- Best Practices Guide
- Terms and Conditions of Use
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Planning and Design
- 2.1 Plat Designation of Existing Underground Facility Easements
- 2.2 Gathering Information for Design Purposes
- 2.3 Identifying Existing Facilities in Planning and Design
- 2.4 Utility Coordination
- 2.5 Markers for Underground Facilities
- 2.6 Follow All Applicable Codes, Statutes, and Facility Owner/Operator Standards
- 2.7 Use of Qualified Contractors
- 2.8 Mandatory Prebid Conferences
- 2.9 Continuous Interface between the Designer and Potential Contractors During the Prebid/Bid Phase
- 2.10 Continuous Interface between the Designer and the Contractor During the Construction Phase
- 2.11 As-built Drawings
- 2.12 Supply-line Separation
- 2.13 Trenchless Excavation
- 2.14 Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE)
- 2.15 Use of Qualified Designers
- 2.16 Project Coordination
- 3. One Call Center
- 3.1 Proactive Public Awareness, Education, and Damage Prevention Activities
- 3.2 Specifically Defined Geopolitical Service Area with No Overlap
- 3.3 Formal Agreements with Members
- 3.4 One Call Center Governance
- 3.5 Single Toll-free Statewide Telephone Number with Nationwide Access
- 3.6 Hours of Operation
- 3.7 Voice Record of All Incoming Calls
- 3.8 Retention of Voice Records According to Applicable Statutes
- 3.9 Caller Feedback
- 3.10 Printed Ticket Recall
- 3.11 Documented Operating Procedures, Human Resource Policies, and Training Manuals
- 3.12 Documented Owner Verification of Data Submitted by Facility Owners/Operators
- 3.13 Flexibility for Growth and Change
- 3.14 Meeting between the Excavator and Facility Operator(s) Initiated by One Call Notification
- 3.15 One Call Center Accepts Notifications from Designers
- 3.16 Locate Request
- 3.17 Practices to Reduce Overnotifications
- 3.18 Disaster Recovery
- 3.19 Direct Electronic Locate
- 3.20 Accept Multiple Reference Points for Locate Requests
- 3.21 One Call Center Security
- 3.22 Hardware Designed to Tolerate a Single Point of Failure
- 3.23 One Call Quality Standards
- 3.24 Web Services Solution
- 3.25 Identification of Unknown Lines
- 3.26 One Call Membership
- 3.27 Electronic Positive Response
- 3.28 One Call Center Data
- 3.29 One Call Facility Locate Request Size and Scope
- 3.30 Locate Information Shared with Excavator
- 3.31 Enhanced Positive Response
- 4. Locating and Marking
- 4.1 Available Records
- 4.2 Corrections and Updates
- 4.3 Color Code
- 4.4 Single Locator
- 4.5 Locator Training
- 4.6 Safety
- 4.7 Visual Inspection
- 4.8 Facility Marking
- 4.9 Positive Response to Locate Request
- 4.10 Marking Multiple Facilities in the Same Trench
- 4.11 Abandoned Facilities
- 4.12 Locating Electromagnetically
- 4.13 Facility Owner/Operator Identification
- 4.14 Communication between Parties
- 4.15 Documentation of Work Performed
- 4.16 Damage Investigation
- 4.17 Forecasting/Planning for Predictable Workload Fluctuations
- 4.18 Quality Assurance
- 4.19 Trenchless Excavation
- 4.20A Locating and Marking in Navigable Waterways
- 4.20B Locating and Marking in Navigable Waterways
- 4.21 Service Lines
- 4.22 Marking Newly Installed Facilities
- 5. Excavation
- 5.1 One Call Facility Locate Request
- 5.2 White Lining
- 5.3 Locate Reference Number
- 5.4 Pre-excavation Meeting
- 5.5 Facility Relocations
- 5.6 Separate Locate Requests
- 5.7 One Call Access (24/7)
- 5.8 Positive Response
- 5.9 Facility Owner/Operator Failure to Respond
- 5.10 Locate Verification
- 5.11 Documentation of Marks
- 5.12 Work Site Review with Company Personnel
- 5.13 One Call Reference at Site
- 5.14 Contact Names and Numbers
- 5.15 Facility Avoidance
- 5.16 Federal and State Regulations
- 5.17 Marking Preservation
- 5.18 Excavation Observer
- 5.19 Excavation Tolerance Zone
- 5.20 Excavation within Tolerance Zone
- 5.21 Mismarked Facilities
- 5.22 Exposed Facility Protection
- 5.23 Locate Request Updates
- 5.24 Facility Damage Notification
- 5.25 Notification of Emergency Personnel
- 5.26 Emergency Excavation
- 5.27 Backfilling
- 5.28 As-built Documentation
- 5.29 Trenchless Excavation
- 5.30 Emergency Coordination with Adjacent Facilities
- 5.31 No Charge for Providing Underground Facility Locations
- 5.32 Vacuum Excavation
- 6. Mapping
- 7. Compliance
- 8. Public Education and Awareness
- 9. Reporting and Evaluation
- 9.1 All Stakeholders Report Information
- 9.2 Standardized Information Is Reported
- 9.3 Identify the Noncompliant Stakeholder
- 9.4 Person Reporting Provides Detailed Information
- 9.5 Requested Information May Change
- 9.6 A Standardized Form Is Adopted
- 9.7 The Form Is Simple
- 9.8 Training Is Provided
- 9.9 Flexibility on Completing and Returning Form Is Provided
- 9.10 Vacant
- 9.11 Stakeholders Complete the Same Form
- 9.12 An Organization Is Identified to Receive the Information
- 9.13 The Organization Is Able to Interface with All Stakeholders
- Best Practices Associated with Evaluating Damage Prevention Data
- 9.14 An Organization Evaluates the Data
- 9.15 The Organization Has Representation from All Stakeholders
- 9.16 Data Is Used to Improve Damage Prevention Efforts
- 9.17 Data Is Used to Elevate Underground Damage Awareness
- 9.18 Data Is Summarized by Key Components
- 9.19 Root Causes Are Identified
- 9.20 Results Are Quantified Against a Standardized Risk Factor
- 9.21 Performance Levels and Trends Are Assessed
- 10. Miscellaneous
- Appendix A Glossary of Terms and Definitions
- Appendix B Uniform Color Code and Marking Guide
- Appendix C Sample Forms, Reports, and Releases
- Appendix D Additional References
9.14 An Organization Evaluates the Data
One Call Center
Facility Owner
Excavator
Locator
Project Owner
DesignerPractice Statement:
A centralized and independent organization, such as the Data Reporting and Evaluation Committee, is identified to evaluate the completed forms and publish the data.58
References:
- API/AOPL Voluntary Accident Tracking Initiative
- Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control/Call Before You Dig, Inc.
- New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission
- Tennessee One Call System, Inc.
Key
One Call Center
Facility Owner
Excavator
Locator
Project Owner
Designer
