Earthwork coverage for what's underground.

The 811 ticket, step by step

California's one-call law, Government Code Sections 4216 through 4216.24, defines excavation broadly: grading, trenching, digging, ditching, drilling, augering, tunneling, scraping, and cable or pipe plowing and driving all count. I treat each step as part of your claim file.

1. Delineate before you call. The law defines delineation as marking the proposed dig area or path in white, following the Common Ground Alliance's guidelines. Flags, stakes, or whiskers may substitute in some cases. Without delineation, an operator may decline to mark until it is done.
2. Notify inside the window. Except in an emergency, notice goes to the regional notification center at least two working days, and not more than 14 calendar days, before you dig. The day you notify does not count. A working day is Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., excluding federal and state holidays.
3. Wait for every operator. Barring an emergency, you cannot dig until every operator listed on the ticket has marked its lines, given you location information, or told you it has nothing in the area. Within 10 feet of a high priority installation, the operator sets up an onsite meeting, and you wait until that meeting is done.
4. Track the 28 days. A ticket is valid for 28 days from issuance; renew it online or by calling 811 by the end of the 28th day. If a ticket expires mid-job, stop at once, get a new ticket, and wait for the operators again.

Outside California the details vary by state. Federal OSHA's, 29 CFR 1926.651(b), requires the estimated location of underground utilities to be determined before an excavation is opened, and utility owners to be contacted within established or customary local response times. Cal/OSHA's protective system and permit rules are on my pool contractor page.

Dig law penalties and who enforces them

Government Code 4216.6 sets the civil penalty ceilings for operators and excavators:

• Negligent violation: up to $10,000.
• Knowing and willful violation: up to $50,000.
• Knowing and willful violation that damages a gas or hazardous liquid pipeline and lets flammable, toxic, or corrosive gas or liquid escape: up to $100,000.

The section is not meant to affect civil claims for personal injury or property damage.

For contractors, Section 4216.6 names the Registrar of Contractors, acting on a Dig Safe Board recommendation or its own investigation. The Dig Safe Board enforces directly against persons not assigned to another agency. Under Section 4216.19 the board investigates possible violations and may look into reports of excavator downtime, damage, near misses, and complaints. When it finds a probable violation by a contractor, it sends the results and any recommended penalty to the enforcing agency.

Sanctions are graduated: notification and information letters, direction to attend education, and financial penalties. In weighing citations and penalties, the board considers the type and gravity of the violation, the degree of culpability, your history of violations and of violation-free work, and what you did to prevent the violation and limit its safety consequences.

Stormwater permits on an acre or more

In California, the State Water Resources Control Board's Construction Stormwater General Permit (Order WQ 2022-0057-DWQ) covers construction that disturbs one or more acres, or less than one acre that is part of a larger common plan of development or sale totaling one or more acres.

The discharger is responsible for compliance, including work done by its QSDs, QSPs, and QSP delegates. The discharger is a party with a real property interest in the land or, for linear underground and overhead projects, the owner or operator of the line. Before construction starts, it obtains a WDID number by submitting a Notice of Intent, site drawings and maps, a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP), and other documents through the SMARTS system.

• QSD: a Qualified SWPPP Developer writes, amends, and certifies the SWPPP and must be retained from the beginning of the project through Notice of Termination approval.
• QSP: a Qualified SWPPP Practitioner inspects the site at least once every calendar month and within 72 hours before a forecasted qualifying precipitation event, and verifies that every best management practice in the SWPPP is installed and maintained.
• On site: the SWPPP stays on the site from initial mobilization until coverage ends.

If your subcontract makes you install or maintain erosion and sediment controls, get that scope in writing, and ask whether your contractor's pollution liability addresses sediment runoff from your work.

Official sources

• California Government Code 4216 (definitions: excavation, delineate, tolerance zone, working day)
• California Government Code 4216.2 (delineation, notice window, waiting for operators, ticket life)
• California Government Code 4216.3 (operator locate and mark duties, remarks)
• California Government Code 4216.4 (tolerance zone excavation, damage notification)
• California Government Code 4216.6 (civil penalties and enforcing agencies)
• California Government Code 4216.7 (liability of excavators and operators)
• California Government Code 4216.19 (Dig Safe Board investigations and sanctions)
• Cal/OSHA Title 8, Section 2946: Provisions for Preventing Accidents Due to Proximity to Overhead Lines
• State Water Resources Control Board, Order WQ 2022-0057-DWQ, Construction Stormwater General Permit
• 29 CFR 1926.651 Specific excavation requirements (Cornell LII)