Call Before You Dig

The Call Before You Dig Center will be available for request 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Locate requests received outside normal business hours will be transmitted at the start of the next business day. The 2 business day notification period will also begin at the start of that business day. Online service ticket requests are also available at www.callbeforeyoudig.org.

Dig These Facts

• The Oregon Utility Notification Center (OUNC) One-Call Center provides a free service to home owners, contractors and other excavators, informing them of any buried facilities in the area where they are planning to dig.
• To request locates for proposed excavation, you can reach the One-Call Center at 1-800-332-2344.
• Oregon law requires that anyone digging in private property or any public right of way call the One Call Center prior to digging.
• Everyone, contractor and homeowner alike, must call two business days prior to digging.
• After the call is received, the One-Call Center will notify all affected Operators. The Operators then have two business days to locate and accurately mark their underground facilities using color-coded paint.
• The One-Call Center is available 24 hours to process locate requests, and is the only resource of its kind that covers all of Oregon and many areas in surrounding states.
• The One-Call Center provides critical information that can prevent injury, damage and service disruptions caused by digging too close to underground facilities.
• A call to the One-Call Center protects the homeowner/excavator from possibly being charged thousands of dollars to repair damaged facilities in the event of a dig-in accident.
• Each incoming call generates an average of five outgoing calls to Operators of affected underground lines. This translates to over 1 million located facilities last year. Another way to look at this is that over 1 million potential accidents were prevented!

How Utility Locating Works

1. Excavator pre-marks the proposed excavation site with white paint and records pertinent information.
2. Excavator makes a toll-free call to the OUNC's One-Call Center at 1-800-332-2344.
3. One-Call Center operator determines boundaries of excavation area. Maps of all facilities are stored in a central computer system and they are compared to the excavation area. (All calls are voice-recorded and can be reviewed later, as necessary).
4. The computer system generates and transmits the required "Request for Locate" tickets to the affected facility Operators.
5. Affected facility operators receive the "Request for Locate" tickets.
6. Facility Operator employees, or a contracted private locating firm, have two business days to locate and accurately mark their buried facilities in accordance with the color code adopted by the OUNC,
7. Excavator waits two business days to ensure all buried facilities are marked.
8. Excavator may then begin digging - with care - and remember to always "Respect the Marks".

Call Before You Dig Color Code