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GUIDELINES FOR SAFE DIGGING

Safe digging is a shared responsibility and Blue Stakes encourages everyone to follow the national campaign, 5 Steps To Safer Digging:

1. Always Contact 811 Before Digging
   Contact 811 at least three (3) business days before digging and provide accurate dig site location information.
2. Wait the Required Amount of Time
   Allow facility operators time to locate and mark facilities.
3. Confirm Markings are Accurate
   Ensure facilities are located and marked accurately and completely. If not, submit a No Response Notice.
4. Respect and Protect the Marks
   Respect and protect markings throughout the excavation.
5. Dig Carefully
   Carefully dig using hand tools within the tolerance zone, 24 inches on either side of the markings.

PREFACE

This excavation guide is an educational document for anyone who plans to excavate, dig, construct, or undertake any project that requires disturbing the earth’s surface. Please use it as a reference tool when planning your excavation and when interacting with the notification center at Blue Stakes of Utah 811 (Blue Stakes). This guide reflects the policy of the Board of Directors at Blue Stakes. It does not have the force and effect of law. The governing law is Utah Code Title 54, Chapter 8a, Damage to Underground Utility Facilities.

Every effort has been made to accurately reproduce the applicable sections of Utah State Law contained in this guide. However, Blue Stakes, its officers, directors, employees, and agents make no representations or warranties as to the accuracy of this reproduction. This guide is not intended to alter the requirements of Utah Code Title 54, Chapter 8a, Damage to Underground Utility Facilities, or any local ordinance, and it should not be used as a legal reference document. Persons seeking interpretations of the law should contact their own attorneys.

The information in the first section of this guide is designed to help excavators who want to contact Blue Stakes; it is also intended to help facility operators who must respond to information provided to them by Blue Stakes. The middle section of this guide contains a reproduction of the Uniform Color Code and Marking Guidelines, published by the Common Ground Alliance. The last section of this guide contains a reproduction of the Utah State Law describing the rights of the excavators and facility operators. While familiarity with this guide is recommended for all excavators and facility operators, their responsibilities are as provided by law.

This guide does not have a copyright. The contents of this guide are subject to change without notice. The latest version of this guide may be obtained here: bluestakes.org/excavators-guide/ or by contacting Blue Stakes for printed copies.

I. WHAT’S BURIED BELOW THE SURFACE OF THE GROUND

When you dig anything, from a posthole to a major excavation, you run the risk of damaging underground facility lines. Various types of facility lines including electric, gas, telephone, fiber optics, cable television, oil / petroleum, water, and sewer are buried everywhere. These facilities may be in streets, down alleys, under vacant ground, in farmland, along property boundaries, within railroad rights-of-way, over mountains, etc. Even the presence of overhead facility lines does not rule out the existence of buried power, cable television, or telephone facilities.

Excavators are liable for damage to underground facilities when they do not contact Blue Stakes for facility locations before excavating or when the excavator does not follow the proper procedures for safely excavating around buried facilities. Damages can also occur from improper backfilling around exposed facilities.

II. EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

Blue Stakes offers a variety of online and in-person damage prevention educational opportunities:

• Damage prevention educational classes provided by Blue Stakes for your organization are tailored to fit your needs. To schedule a training class, contact education@bluestakes.org
• Damage Prevention Seminars are held in January and February each year throughout the state of Utah (CEU credit eligible) – visit bluestakes.org/events/
• Excavation Safety 101 online training course is available to take at your convenience (CEU credit eligible) – visit bluestakes.org/education
• The 811 Process and other training videos are available on our YouTube channel – visit bluestakes.org/videos
• Quick Ticket Entry app and training is available online for additional functionality and high-volume users. Visit bluestakes.org/excavator
• For additional information and helpful resources – visit bluestakes.org

III. DETERMINING WHO AND WHEN TO CONTACT

The Utah Damage to Underground Utility Facilities Act requires anyone engaging in any activity which displaces earth, rock, or other material on or below the ground is moved or displaced to notify Blue Stakes no less than 48 hours before excavation begins.”48 hours” is defined as a 48-hour period, occurring during business days that includes any day except Saturday, Sunday, or a holiday, that begins at 8:00 a.m. on the first business day after notice has been submitted.

It is recommended to submit a locate request at least three (3) business days before excavation begins; but not more than 14 days before excavation begins.

If more than one excavator will be digging at the same excavation site, each excavator is required to notify Blue Stakes of the proposed excavation, as defined by Utah State Law.

Blue Stakes was created to provide one association for excavators and the public to notify member facility operators of intended excavation. Although the Utah State Law requires all facility operators with underground facilities to participate, some facility operators do not receive notice of excavation because they are not members of Blue Stakes. An electronic copy of the request can be provided to you, which includes the member facility operators notified for your excavation site. Blue Stakes encourages excavators to notify nonmember facility operators directly.

Blue Stakes should NOT be contacted for any of the following reasons:

• To report any type of service outage.
• To resolve any type of utility billing problem.
• To report any excavation outside the state of Utah.
• To request initiations of any type of utility service.
• To request any type of facility removal or relocation.

IV. HOURS OF OPERATION

Blue Stakes is open daily from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and these Holidays:

Closed Holidays Include:

• New Year’s Day
• Presidents’ Day
• Labor Day
• Memorial Day
• Independence Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• Pioneer Day (July 24th)
• Day After Thanksgiving
• Christmas Eve Day
• Christmas Day

Blue Stakes is open to process locate requests on the following Holidays, however, they will be treated as closed federal holidays in our system, therefore legal dates and times will be calculated accordingly:

Open Holidays Include:

• Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• Juneteenth Day
• Columbus Day
• Veterans Day

Many requests can be processed online outside of business hours, see Section VII. ONLINE LOCATE REQUEST NOTICES.

For After-Hours Emergencies, please see Section VI.

V. BLUE STAKES TELEPHONE NUMBERS

Blue Stakes can be reached at the following numbers during normal hours of operation:

• 811
• (800) 662-4111 (Toll-Free)
• (801) 208-2100 (Salt Lake City)

VI. TYPES OF LOCATE REQUEST NOTICES

Blue Stakes handles several types of excavation notice requests. The following is a brief explanation of each:

A. REGULAR NOTICE (NEW) – Utah State Law requires at least three (3) business days’ notice, but not more than 14 calendar days before the commencement of excavation.

B. UPDATE NOTICE (UPDT) – A locate request is valid for 21 calendar days from the date the request is submitted. If excavation activity will continue beyond this 21-calendar day period, an excavator must update the request at least three (3) business days but no sooner than seven (7) calendar days, before the original request’s expiration date. The update notice will create a new expiration date that is 21-calendar days after the original request’s expiration date. The excavator should continue to give notice in like manner for each 21-calendar day period during which excavation activity continues.

NOTE: According to Utah Code 54-8a-4(9), an excavator may be responsible for the costs incurred by an operator to remark its underground facilities following the second or subsequent notice given by an excavator at the same location. An excavator should not submit multiple notices for the same location before excavation activity has started or after excavation activity has been completed.

C. NO RESPONSE NOTICE (NRSP) – To facilitate safety and damage prevention, Utah State Law requires excavators to submit a No Response Notice on the current locate request if the excavator is aware of or observes indications of a facility that was not marked in the proposed excavation area before they may begin excavating. A No Response Notice should also be submitted if an unmarked underground facility is found or suspected during excavation. To ensure the proper member facility operators are notified an excavator must provide Blue Stakes which member facility operator(s) or facility type(s) have not responded to the current locate request. Blue Stakes will only send the notice to the indicated member facility operators. The notified member facility operators will be required to respond and/or mark their facilities within four (4) business hours of the No Response Notice.

D. EMERGENCY NOTICE (EMER) – An emergency is defined by Utah Code 54-8a-2(3) as, “an occurrence or suspected natural gas leak necessitating immediate action to prevent or mitigate loss of, or damage to, life, health, property, or essential public services.” Excavators submitting locate requests as emergencies that do not meet the definition of an emergency as described above may be charged the cost of locating and marking underground facilities by facility operators.

Member facility operators will attempt to respond as soon as possible, to mark their facilities. However, if a facility operator does not respond within a reasonable time period and you cannot wait until the legal date and time as provided on your locate request, you may be responsible for any damages caused if you proceed with the excavation.

AFTER-HOURS EMERGENCIES

Emergency notification on weekends, holidays, and on normal workdays after 4:00 p.m. or before 8:00 a.m. should be reported directly to facility operators. You may access their emergency contact information using the Utility Contact Lookup tool on the Blue Stakes website under the Tools section, or directly here: UCL.bluestakes.org

E. RE-MARK NOTICE (RMRK) – If the markings locating the underground facilities no longer identify the location of the facilities due to fading caused by time, weather, construction or other reasons, the person performing the excavation is required to notify Blue Stakes and suspend excavation of the site. Member facility operators are required to re-mark the area by 8 AM on the third business day after the re-notification.

F. MEET REQUEST NOTICE (MEET) – Most locate requests can be described over the phone or online. In situations where excavation projects are large, complicated or within a restricted area, a meet may be necessary. If a meet is requested, the excavator will need to provide address information for a suitable location to meet, as well as the general boundaries of the dig site. The specific excavation area(s) within these boundaries can then be shown and discussed with the field locators at the meet. A map of the excavation area may be required to be provided to each field locator at the meet.

A meet should only be set up when it is impossible to explain the project over the phone. Many times, what may seem to be a complicated project can be described easily if it is broken into several pieces and the excavation site is pre-marked using white paint, stakes, or flags. For example, instead of trying to describe a major project involving work on several different roads, a separate locate request can be created for each road, with each request describing the area specific to that particular road.

A meet should not be requested for multiple isolated locations, such as ground rod installation or tree planting in an existing neighborhood. Instead, separate locate requests should be created to break up the area street-to-street or by individual address.

If it is absolutely necessary to set up a meet, a Blue Stakes Locate Specialist can set up an appointment between 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. at least three (3) business days from the time of the call. The member facility operators have three (3) business days after the time of the meet to mark their facilities. They may request additional time if the area is extensive or difficult to mark. If any member facility operator is unable to attend the meet, it is the member facility operator’s responsibility to contact the excavator to make other arrangements. The following procedures must be followed when requesting a meet:

• You must be present at the exact time and location given on the request. Member facility operators will only wait at the specified location for 15 minutes. If you do not show up at the requested time and place, your request will be void. Unless otherwise noted on the Meet request, meeting sites are outside.
• You will be required to provide member facility operators with either a written description or a map of your excavation area with the exact excavation areas described or marked.
• Meets cannot cover several non-adjoining sites. In situations where there are several sites, a request must be made for each site.

G. PLANNING & DESIGN NOTICE – Blue Stakes does not process non-excavation locate requests for planning and design purposes. Blue Stakes will, however, provide planning and design contact information for member facility operators, which should be used to contact the facility operators directly. This information may be obtained in one of the following ways:

• Using the “Utility Contact Lookup” tool located on the Blue Stakes website at: UCL.bluestakes.org/
• Sending an email to: design@bluestakes.org which includes a brief description of the future excavation site.

VII.  ONLINE LOCATE REQUEST NOTICES

Excavators may submit Blue Stakes locate request notices online, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. A brief explanation of these online options is listed below. For the most up to date online locate request options, please visit: bluestakes.org/excavator/.

A. CREATE NEW LOCATE REQUEST – New locate requests may be submitted online at ite.bluestakes.org/. The online application is designed for new submissions of simple, single address locate requests. Requests are processed during regular business hours in the order they are received. Once processed, a confirmation will be sent to the email address or text number provided. Locate requests submitted after 3 p.m. or outside of business hours may be processed the next business day. Meet and Emergency locate requests cannot be submitted through this online application. The locate request may be voided without notice if insufficient or conflicting information is provided. Do not assume that a request has been processed until the confirmation email/text has been received.

B. REVISE EXISTING LOCATE REQUEST – Revisions to existing locate requests can be submitted online at otr.bluestakes.org/. A revision is applicable to an existing locate request but does not change any of the information on it. Since nothing can change on the existing locate request, revisions submitted through this online application are processed immediately, even outside of regular business hours. This online application may be used for the following:

• No Response Notice – Notifies specified member facility operators to respond and/or mark their facilities within 4 business hours of notification when the excavator is aware of or observes indications of unmarked facilities within the excavation area described on their current locate request.
• Update – Extends dig time for another 21 calendar days. If the timeframe to update the locate request has passed, an option will be available to submit the same information as the original, but as a New locate request.
• Re-Mark – Refreshes markings that have been destroyed by weather or excavation. This does not extend dig time.
• Cancel – Cancels the locate request.
• View – Displays all locate request information, including marking instructions and legal dates.

For additional detail on No Response Notice, Update, and Re-Mark revision locate requests, please see section VI.

C. DUPLICATE LOCATE REQUEST – Duplicate locate requests may be submitted online at dup.bluestakes.org/. The online application is designed for creating a locate request in your name that is a copy of another excavator’s locate request. For example, a subcontractor copying a general contractor’s locate request or a contractor copying a homeowner’s locate request. The locate request number and phone number listed on the original excavator’s locate request is needed to process the duplicate request. Duplicates are processed immediately, even outside of regular business hours.