Utility Mark outs

Yes. Always call before you dig.

Not only is it recommended, some places it is law. You will be liable for any damages caused. Major disasters have happened where construction digs have blown up whole neighbourhoods after hitting a gas line.

The local utility company that has underground utilities will come and locate their utilities and paint or flag the ground to mark it; sometimes for free. This could be The public works, electricity company, gas company, or telephone. Usually, where the lines go underground there should be a contact number on a plate on a pole etc.

Most places also require that a tape marker is put over the utility half way down to warn anyone digging.

However, that is not all you have to do. You are, in many States, legally bound to perform your own due diligence and conduct certain activities such as pot-holing and taking special care during excavation. Many utilities alignments are old and may have limited plans, and other utilities are typically based on as-built drawing provided by contractors who do not actually as-built much of the drawing but typically just resubmit a copy made from the design plans they were provided (with minimal accurate as-builts). This means some utilites alignments do not match those on the plans held by the agencies.

Thanks. Yes, we always asked the contractor to call the safe dig number. I think this is more in terms of due diligence.

I spoke to a surveyor about this situation. He says in NJ, the Safe Dig law will only mark out when your about to excavate not for design work. Though I'm a little skeptical as to the accuracy of the mark out.

Around here they will also locate lines with a metal detector.

Hard to say. You gave no location. The requirements vary by jurisdiction.

Where I am you must call "Digsafe" first.

Don't always depend on as-built drawings. The are often unreliable.

I have never seen a construction project that did not have "unforeseen" conditions. These (so-called "unforseen conditions") are generally where the money is made.

What should I do in the future?

It depends on which party you represent. As the Contractor, you will want to maximize the "unforeseen conditions" so as to gain "extra work" and $$$.

As the Owner, or his agent, you will want to minimize them.

As the utility company, you will want to recover the costs of damages from the Contractor in court.

As the Surveyor, you will want to maximize billable hours.

As the Judge or mediator, you will arbitrate the claims for change orders due to the "unforseen conditions".

Here in St. Louis, MO we are supposed to call Dig-rite but the funny thing is they don't locate all the utilities. So then you have to call the companies that Dig-rite doesn't locate to have their lines located too. Which means you have to know what companies are in the area so you know who to call.

Its a very stupid system. But what can you expect from a metropolitan area that has over 50 different municipalities and each one has its own set of rules.

And remember the location markers are only as good as the person doing the locating. We have a very large disclaimer about underground utilities on every one of are plan sheets even the detail sheets get them.

Heard the one about the potable water main installed in a factory in Dagenham, East London, in malleable iron pipework? The diggers found an underground WW2 air-raid shelter that wasn't in the buried services database. The diversion pipework required was on eight weeks' delivery......

If the utilities are within the confines of the plant/factory boundary, the utility company may not actually do the locating, and you'll have to call in a third-party service to do this work - we have encountered that here, recently. Always remember that "as-built" refers to the structure, not the paperwork - those are "as-drawn"...