Excavators

In North Dakota, EXCAVATION is defined as any operation in which earth, rock, or other materials in or below the ground is moved or otherwise displaced by means of hand or power tools, power equipment, or explosives. The following activities are excluded from the definition of excavation under North Dakota law and typically do not require a locate request:

a. Opening a grave in a cemetery.

b. Plowing, cultivating, planting, harvesting, and similar operations in connection with agricultural activities, unless any of these activities disturbs the soil to a depth of eighteen inches [45.72 centimeters] or more.

c. Gardening and landscaping unless it disturbs the soil to a depth of twelve inches [30.48 centimeters] or more.

d. Normal maintenance of paved roads and streets if the maintenance does not extend deeper than the depth of the existing pavement and does not involve the road ditch.

e. Normal surface maintenance of gravel roads and streets if the maintenance does not involve the road ditch.

f. Normal repair and maintenance of track and track bed by a railroad on its own right of way.

The Different Ticket Types

Underground facilities are marked to show their approximate horizontal location. Marks are not intended to show the exact location or depth of a facility.

In most cases, underground facilities must lie within 24 inches of the locate markings on either side of the facility.

Water facilities installed prior to August 1, 2013 may be excluded from the standard tolerance zone requirements if the operator cannot establish the exact location of the facility. In those situations, the operator is required to mark the facility as accurately as possible and the excavator must proceed with caution.

Important Law Changes for Excavators

• Site Identification/White Lining – Requires the excavator to do one of the following; white marking, project staking, provide a detailed drawing, or provide a map of the excavation area. Site identification is not required if;
  1. Working at a single street address and the excavator provide a precise description of the excavation area,
  2. Emergency excavation requests, or
  3. Meet requests
• Size of a ticket; A request for location is limited to an area not exceeding three contiguous city blocks within an urban area or an area of four contiguous quarter sections or five linear miles in a rural area.
• Locate Times/Waiting period; Changes to start time of the locate period as the later of:
  1. 48 hours beginning at 12:01am the day after the request is submitted to the notification center, plus any 24 hourextension provided through the notification center, or
  2. The period between the submission of the locate request to the notification center and the noted date and time of excavation;

Call Timeline

The locate period begins at 12:01 AM on the next business day after the request is submitted. Two full business days must then pass, excluding weekends and holidays, before excavation may begin.

NOTE: North Dakota law allows excavation to begin before the full locate period expires if all notified operators have provided positive response indicating their facilities have been marked or cleared. If the full locate period has expired, excavation may proceed even if an operator has not responded. However, North Dakota One Call strongly recommends contacting the operator or the NDOC Center before excavating if an expected response is missing.

Click here to see all of the August 1, 2017 changes.