When to have underground utilities marked?

[DarkBlack]

If you hit a utility that's only an inch deep and did not call for utility marking, the repair cost will be on you.

An inch?? Maybe you exaggerate a bit?

 

[davesl708]

An inch?? Maybe you exaggerate a bit?

My cable for my internet is 7 inches down.

 

[Furu]

X2
Call before you dig.

If you hit something and it is not marked and logged that YOU/your company called; you are going to pay. The service is free in most states, maybe all of them. The repair costs are not free.

 

[Sprinklerman]

An inch?? Maybe you exaggerate a bit?

I install irrigation systems , I hit a fiber cable that was mismarked and it was an inch in the ground . I always take pics of the site before I dig to verify where the marks were . The locaters are quick to spray lines after a problem to cover their butts

 

[4570Man]

Who is liable if they were marked wrong. My neighbor was doing a water drainage project in his yard. He called and had all of the utilities marked. The culvert under the county road was rusted out. He called them to come fix it. They came and fixed it. I watched the county backhoe hit the main gas line 15 feet from where it was marked. Lucky it went between the backhoe teeth and only scratched it a little and didn't bust it.

 

[rmk700]

Who is liable if they were marked wrong. My neighbor was doing a water drainage project in his yard. He called and had all of the utilities marked. The culvert under the county road was rusted out. He called them to come fix it. They came and fixed it. I watched the county backhoe hit the main gas line 15 feet from where it was marked. Lucky it went between the backhoe teeth and only scratched it a little and didn't bust it.

If it's marked wrong it's on the locator doing the marking.

In most places it's 2 ft on each side of paint mark (4 ft total) and whatever the depth the utility is does not matter. The locator is not required to give a depth so if it's marked and under a leaf and you hit it. It is on you.

 

[4570Man]

If it's marked wrong it's on the locator doing the marking. In most places it's 2 ft on each side of paint mark (4 ft total) and whatever the depth the utility is does not matter.

It was certainly more than 2 feet off.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Hi All,

Thinking about doing some tractor work for people asking for it but want to be cautious about digging on land I don't own and therefore don't know whats underground. Aside from all the other consideration I was curious to ask specifically what type of tractor work should a "customer" have underground utilities marked?

I assume anytime you dig with the backhoe say trenching, but what about when doing some box blade work, such as carving out a shallow (1' deep) diversion swale for example?

I am in a more rural area in Northern CA, where we are on wells and propane tanks, is it the land owners job to mark those lines? Similarly, who's responsibility is it to mark the power lines from the pole on the property - the land owner or the county/city?

For those of you doing this work professionally, do you take on the responsibility of calling the appropriate companies to have utilities marked or do you just tell the customer in the bidding stage that they need to have X,Y & Z marked before the work day?

Thanks in advance.

Don't be like these guys. My lift line is marked. I told them it is shallow. I pointed out where it is. Then they hit it twice in as many minutes. I billed their boss $1100 after fixing it.

 

[4570Man]

I was having a whole house of sheet rock delivered. I told them where the septic tank was and put saw horses over the tank. The bunch of dumb butts got out of the truck and moved them and drove over the tank.

 

[LD1]

As others say, its a good idea to call anytime. But most of the dirt work that one would encounter isn't going to be near anything they will mark. Water meter is usually near the road, and they only mark to the meter. Electric, if underground will only be marked up to the meter, not to the house. Well, propane, outbuildings, dog fences, irrigation, etc are All customer owned and won't be marked.

I have never hit anything other than phone lines before. And the times I have hit that, I have never called. Because it wouldn't have mattered when needing to run field tile through where the line was. Even if I were to get digging by hand, its easy to slice through phone line with a shovel. Never been charged for a repair.