(a) Except as provided in § 34-2709, no person shall excavate in a street, highway, public space, or on private property, or demolish a building without first notifying, by telephonic or teletype, at least 48 hours, but not more than 10 days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays), prior to the commencement of the proposed excavation or demolition, each public utility operator which may have underground facilities in the area of the proposed excavation. Such telephonic or teletype notification shall be accomplished by notifying the one-call center within the time limit prescribed, which shall in turn notify the appropriate public utility operators.

(b) The telephonic or teletype notice required by subsection (a) of this section must contain the name, address, and telephone number of the person responsible for the proposed excavation or demolition, the utility job number, the planned starting date, the anticipated duration, the type of excavation or demolition work to be conducted, the location of the proposed excavation or demolition, with a maximum length per notice of 1,320 feet, and whether or not explosives are to be used.

(c) If it is determined by a public utility operator that a proposed excavation or demolition is planned in such proximity to an underground facility that the facility may be damaged, dislocated, or disturbed, the public utility operator shall within 48 hours (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays) respond by marking, staking, locating, or otherwise providing the approximate location of the public utility operator’s underground facilities.

(d) When the actual excavation or demolition operation enters the immediate vicinity of an underground facility or utility line transporting natural gas, the person responsible for the excavation or demolition shall expose the underground facility or utility line by hand digging; provided, that a test pit hand dug by the District government, which locates the utility line, shall meet the requirements of this subsection. For purposes of this subsection, the immediate vicinity of the underground facility or utility line shall be defined as a space within 18 inches from the nearest point on the underground facility.

(e) If the public utility operator, notified by the one-call center, determines that its underground utility lines or facilities will not be affected by the excavation or demolition, the public utility operator shall advise the person who proposes to excavate or demolish that marking is unnecessary.

(f) No person shall begin excavation prior to the notification of each public utility operator through the one-call center, or prior to the marking required by this section, or prior to the determination by the public utility operator that marking is unnecessary.

(g) The notification through the one-call center is valid for 15 days excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, from the time of notification to the one-call center. Three days before the end of the 15-day period, or at any time when line-location markings on the ground become illegible, the person excavating shall contact the one-call center and request the re-marking of the lines. The public utility operator shall re-mark the lines as soon as possible. However, the re-marking of the lines shall be completed within 48 hours from the time of the request.

(Mar. 4, 1981, D.C. Law 3-129, § 5, 28 DCR 264; May 23, 2000, D.C. Law 13-114, § 2(c), 47 DCR 1993.)

1981 Ed., § 43-1704.

This section is referenced in § 34-2705 and § 34-2709.

D.C. Law 13-114 in subsec. (b) substituted “the location of the proposed excavation or demolition, with a maximum length per notice of 1,320 feet,” for “the location of the proposed excavation or demolition,” and added subsec. (g).

Near the beginning of the first sentence of subsection (a), the reference to § 34-2709 was substituted for a reference to § 43-1710 1981 Ed., to correct an error in D.C. Law 3-129.