Instructions for Excavators
Safe digging is everyone’s responsibility. It’s a free service to notify SC811 of your planned excavation to help prevent damages that may result in fines, utility service interruption and injury – even death.
The information below details what you need to know as a professional excavator in South Carolina.
What is Positive Response 360?
PR-360 is five easy steps to aid in the safe digging process.
- Call or Click to create a notice.
- Locator updates to let you know locating completion status.
- Excavator confirms status of locates.
- Excavator completes work.
- Excavator updates ticket to completed status.
How can it help me?
Excavators will no longer have to guess or wonder why locates have not been completed.
What are my responsibilities?
Check out our easy to use 5 step flow chart below.
Excavator Role Options in Exactix
Excavator Web Tickets Plus Agreement
Excavator Web Tickets Plus– Users are able to request locate notices and receive an immediate ticket number, check positive response, update locate notices, and close out locate notices. These users are also able to process Secondary Actions such as Cancelations, No Shows, Additional Info, Resend, Remark and Update. In this role locate notices are entered and mapped by the user, when the user is done, they are able to save the locate notice and receive the ticket number immediately. These users are required to fill out the ‘Excavator Web Tickets Plus Agreement’ and must complete online training through Coursettra prior to the Help Desk saving this role to the user’s profile.
Calendar
A 3 full business day notice must be given prior to digging for normal notice locates (excluding subaqueous work).
If a normal notice locate request is called in anytime on a Monday, the life of the locate request doesn’t begin until Tuesday at 12:00am. The locators have three full working days to respond. The locate is due by 11:59pm on Thursday night. This means the excavator can begin working on Friday morning, provided that all locates have been completed and there are no visible signs of an unmarked facility.
Life of a Locate
The life of a locate request begins three working days after the request and processing and extends 15 working days until expiration.
Quick Tips
Please be ready with the following information when you call in your locate:
- The name, address, and telephone number of the person providing the notice, and, if different, the contact information and name of the excavator completing the proposed excavation or demolition;
- Who is the work being done for;
- The start date of the proposed excavation or demolition;
- The anticipated duration of the proposed excavation or demolition;
- The type of proposed excavation or demolition to be conducted;
- The location of the proposed excavation or demolition (including county, town, nearest intersection or cross street and directions to the site);
- Whether or not explosives are to be used in the proposed excavation or demolition.
Excavator Manual
Where To Dig
The following illustration demonstrates the areas where it is safe to dig mechanically and where it is required to hand dig. The tolerance zone is 24 inches on either side of the utility mark plus ½ the diameter of the facility. Always hand dig to expose facilities in the tolerance zone.
Mechanized equipment is not to be used within the tolerance zone until the excavator has visually identified the precise location of the facility, or has visually confirmed that no facility is present up to the depth of excavation. The excavator is also responsible to ensure reasonable precautions are taken to avoid any substantial weakening of the facility’s structural or lateral support, or both, or penetration or destruction of the facilities or their protective coatings.
What do the colors mean?
Locators use the APWA Uniform color code to mark underground facilities. Each color used represents a different type of utility. The chart depicts what each color represents.
Common Ground Alliance
The origins of the CGA are deeply rooted in the Best Practices Guide, which was born out of the original Common Ground Study, the U.S. Department of Transportation report that established the stakeholder engagement model still used today.
Tired of waiting in queue?
Have multiple tickets to enter?
Want to create a ticket outside of SC811’s hours of operation?
Click below to enter your ticket or sign up to begin using Exactix.
Know the Law!
SC811 is not a law firm and will not interpret South Carolina’s Law. Click the button below to view the current law.
Unmarked Lines?
A ‘No Show’ locate notice is issued to inform Member Operator(s) when the underground lines have not been located, and the Work Date & Time on the locate notice has expired. Member Operator(s) have 3 hours from the time the ‘No Show’ locate notice has been sent to respond.
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