If if the locates are done and paperwork on hand, will all be okay, guaranteed?
While it is good to have the locates, the fact is that even then we have to dig according to some rules – such as around gas lines. The rule is that we cannot dig within 1 meter on either side of the yellow mark on the ground (that’s about a 6-foot+ path of no-dig zone the full length), unless someone has first dug by hand and physically exposed part of the line to the air so the operator can physically visibly see it. Once that is the case, he can dig closer, right beside it if he is careful, if need be. This also applies to post holes near gas lines and other utilities. There are also rules pertaining to the support of a gas line if digging around and below it, and also on how the backfilling must be done around the line after the work is done and you are ready to close it back up again. Your operator knows generally many of these rules and can help you with the knowledge he has, but remember, as with all other things involving your project and using our services, the directions come from you. It is your job first and foremost to be educated on all these matters and tell us what you want us to do for you – the jobsite is yours, the job or task at hand is also yours, we work for you, we are not the contractor, you are. (Again, that is true even if you are the homeowner or commercial property owner doing a DIY project without the benefit of an actual professional general contractor –that makes you the de facto general contractor for the project by default, always, for our purposes).
Our advice: Dig up all your buried services by hand first, or else you can't complain when some are hit, when they inevitibly will be. Digging blindly, digging by feel, and hoping for the best, is not a good practice (esp when it comes to water supply, telephone, etc.). Even with the line located by paint markings, it is very tough to know exactly where it is, they can be off by several feet in each direction, and rarely is there any accurate indication of depth. By the time the operator “feels” the utility, it is usually damaged, or broken. Unless you dig by hand to physically locate the line, pipe, wire, etc, we cannot guarantee that we will not hit it. In fact, you should expect that unless you find the line yourself by hand first, you should plan on us hitting and damaging the line with the machine. Even if you have located it by hand and visually exposed it – and that is the best way for sure, and we will certainly do our best to be gentle working around it – we will not guarantee that the line won’t be damaged by the machine. That is a risk you take in having your dig done by machinery. We will do our best, we will try our hardest to not contact the serivce line or damage it, but consider this your warning that we will not accept any responsibilities for any consequences, incovnveniences or costs resulting from a contacted and damaged service.
Can damage still occur?
Non-located services will be damaged - you must expect It. In the case of non-located lines (ones that the locate services don’t normally locate, such as customer’s owned lines – for pool supply, for instance, lighting wires, irrigation systems, cable TV, and so on), expect damage; expect breaks, expect a mess. Ripping out a lawn to replace it with sod, if there is cable and/or a sprinkler system present will certainly result in your bearing a certain amount of expense to repair and replace broken and mangled lines, sprinkler heads, valve boxes and so on. Final comment: we’ll do our best, but lines can easily be a casualty of any dig; expect it, don’t blame us, and don’t expect any compensation from us for anything resulting from ruined lines (including consequential damages, like a flooded basement from a ruptured water line, for instance).
In Ontario where do you call? One locator service is done by Ontario One-Call 1-800-400-2255.
And don’t forget to also call your local municipality for the water and sewer lines to be located.
