

There is only one question in OP's post: "What can I do to make builder fix this?". If I limit my answer to your question, you can ask, pay, or a combo thereof.

The rest of your post is more interesting, but you did not request input.

Won’t driveway be over this line?

If you're building a custom home, your builder has an obligation to construct it substantially as per the approved plans and specifications. While plumbing plans are common in commercial construction, they are rare in residential construction. If you don't have a plumbing plan or detailed specifications describing how the plumbing is to be installed, then the building code would be the default for how things need to be done.

You may not like how the pipe is routed, and it may not make sense, but absent plans or specifications if it meets code, I don't think the builder is obligated to redo it on his dime.

@Flo Mangan Driveway will be on Blueline arrow in my diagram.

I see that, but won't it be over the pipe line? Or will they do a PVC under the driveway to run the line? Seems very odd just from a logical point of view.

Do you own the property? Did you hire the builder to build a plan that has specified utility locations? And this conflicts with the locations shown on the blueprints?

If you are under contract to buy a house at completion from a tract builder, then you have no leverage at all for any changes. Any changes. If you want a certain degree of a bit of customization, do not waste that effort and conflict for change on a water shut off valve. You are going to be told no and shut down pretty quickly for any request for change, if you keep focusing on this as an issue. It’s not relevant. And you’re earning a reputation that you do not want to have if you do want this house.

So allow me to summarize (from my perspective):

1. This isn't the way I would do it. You have valid reasons for not wanting it done the way they did it.

2. There may be reasonable explanations for why they did it that way that are not clear to you - however you did give them an opportunity to explain.

3. This may not be a big deal. You may not ever be in the position to have to repair or replace this water main.

4. You have between "almost none" to "none" ability to get them to change this as long as it meets code and drawings didn't specify otherwise.

6. What leverage you have depends on your contract. Do you own this lot and have hired a builder or do you have a purchase contract for a finished product?

7. You are likely to have problems that are of more consequence - so pick your battles.

I disagree with the above poster: "... And you’re earning a reputation that you do not want to have if you do want this house." A house is a multi-hundred thousand dollar investment. You are damn right that you should be watching what's going on and asking questions. In some cases, I'd even hire a third party inspector to watch for issues throughout the process. I've seen some completely crap jobs that never see a code inspector - and not just on inexpensive homes.

Once the rock goes up you are left with paint and finish issues - the big stuff is either hidden or so difficult to fix that the builder will fight you tooth and nail.

@Jake The Wonderdog Thank you for input. I do not own the lot . This is on contract to purchase finished product. I did hire inspector for pre-pour . They do not have solid explanation as why it was done this way. I don't think they are going to change it , because there is nothing in code that restricts it . I have put them on notice for now and expressed by concern.They are moving along with work.

@User . Thank you for your input. I do not own the lot . I am not asking them to change the shut off valve. I am questioning them why they routed the water line through the house , when they can take it straight to the shut off valve located in garage.

@Flo Mangan Yes drive way will be over the pipe line which will be buried in trench