|
Arizona Blue Stake was established as a
one-call notification system by underground facility owners such as water,
cable, gas, telephone, and electric to assist excavators in notifying
underground facility owners prior to digging. This damage prevention service is
provided free of charge to any individual or company planning to dig. The
following list will provide you valuable knowledge before you dig.
What you should know before you dig
By Participating in the Blue Stake Program, you are:
How do I contact Arizona Blue Stake?
Homeowner's & Excavators' Responsibility
Utility Responsibility
Facility Type - Specific Color
What you should know before you
dig.
Before you do any digging, or hire a company to dig (or
excavate), the law says you must first contact Arizona Blue Stake to determine
whether or not there may be underground utilities at your dig site. Underground
utilities are generally located in the easement either in your front yard or an
alley if your home backs up to one. Homeowners, excavators, and utility
companies all have certain responsibilities that must be met prior to any
digging taking place. there are also several different colors used for marking
utilities, depending on what utilities actually exist at your dig site.
By participating
in the Blue Stake Program, you are:
Complying with state law - Arizona's Damage Prevention
Laws, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Arizona
Corporation Commission (ACC) Rules require all utility owners to clearly mark
any utility that may conflict with any ground digging.
Avoiding injuries - Incident damage to utilities can
cause injury to anyone near the dig site.
Preventing costly damages and interruptions of facility
services - Clearly marking the utility before digging reduces
potential interruption of utility services to customers.
Saving time and money - Utility accidents can slow down
construction schedules and can be costly to repair.
Avoiding hazards - Clearly identifying utility
locations through the Blue Stake procedures allows construction activities to
avoid potential hazards.
Eliminating needless construction delays - Avoiding
incidental utility damages keeps construction schedules on time, reducing noise,
service interruptions, traffic congestion and annoyance to local neighbors.
Top
How do I contact Arizona Blue
Stake?
Before you dig, call 1-800-STAKE-IT (or 1-800-782-5348). For more
information regarding Arizona Blue Stake check out their web site at
http://www.azbsinc.com/
Top
Homeowners' & Excavators'
Responsibility
Call Arizona Blue Stake at least two full
working days before you dig. Be prepared to provide the location of the
excavation site, including address and cross streets. The Blue Stake Agents
will ask a few questions regarding the extent of your digging activities. If
you have legal descriptions of your job site (township, range, section and
quarter section) please provide that as well.
The Blue Stake Agent will provide a notice
number and the names of the utility companies that will be responding to your
Blue Stake Request. If the caller and the excavator are not the same person,
make sure that this information is provided to the excavator. Also inform the
Blue Stake Agent if any additional contractors will be involved with your
excavation. If possible, have your dig site marked with white paint. White
paint helps the locators find your site (this is especially true in difficult to
describe locate requests.)
Utility companies have two working days to
respond to your Blue Stake request. Do not begin any excavation until all
utilities have responded by either marking the excavation site or clearing the
site (no conflict) by a telephone call. If any utility company fails to respond
to your request, contact Arizona Blue Stake and they will transmit another
message requesting immediate response.
Markings are valid for 15 working days. If
you need to dig past this time frame, call Arizona Blue Stake two full working
days before the expiration date and inform the Blue Stake Agent that you need to
continue to dig in this area.
Immediately report any and all damages to
any underground facility directly to the utility owner. All damages, including
nicks in cables and dents in steel, can and will eventually cause the
underground facility to fail.
Top
Utility
Responsibilities
Utility owners have two working days to respond to a Utility
Marking request. The Blue Stake agent will provide the marking due date to the
requester at the time of the call. Utility companies are required to respond to
every request received.
Utility owners will mark only what they own and maintain;
typically this means they will mark only to their meter. anything beyond the
meter is customer owned and maintained, and may not be marked by the utility
company.
Utility Companies are required to use the International Color
Coding system for identifying underground lines.
Top
Facility Type - Specific Color
| Electric Power Distribution & Transmission |
Safety Red |
| Gas Distribution and Transmission, Oil Product Distribution
and Transmission; Dangerous Materials, Product Lines |
High Visibility Safety Yellow |
| Telephone and Telegraph System; Cable Television Safety |
Alert Orange |
| Fiber Optics Communication Lines (The Letter "F" in Safety |
Alert Orange |
| Water Systems; Slurry Pipelines Safety |
Precaution Blue |
| Sanitary Sewer Systems |
Safety Green |
| Reclaimed or Non-potable Water |
Purple |
Top
|
