Call-before-you-dig services by country

This page describes what the services and agencies say. Notice periods differ by state and province and can change. Page details below are as of October 5, 2026.

Why stump grinders get pointed here

The stump grinder leaflets name buried services as a hazard. HSE leaflet AFAG606 says to check the site for underground services. Safe Work Australia's guide to managing the risks of tree work lists contact with live underground services among stump grinder hazards, and says to check for underground services through Before You Dig Australia if the penetration exceeds 200 mm below the surface. The Australian training unit AHCARB212 includes an element to identify and confirm the location and depth of above and below ground services with a supervisor. The chippers and stump grinders guide covers those documents.

United States

The national service is 811. The 811 site, which is a Common Ground Alliance initiative, says 811 is the free national before-you-dig service, and that anyone who plans to dig should contact 811 or go to their state 811 centre's website before digging. The aim is to have the approximate location of buried utilities marked with paint or flags. The address call811.com leads to the 811 Before You Dig site.

On notice, the national site says to contact 811 a few business days before you begin any digging, and lists planting trees and shrubs, fences and mailboxes among common projects. It says every digging project, regardless of depth, calls for contacting 811 a few days in advance. It then says to wait a few days for utilities to respond and make sure all of them have responded before breaking ground. It gives no single number of days, because the figure is set by each state.

State centre	Notice as stated	Contact
Texas811	Two business days before excavating, not counting weekends and holidays	811
NC811	Three working days before digging	811 or 1-800-632-4949

Texas811 says Texas law requires excavators to contact 811 at least two business days before excavating, even when working in your own backyard. See the Texas811 site and the NC811 site. The 811 national site leads to the centre for any other state.

Canada

The Click Before You Dig portal is provided by the Canadian Notification Centres Committee with the Canadian Common Ground Alliance. It links each province, territory or state to the local damage prevention centre or a request form. The service is at the Click Before You Dig portal.

Ontario. Ontario One Call now operates as Ontario Dig Authority. Its site says to submit a locate request at least 5 business days before you dig, and that locates are required for any project that breaks ground, no matter the size or depth. It says it does not mark the lines itself. It relays the dig information to the buried infrastructure owners so they can mark. See Ontario Dig Authority.
British Columbia. BC 1 Call says that contractors and project planners getting ready to dig should contact it first to find out what is below. It gives 1-800-474-6886, during call centre hours, and the same number for emergency locates. It says its members have responded to as many as 680,000 locate notifications within 3 business days, or 5 business days for large projects. See BC 1 Call.

Other provinces have their own centres, reached from the portal.

United Kingdom

Look Up Before You Dig is known as LSBUD. Its site describes a free online search service for anyone involved in digging works, to check works against the utility assets of over 160 asset owners. It says the scope covers construction, excavation, fencing, ditching and works likely to break ground of any scale, from a highway scheme to replacing a garden fence. See the LSBUD site. The LSBUD site states no notice period.

HSE's guidance is HSG47, Avoiding danger from underground services, third edition, 2014. It explains three basic elements of a safe system of work during excavation: planning the work, locating and identifying buried services, and safe excavation. It says to obtain plans or other suitable information about all underground services in the area when the work is being planned, and wherever possible to consult owners and operators. It also says plans alone are not sufficient to identify and locate services, and that they provide basic information for a thorough site survey before work begins. The booklet is at hse.gov.uk.

Australia

Before You Dig Australia, known as BYDA, says its free safety tools give everyone working near utility infrastructure access to plans and information for both underground and overhead assets. It says the underground plan request service is free and available online and through app stores. It also runs a Look Up and Live tool for overhead powerlines. See Before You Dig Australia. Its FAQ page lists questions on cost, plan expiry and who is responsible for damage.

New Zealand

beforeUdig describes itself as a free online service that lets anyone doing excavation works get information on the location of cables, pipes and other utility assets around a proposed dig site. It names contractors, builders, planners and homeowners as users, and says that in most cases it works as a one stop shop for contractors to tell member utilities and authorities about planned activities. See beforeUdig.

At a glance

Country	Service	Notice or contact as stated
United States	811, by state	A few business days; 811
Canada	Click Before You Dig; Ontario Dig Authority; BC 1 Call	Ontario 5 business days; BC 1-800-474-6886
United Kingdom	LSBUD; HSE HSG47	Free online search; no notice period stated
Australia	Before You Dig Australia	Free plan requests
New Zealand	beforeUdig	Free online service

Whether a call is needed for a given job is a question for the locate centre or the regulator.