Calling 811 before you dig

811 is the free national before-you-dig service. Some utility lines sit just a few inches under the lawn. A fence post, a mailbox, a garden bed or a tree all need a request, however shallow the hole. Planting a shrub or setting a post can cut a line, and hitting a line can knock out service to the neighborhood, cost money to repair, or cause serious injury or death.

What you need

• The address of the dig, with the county and the nearest cross street
• What you're building or planting, and the exact spot on the property
• White paint or white flags, if you only want part of the yard marked

Steps

1. 1

   Outline the dig area

   If you're only digging in one part of the yard, outline it in white paint or white flags. The locators then mark only the lines in that area.

   10 min

2. 2

   Contact 811 a few business days ahead

   Call 811 from anywhere in the U.S., or file the request on your state 811 center's website. You'll answer a few questions about where and what you're digging.

   10 min

3. 3

   Keep the ticket number

   The ticket says how long the utilities have to respond, and how to check that all of them have.

   2 min

4. 4

   Wait for the marks

   Locators come out and mark the approximate path of each buried line with paint or flags. Each kind of line has its own color. Gas lines, for example, are yellow.

   5 min

5. 5

   Confirm every utility has responded

   Use the ticket to check that every utility has answered before you put a shovel in the ground.

   5 min

6. 6

   Dig carefully around the marks

   Never dig right on a mark.

   5 min

Damage to buried utilities costs about $30 billion a year in the U.S., and the top cause is digging without contacting 811 first. Shovels are the second most common tool behind that damage, after backhoes, so a small job counts. Call again for each new dig, even in a spot that was marked before. Erosion and growing roots can shift a line, and the utility may have worked on it since. If you hire a landscaper or a fence installer, settle who will contact 811 before the work starts.