Tom Matthews posted a question here a couple of days ago that we are often asked.. a student at his hoisting class reports that electrical markouts only go 10 feet onto a property.. why? You may have noticed that our customer service reps give you a disclaimer each time you call us.. Electric and other companies may not mark lines they dont own or maintain Dig Safe member utility companies by law are required to mark out the location of underground facilities that THEY OWN OR MAINTAIN. The law does not call on utilities to mark privately owned facilities. Typically, gas, cable tv, and communication lines are owned by the utility company, so those lines should be marked all the way up to the foundation, if you are working on private property. With electric, weve got a grey area regarding ownership. Electric facilities is owned to the meter, or pole, or transformer, or some other point of demarcation, but from that point forward.. it was installed by a contractor. It is not the property of the utility company and they dont have a record of it. Keep in mind also that there could be other private facilities that wouldnt be marked out. Private gas lines by a plumber in your back yard to heat a swimming pool, or to feed one of those new natural gas grills, wouldnt be identified by Dig Safe member companies. Most states laws in our country do not force utilities to be responsible for lines that arent theirs .. but we understand that you want to do the best you can to avoid damage to ALL utilities.. private or otherwise. I recommend you speak to property owners. If there is a shed in the back yard with electric lighting, ask questions. If you know youre digging on a large property like a hospital, manufacturing plant, airport, university, ski resort.. anticipate that there may be private facilities in the area. Contact the physical plant manager or person who is in charge of grounds. We also maintain a list of private locating firms, who mark private facilities that may not be identified by our members. There are many to choose from throughout New England: digsafe/private_locators.php
Posted on: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 19:07:04 +0000
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