call before you dig

[moncton golden flames]

so, i had alberta one call come out about 3 weeks ago to locate all lines around my backyard, so i could have an auger come and dig some fence post holes. they located only one line, which was the gas line, coming in off the alley. well, on saturday, the auger came and as we were digging a few holes, we noticed an old electrical line wrapped around the auger. at first, we thought it was just a remnant of some older project. as it turns out, it was actually the underground power line connecting my house to the garage. so, now i am without power in the garage because the 'call before you dig' people didn't locate the line.

i just got off the phone with alberta one call and they told me they do not locate 3rd party services and i am out of luck. so, the big wire connecting my house and my garage were not located by one call, and i was totally unaware of an underground line in that location.

word to the wise, just because you called alberta one call, does not mean they will actually located all underground services that could be dangerous, which leads me to ask, why only locate some services and not others?

[GGG]

That sucks,

I think that Alberta 1 Call only locates lines that are known to exist. In my experience they don't scan the whole yard, they just look where they expect to find the main utilities. It would be much more time consuming for them to find everything that may be there as you would have to look everywhere in the yard instead of just places they would expect it.

[moncton golden flames]

Originally Posted by GGG

That sucks,

I think that Alberta 1 Call only locates lines that are known to exist. In my experience they don't scan the whole yard, they just look where they expect to find the main utilities. It would be much more time consuming for them to find everything that may be there as you would have to look everywhere in the yard instead of just places they would expect it.

i understand what you're saying, but if somebody like me wants to build a fence, has it all marked out and when one call comes and doesn't even scan the new fence line, what good are they?

they really seem to be only looking out for 'their' lines and not lines that could harm a guy like me or my contractor.

[First Lady]

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.

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.

[Flames_Gimp]

there is no way they would know about that line. Its not like its registered when the line is ran to the garage.

You didn't know the garage was wired that way?

[KTrain]

Originally Posted by Flames_Gimp

You didn't know the garage was wired that way?

That's pretty condescending. Why would anyone outside of the building industry know that?

The Alberta One-Call contractor should have informed moncton that he only located the gas line for him and that it was moncton's responsibility to find the electrical for the garage.

[Flames_Gimp]

Originally Posted by KTrain

That's pretty condescending. Why would anyone outside of the building industry know that?

The Alberta One-Call contractor should have informed moncton that he only located the gas line for him and that it was moncton's responsibility to find the electrical for the garage.

well either its hooked to the house or there is 2nd meter on the garage, with a separate charge on the utility bill.

[Flames_Gimp]

Originally Posted by fotze

Exactly, it could have been wireless electricity.

lol well I think he would have noticed the huge tesla coil

[Smartcar]

I agree with Flames_Gimp. If there's water in the garage lucky the auger didn't hit the water line (obviously coming from the house). If there's electricity in the garage and no overhead line it's buried somewhere, unlucky that the auger hit it but AFAIK Alberta One Call just locates the mains coming into the property, not everything within the property.

[Flames_Gimp]

call before you dig is pretty much pointless unless you are digging pretty deep. except for buried electrical to a garage for example that's supossed to be buried 18" IIRC. edit: oops I sit corrected gas lines aren't that deep.

[KTrain]

He obviously knew there was an electrical line under there but not that the contractor wouldn't locate it for him. I've always assumed that the One Call number would tell me where all the lines running under my property were before I dig. Not one call for gas, one call for electrical, one call for water.

[Flames_Gimp]

a line from house to garage is private I think that's why.

[FlamesAddiction]

If Alberta One-call is anything like BC or Ontario One-call services, then they are basically useless. It should be called "first-call" because you still have to follow-up and chase down most of the locates yourself... and the ones you do get are usually half-assed and miss the areas you need.

[moon]

Originally Posted by KTrain

That's pretty condescending. Why would anyone outside of the building industry know that?

The Alberta One-Call contractor should have informed moncton that he only located the gas line for him and that it was moncton's responsibility to find the electrical for the garage.

I talk to them multiple times a week and they exactly what you suggest.

They tell you the companies which will be contacted and that all other lines are your responsibility.

Also most of the time it is the fault of companies like Telus for f'Ing up the locate for their services not 1st call.

[metallicat]

Originally Posted by Flames_Gimp

call before you dig is pretty much pointless unless you are digging pretty deep. except for buried electrical to a garage for example that's supossed to be buried 18" IIRC. edit: oops I sit corrected gas lines aren't that deep.

You can't trust that standard. I've seen electrical lines just below the surface.

[Flames_Gimp]

Originally Posted by oilers_fan

You can't trust that standard. I've seen electrical lines just below the surface.

true. but if its a city line it would be proper depth, otherwise it was installed by the home owner - therefore 1call wouldn't know about it.

[metallicat]

A co worker almost lost his life because a city primary power line was just below the surface. Point is, you can never be too careful when it comes to electricity.

That's actually a pet peeve of mine with Alberta one call, I don't think they tell you depth of lines.

[Ashartus]

Having use One Call numerous times in the past I can confirm that they will only locate lines that are owned by public utilities. For anything that was put in privately, you need to hire a private locator (which isn't cheap for a private citizen). Sometimes the private locator is even the same company (or person) who was locating the public utilities, but working under a separate contract.

Usually residential properties don't have a lot of private utilities, so in most cases you can get by without the private locate, but a line connecting a garage to the house probably would be private.

Of course sometimes One Call messes up too. Several years ago I was putting some test holes on a commercial property with a pretty major gas line. I had another locate done at the same property a couple of months later and it turned out I'd just missed the line because the original locator had said it was in a completely different place (apparently he was fired for incompetence, but that would have been small consolation if I'd hit the line).

[jeffh]

A friend of mine used to work for Alberta-One-Call a few years ago. Apparently Telus and/or Shaw don't participate in the service either. I'm glad no one was hurt, could've been a terrible situation. Have fun digging a whole new trench for your garage now, op.

[moncton golden flames]

Originally Posted by Flames_Gimp

there is no way they would know about that line. Its not like its registered when the line is ran to the garage.

You didn't know the garage was wired that way?

the house and garage are over 60 years old and i see no evidence to suggest the location of any wiring.