This response is
NOT mine. This was written by my husband who deals with One Call a LOT and lurks CP more than I post.
Aside from being a surveyor and cartographer, he is also a licensed locator.
Quote:
Alberta One Call is a great service but they do have limitations. Owners of buried utilities register their lines with Alberta One Call and they are added to the database. When a person calls in a locate request, the One Call service scans the database and then contacts the known utility owners within the requested locate area (eg. Gas, phone etc.). Alberta One Call itself does not do locates. It only puts the utility owner in touch with the excavator. Utility owners are obligated to locate their lines upon request whether huge lines such as Trans Canada Pipeline or small local powerlines.
The locator who came out to Moncton Golden Flames place would have been from the gas company or a subcontractor hired by the gas company. That locator would only be directed (and paid for that matter) to locate only the gas line. The same would have served had there been a Telus line there for example. The Telus locator would not locate the electric line for example.
The powerline that ran from the house to the garage was likely added by whoever built the garage. It would not have been put in by Transalta or Enmax thus would not have been properly registered in the One Call database. That would explain why it was never sought or located. Thankfully the breaker appears to have worked as it should and nobody was hurt.
It is tough but a person should really try to find out and know what is buried on their property. Additions such as buried lines to garages can be terribly dangerous, particularly if the person who buried the line was not a proper electrician.
To have the entire proposed fence swept as was suggested would require the homeowner to get their own locator and pay them to do it. Blind sweeping is very time consuming and expensive due to the potential liabilities if something is missed.
Just to repeat, locators sent out due to a One Call request will only locate the lines for their client or employer. Due to liability they often can't locate other utilities even if they wanted to.
Just felt I had to expand on that as people get injured by improperly (or non) located utilities too often.
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