§ 49-23-04 — Excavation

1. Except in an emergency, an excavator shall contact the notification center and provide
an excavation or location notice before beginning any excavation. An excavation
begins the first time excavation occurs in an area that was not previously identified by
the excavator in an excavation notice. The notice must contain:
a. The name, address, and telephone number of the person making the notification;
b. The name, address, and telephone number of the excavator;
c. The date and time when excavation is scheduled to begin;
d. The depth of planned excavation;
e. The type and extent of excavation being planned, including whether the
excavation involves tunneling or horizontal boring;
f. Whether the use of explosives is anticipated and any other information as may be
required by the notification center; and
g. The location of the excavation by any one or more of the following means:

(1) A specific street address;
(2) A reference to a platted lot number of record;
(3) An identifiable roadway or roadway intersection; or
(4) A specific quarter section by section number, range, township, and county.
In this case, the location shall be further described by coordinates measured
in feet from the nearest one-fourth corner or section corner.
2. Unless otherwise exempted, the ticket request must include site identification
information by one or more of the following means: white marking, digital white lining,
project staking, geographic information system shape file, detailed drawing, map, or
other means agreed upon by the parties to the ticket. Site identification under this
subsection is not required if:
a. The precise location of excavation can be clearly and adequately identified on the
location notice and is limited to a single street address or a platted lot number of
record;
b. The precise location of excavation can be clearly and adequately identified on the
location notice and the excavation is an emergency excavation; or
c. Prior to any excavation, the excavator requests and conducts a meeting with the
affected operators at the location of the excavation.
3. 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
[8.05 kilometers] in a rural area.
4. An excavator may begin excavation in a location when the excavator has received
notice that all facilities have been located or cleared or at the expiration of the location
period or extension of the location period.
5. The notification center shall:
a. Provide a toll-free telephone number and assign an inquiry identification number
to each excavation notice and retain a record of all excavation notices received
for at least six years.
b. Immediately transmit the information contained in an excavation notice to every
operator that has an underground facility in the area of the proposed excavation.
c. Inform the persons giving notice of an intent to engage in an excavation activity
the names of participating operators of underground facilities to whom the notice
will be given.
d. Establish procedures for assuring positive response from the affected operator in
all emergency excavation notices.
e. Establish procedures to receive from operators and convey to ticket holders
positive response when operators have located or cleared underground facilities
identified within the area of a location request.
6. a. An operator with underground facilities within the area of a location request shall
locate and mark or otherwise provide the approximate horizontal location of the
underground facilities of the operator within the location period or as agreed by
the parties.
b. For purposes of this section, the approximate horizontal location of the
underground facilities is a strip of land two feet [60.96 centimeters] on either side
of the underground facilities. An operator of a facility required to be locatable is
responsible for the costs of location. If an excavator is unable to locate a facility
within two feet on either side of the operator's facility location markings and
requests assistance from the operator to locate the facility, but the operator fails
to provide the requested assistance within a reasonable time, the operator is
responsible for the excavator's reasonable costs incurred to locate the facility.
This subdivision does not apply to an underground facility to convey water
installed before August 1, 2013.
c. When an operator cannot establish the exact location of the underground facility
to convey water, the operator shall mark the location as accurately as possible
and the excavator may proceed with caution. When excavation operations
approach the estimated location of the underground facility to convey water, the

exact location of the facility must be determined by safe and acceptable means.
The uncovered facility must be supported and protected to prevent damage.
d. Markers used to designate the approximate location of underground facilities
must follow the current color code standard used by the American public works
association.
e. If the operator cannot complete marking of the excavation area before the
excavation commencement time stated in the excavation notice, the operator
shall promptly contact the excavator.
f. After facilities are located by an operator, an excavator shall notify the notification
center if:
(1) The excavator postpones the excavation commencement time stated in the
excavation notice by more than forty-eight hours, or any extension of that
period, or cancels the excavation;
(2) The markings have been obliterated or obscured;
(3) Weather conditions have impeded visibility of the markings;
(4) The site shows evidence of recent excavation; or
(5) The excavator has other reason to believe the markings are incorrect or
missing.
g. An excavator may not use a location more than twenty-one days, or any
extension of that period, after the planned excavation date unless the excavator
has made previous arrangements with the operators affected.
h. If excavation has not occurred within the initial twenty-one days of the locate, the
excavator shall request that the facility be relocated before excavating unless
other arrangements have been made with the underground facility owner. Upon
the third locate request at the same excavation site where no excavation has
occurred after the initial two locates, the excavator is responsible for reasonable
costs associated with relocating facilities in that location. If the issue of whether
excavation has occurred is disputed for purposes of this section, the excavator
bears the burden of proof that excavation has occurred.
i. If a relocate request is made for an area which includes areas where excavation
has been completed, a request for relocate must be modified from the original
locate request to reflect only the area to be excavated during each subsequent
twenty-one-day period, otherwise the excavator is responsible for reasonable
costs associated with relocating facilities in the location.
j. An excavator that makes repeated location requests within the area of a
previously made location request due to the excavator's failure to reasonably
maintain and remove markings under subsection 3 of section 49-23-05 or failure
to follow prudent and careful digging practices required by subsection 5 of section
49-23-05 is responsible for reasonable costs of location and removal if the public
service commission determines the additional location request was caused by the
excavator's failure described in this subdivision.
k. If in the course of excavation the excavator is unable to locate the underground
facility or discovers that the operator of the underground facility has incorrectly
located the underground facility, the excavator shall promptly notify the operator
or, if unknown, the one-call notification center.
l. A facility owner, excavator, or other person may not present or presume that an
underground facility is abandoned, or treat an underground facility as abandoned,
unless the facility has been verified as abandoned by reference to installation
records or by testing. The notification center shall establish a method of providing
personnel from a facility owner qualified to safely inspect and verify whether a
facility is abandoned or inactive if necessary. An inactive facility must be
considered active for purposes of this section.
m. An underground facility owner shall make all new facilities locatable.
n. An operator that has completed marking of the excavation area or has
determined there are no facilities in the area identified in the ticket shall provide
positive response to the notification center in compliance with the notification

center's procedures established under subsection 5 for assuring positive
response from operators.
7. If an excavation is being made in a time of emergency, all reasonable precautions
must be taken to protect the underground facilities. In an emergency, the excavator
shall give notification in compliance with this chapter, as soon as practical, that an
emergency exists. As soon as practical, each operator shall provide all location
information that is reasonably available to the excavator.