Underground Damage Prevention Program

• Premark specific area of excavation with white paint, stakes, or flags and/or provide an electronic delineation of the specific excavation area. For information on how to provide an electronic delineation, please contact Todd Griffeth (Colorado 811) at (720) 705-7983. 
  
  
• Contact 811 three business days before excavating. 
  
  
• View "Positive Response" information from Colorado 811. This documentation must be onsite for the duration of the excavation project.  
  
  
• If excavating across a pre-existing natural gas underground facility, a natural gas standby appointment will be required if instructed by the utility owner. 
  
  
• Compare positive response information with marks onsite. If mistakes are found (no marks, incomplete marks, utility not found under mark), or the excavator has questions regarding the marks, they must cease excavation in the area of question and process an Excavator Renotification request through Colorado 811. 
  
  
• The use of hand tools or “soft digging” is required in the tolerance zone, which is 18 inches from exterior sides of the marked utility.  
  
  
• Maintain the marks – use diligence to protect the locate marks. If marks are lost or destroyed, the excavator must contact 811 to have the marks refreshed. 
  
  
• If the excavation crosses a marked utility, the excavator must pothole, expose and visually verify the utility. 
  
  
• If using trenchless technology, pothole to the depth of your bore and visually observe the safe crossing of the utility. 
  
  
• The excavator must maintain vertical and horizontal clearance standards when installing utilities near underground natural gas infrastructure. 
  
  
• When potholing a high-pressure gas line, a standby appointment is required. A standby appointment is when a Colorado Springs Utilities Gas Quality Control Department employee is dispatched to the excavation site. The inspector may be onsite for the duration of the excavation. You must set this appointment up separately. Please call Gas Dig Alert Scheduling at (719) 668-3520 to make your appointment.
   
• When requesting emergency locates, the excavator must be onsite when the locator arrives.

• Maintain an active membership with Colorado 811.
  
  
• Respond to utility locate requests within two full business days of the request (unless a documented agreement between the excavator and the locator exists to extend the due date) to accurately locate and mark underground utilities.
  
  
• Respond to Emergency and Excavator Renotification requests within one hour during business hours and two hours after business hours.
  
  
• Maintain accurate records of underground utilities.

Locating:

• An excavator (or contractor) calls in a "refresh," but the work has already been completed.
  
  
• An excavator calls in multiple locate tickets for same dig area but locates are visible and undisturbed.
  
  
• An excavator fails to provide maps (electronic delineation), white paint pre-marks, a posted address, or a specific description in the locate request. 
  
  
• An excavator, or person working for the same excavation company, requests verification of utility locates or requests for the same geographic area, for the same project, within a ninety (90) day period.
  
  
• An excavator fails to commence work within fifteen days of the "locate by" date on the locate ticket created by the notification association. 
  
  
• An excavator misses a scheduled "meet" ticket set by the excavator through Colorado 811. 

Stand By: All Appointments Regardless of Excavator Type: 

• Excavator no call/no show with the standby personnel on site 15 minutes after a scheduled appointment start time. 
  
  
• Traffic control not in place. 
  
  
• Required backfilling materials are not on site. 
  
  
• Any excavator not able to finish their work during the scheduled standby appointment and a return trip is required. 
  
  
• No locate request submitted, or no visible locate marks in the excavation area. 
  
  
• Any instance when a facility requiring a standby appointment has been crossed without standby personnel on site, requiring a trip to the excavation site to verify clearance standards have been met.