(A) Except as otherwise provided in divisions (C), (D), (E), and (F) of this section, at least forty-eight hours but not more than ten working days before commencing excavation, the excavator shall notify a protection service of the location of the excavation site and the date on which excavation is planned to commence.

(B) On receipt of notice under division (A) of this section, the protection service shall provide to each utility with underground utility facilities located at the excavation site, notice of the proposed excavation .

(C) In the case of an interstate hazardous liquids pipeline or interstate gas pipeline, the excavator shall comply with the special notice requirements of the public safety program of the owner of the pipeline as indicated in the plans or otherwise provided to the excavator in accordance with division (E) or (F)(2) of section 3781.27 of the Revised Code.

(D) If it has been determined pursuant to division (D) of section 3781.27 of the Revised Code that relocation, support, removal, or protective steps are necessary, the excavator shall provide earlier notice to the utility in order to provide the utility with reasonable time to coordinate making the adjustments with actual excavation.

(E) If an excavation will cover a large area and will progress from one area to the next over a period of time, the excavator shall provide written notice of excavation with projected timelines for segments of the excavation as the excavation progresses in order to coordinate the marking of underground utility facilities with actual excavation schedules. Under such circumstances, the utility and excavator shall determine a mutually agreed upon marking schedule based on the project schedule. Once such a schedule is established, the marking and notification requirements set forth in division (A)(1) of section 3781.29 of the Revised Code shall not apply.

(F)

(1) In the case of a utility that is making an emergency repair to its own underground utility system or a governmental entity making an underground emergency repair to traffic control devices, as defined in section 4511.01 of the Revised Code, used on any street or highway under the entity's jurisdiction, the utility or governmental entity shall notify a protection service and each limited basis participant of the excavation site. This notice need not occur before commencing excavation.

(2) In the case of an excavation at the site of real property of the type described in divisions (C)(1) to (4) of section 3781.25 of the Revised Code:

(a) If the owner of the property is the excavator, this section does not apply unless the excavation is planned for an area where a utility easement is located , a public right-of-way, or where utility facilities are known to serve the property.

(b) If the owner of the property employs an excavator, the excavator shall comply with the requirements of this section. If the owner did not employ a designer to make written plans, the excavator shall provide the notice required under this section to a protection service and to each utility that is a limited basis participant in a protection service that has underground utility facilities within the municipal corporation or township and county of the excavation site, as indicated by the protection service.

Amended by 129th General AssemblyFile No.198, HB 458, §1, eff. 3/27/2013.

Effective Date: 07-02-1990 .