Before you do any digging, or hire a company to dig (or excavate), the law says you must first contact Arizona 811 (previously known as 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.

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 are costly to repair.

Avoiding hazards

Clearly identifying utility locations through the Arizona 811 procedure 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.

Before you dig, call 811 (or 1-800-782-5348). For more information regarding Arizona Blue Stake check out their web site at http://www.arizona811.com/

Contact Arizona 811 at least two full working days before you dig. Be prepared to provide the location of the excavation site, including address and cross streets. They 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.

They will provide a notice number and the names of the utility companies that will be responding to your request. If the caller and the excavator are not the same person, make sure that this information is provided to the excavator. Also inform them 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 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 811 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 811 two full working days before the expiration date and inform them 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.

Utility owners have two working days to respond to a utility marking request. Arizona 811 will provide the marking due date to the requester at the time of the call.

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.

Electric Power Distribution And Transmission	Safety Red
Gas Diffusion And Transmission, Oil Product Distribution And Transmission; Dangerous Materials, Product Lines	High Visibility  Safety Yellow
Telephone And Telegraph System; Cable Television	Alert Orange
Fiber Optics Communication Lines	Alert Orange
Water Systems; Slurry Pipelines Safety	Precaution Blue
Sanitary Sewer Systems	Safety Green
Reclaimed Or Non-Potable Water	Purple