Take Responsibility for Your Own Work;
Make Sure You Are Calling In Your Own Locates

Are you calling in locate requests for your own work?  Or are you incorrectly relying on someone else to make the call?

 You’re a subcontractor working at a job site where other companies, including the general contractor, have already called in locate requests.  No need for you to call one in, right?

 Wrong.

 A homeowner hires a contractor to put an addition on the house.  As part of the written agreement, the homeowner calls Diggers Hotline for the excavation that the contractor will perform. Just as long as someone calls Diggers Hotline, right?

 Wrong again.

 ‘Call before you dig’ doesn’t mean letting someone else make the call.  Wisconsin State Statute 182.0175 indicates that an excavator is required to notify Diggers Hotline before digging. Legally speaking, relying on marks called in by another company or customer does not fulfill the state law.

 But there are also practical reasons not to work off of someone else’s ticket.  Maybe the area you are working in is a little different than the jobsite described in other tickets on the same site.  Or maybe a homeowner doesn’t know the extent of the excavation required.  In either case, you will be working in an area that hasn’t been marked.

 And what happens if you hit a buried facility?  It won’t matter if the underground line is marked correctly, all that will matter is that you don’t have a locate request.  Once the utility hit is investigated, there won’t be a good answer for the questions that will come your way: “Did you call Diggers Hotline?  What’s the ticket number?” Having your own Diggers Hotline ticket is the only way to cover yourself.

 And a note for homeowners:  don’t let contractor’s tell you it’s your responsibility to call Diggers Hotline.  For the safety of your family, your neighbor and the contractor, it’s up to the contractor to make the call and follow the law.

 Take responsibility for your own work.  Obey the law.  Call in your own Diggers Hotline tickets.