§ 764 — Duties of excavators

§ 764. Duties of excavators. 1. No excavator shall commence or engage\nin any excavation or demolition unless and until timely notice is served\nof the location and date of the proposed excavation or demolition as\nprovided in this article to operators who maintain underground\nfacilities in the area in which the excavation or demolition is to take\nplace. The provision of such notice to a one-call notification system is\ndeemed to be compliance with this section; and notice to the one-call\nnotification center is notice to each member. Such notice shall be\nserved in accordance with the rules and regulations adopted by the\npublic service commission pursuant to section one hundred nineteen-b of\nthe public service law.\n 2. Prior to any excavation or demolition, the excavator shall verify\nthe precise location of the underground facilities in a manner set forth\nin the rules and regulations adopted by the public service commission\npursuant to section one hundred nineteen-b of the public service law.\n 3. An excavator may proceed with such work if he has received notice\nfrom each operator notified by the one-call system that it has no\nunderground facility in or within fifteen feet of the proposed work area\nor that the operator marked any underground facility located in or\nwithin fifteen feet of the proposed work area.\n 4. An excavator engaged in excavation or demolition shall be\nresponsible for protecting and preserving the staking, marking or other\ndesignation by the operator until no longer required for proper and safe\nexcavation or demolition work at or near the underground facility,\nmaintain clearance between the underground facility, and the cutting\nedge or point of any equipment to avoid damage to the underground\nfacility and provide support to and prevent damage to any underground\nfacility or its protective coating, in the means and according to the\nmethods set forth in the rules and regulations adopted by the public\nservice commission pursuant to section one hundred nineteen-b of the\npublic service law.\n 5. In the event of contact with and/or damage to an underground\nfacility, the excavator shall immediately notify the operator of the\nfacility and no backfilling shall be done by the excavator until\ninspection and/or repairs have been made by the operator and no repairs\nshall be undertaken by the excavator until authorized by the operator.\nIn the event of an electrical short or the escape of gas or hazardous\nfluids endangering life, the excavator shall immediately notify the\noperator of the electric, gas or hazardous liquid underground facility\nand 911, and all persons who might be endangered and assist in the\nevacuation of such persons.\n