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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
History
Iowa One Call was created in 1980 to improve communication between
excavators and utility companies. As increasing amounts of underground facilities
were installed, it became more and more difficult to determine where they were,
and damage incidents were increasing. Concerned about the health and safety issues
involved in many of these incidents, the Iowa Legislature mandated in 1993 that
all utility companies join the One Call system, which in turn would be responsible
for notifying every company which had facilities in the area in which work was
being done. The law requires that everyone call this “One Call” number
at least 48 hours (excluding weekends and holidays) before beginning any excavation.
This system vastly simplifies the process of determining where it is safe to dig,
since an excavator does not need to determine which companies have facilities
in the area and deal with each company individually.
How It Works
Every utility company in the state of Iowa is required to provide
One Call with a map of their underground facilities, and a 24 hour contact number.
Everyone planning an excavation (which basically means putting anything into the
ground, or disturbing it in any way) is required to call 1-800-292-8989 at least
48 hours before beginning excavation (excluding weekends and holidays). Callers
will be asked for their street address, municipality or township & section
number, and information about their project. They will then be given a ticket
number which is their proof of compliance. The information will then be sent to
every company on record as having facilities in the area, and the list of companies
contacted will be given to the caller. Each company will then dispatch someone
to mark their facilities. Once each company has responded, either by locating
their facilities or indicating that the area is clear (or OK), the project may
begin.
When To Call
Iowa law defines an excavation as much more than simply digging
into the earth. Iowa One Call must be notified prior to any operation that may
disturb or potentially disturb buried facilities. Excavators should not make any
assumptions about the depth at which a facility may be buried.
Iowa law defines “Excavation” as an operation in which a structure or
earth, rock or other material in or on the ground is moved, removed, or compressed,
or otherwise displaced by means of any tools, equipment or explosives and includes,
but is not limited to, grading, trenching, tiling, digging, ditching, drilling,
augering, tunneling, scraping, cable or pipe plowing, driving and demolition of
structures. “Excavation” does not include normal farming operations,
residential, commercial or similar gardening, the opening of a grave site in a
cemetery, normal activities involved in land surveying pursuant to chapter 114,
operating in a solid waste disposal site which has been planned for underground
facilities, the replacement of an existing traffic sign at its current location
and no more than its current depth, and normal road or highway maintenance which
does not change the original grade of the roadway or the ditch.
Types Of Locate Requests
NORMAL: As described above, the person doing the work
must call in advance of the work and request that underground facilities be marked.
Notification must be made at least 48 hours prior to all excavations. The 48 hours
timeline will commence only during normal business days between the hours of 7:00
a.m. and 5:00 p.m. and does not include weekends or legal holidays (the 48 hours
timeline on calls after 5:00 p.m. will begin at 7:00 a.m. the following business
day). Excavators who do not make notification to Iowa One Call or do not wait
the required 48 hours prior to excavating are in violation of the law and subject
to civil penalties.
EMERGENCIES: In cases where life or property is at risk,
an “emergency locate request” may be filed. In this case, companies
will respond as soon as possible, regardless of the time of day of the request.
There is no 48 hour waiting period, but excavation may not begin until each company
has responded.
JOINT MEETS: In cases where an excavator wishes to explain
the project before facilities are marked, they may make a “joint meet locate”
request. In this case, they will set a time and place to meet, and each company
will send a representative to meet with the caller. On large or complicated projects
this may reduce confusion.
Indicating Project
Location
When calling One Call, the excavator will be asked about the
area in which they will be working. It is very helpful to be specific in answering
this question. If work will only be in the front yard, making that clear will
avoid the work of marking facilities in the back yard, as well as eliminating
the paint and flags where they are not needed. If it will be only a small area
(planting a tree), it is very helpful to clearly mark the area with a white flag,
stake, ribbon, sign, or white paint, and specify the type of marking to the Iowa
One Call operator.
About The Marks
When locating personnel respond to a locate request, they will
either mark their facilities in the area or indicate that they do not have anything
buried in the area. This is often done by painting “OK” on the ground
and placing a company flag to indicate which company has responded. If multiple
companies respond and have nothing in the area, there may be multiple “OK”s
or one “OK” with multiple company flags. This does not necessarily mean
it is OK to dig, just that it is OK with that company. The excavator must correlate
the responses with the list of notified companies to ensure that every company
has responded before beginning excavation. If a company fails to respond within
the 48 hours, or if there is a concern that some marks are in error or incomplete,
the excavator should call One Call, give them the dig ticket number and explain
the situation. The utilities will be notified of the problem and respond as soon
as possible.
Each color of flag/paint indicates a type of facility. Orange is for telecommunication,
blue for water, green for sewer, red for electric and yellow for gas. Since there
may be two or more companies using the same color paint (eg: telephone and cable
TV) flags are also used to indicate the company to which the facility belongs.
Once all of the facilities are marked, excavation may begin. Iowa law specifies
that there is an 18" "hand-dig" zone on each side of the facility.
Within this area, excavation must proceed with extreme caution, since even hand-digging
can easily damage most types of underground facilities. If there are any questions
about the size, location or depth, One Call may be called again with a request
for company personnel to be on-site during the work. Alternately, if the question
involves KCTC facilities, excavators may call 656-3668 directly.
Hitting An Underground
Facility
If an underground facility is damaged, it must be left exposed
and reported to the owner of the facility. If there is any doubt about the owner,
call One Call and report what has happened. They will notify all utilities that
a facility has been damaged, and each company will respond, identify the facility
and the owner will make repairs. Even “slight” damage must be reported,
because if it is reburied it may become much more serious damage over time.
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