Fence company asking me to get the locate in Gloucester?

Under Ontario's Underground Infrastructure Notification System Act, 2012, whoever digs is the excavator, and the excavator is responsible for the locate request before any ground is broken. On a hired job, that is the contractor. On a do-it-yourself job, that is the homeowner. If the company is asking you to submit it, ask them why, and get in writing who submits the request and who waits for the response before digging. The utilities must respond within five business days, and a standard request can be made no more than 30 days before the dig.

A locate request through Ontario Dig Authority costs nothing. For any privately owned lines on your property, such as a line running to a garage, shed or outbuilding, ask the installer how those will be identified before post holes are dug; we found no Ontario Dig Authority statement on whether they are marked.

A few things worth sorting out before the work starts in Gloucester:

• Confirm in writing who is submitting the locate request and who is responsible if digging starts before the response comes back.
• Ask whether the five-business-day response window is built into the project schedule.
• Ask about any private lines on your property and how the installer plans to handle them.
• Confirm the locate confirmation number is shared with you, not just kept by the installer.

Whoever ends up submitting it, ask for the locate reference number and keep it with the written contract.