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KNOW Before You Dig™
Private & Public Utility Infrastructure Awareness (U.S. & Canada) - Level I

Overview

Know Before You Dig (KBYD) establishes baseline risk awareness for stakeholders involved in ground disturbance on private property, addressing both public locate processes and private utility infrastructure across North America.

Why KBYD Level I Exists

Public One Call / 811 systems identify publicly owned buried facilities, but they do not address the extensive network of privately owned utility infrastructure found on private property. This gap has led to widespread misunderstanding, false assumptions of clearance, and avoidable damages.

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KBYD was developed to address this missing link by providing clear, practical education on:

• What One Call does and does not cover
• Where private utility risk exists
• How locate limitations affect excavation decisions
• Who is responsible for identifying risk before work begins

 

This training supports safer outcomes by ensuring informed decision-making before ground disturbance, not after an incident occurs.

Know Before You Dig (U.S. & Canada) Edition - Level 1 - Price $75 USD

Know Before You Dig (U.S. & Canada) Edition - Level 1 - Price $75 USD

What the Course Covers

KBYD is a comprehensive online program that includes instruction on:

  • Ground disturbance risks and consequences

  • Public and private utility infrastructure fundamentals

  • Utility structures and how to recognize them

  • Locate technologies and their limitations

  • Public locate processes and expectations

  • Private locate processes and when they are required

  • Subsurface Utility Engineering concepts and data quality

  • Interpretation of locate markings and reports

  • Best practices for working around buried infrastructure

  • Roles and responsibilities of all parties involved

 

The course focuses on real-world application rather than theory, emphasizing how decisions made before excavation directly affect safety, liability, and project outcomes.

Who Should Take This Course

KBYD is applicable to all stakeholder groups involved in private utility ground disturbance, including:

  • Ground disturbance professionals

  • Private locators and damage prevention specialists

  • Asset owners and property managers

  • Insurance, legal, and claims professionals

  • Engineers, consultants, and inspectors

  • Regulators and oversight bodies

 

Because utility risk is shared across roles, KBYD establishes a common language and baseline understanding that supports coordination, accountability, and defensible decision-making.

Foundation for Advanced Training

KBYD serves as the prerequisite foundation for all NAPUA role-specific training programs.

 

Advanced courses build on the KBYD baseline to address the unique responsibilities, risks, and decision points faced by specific stakeholder groups, including private locators, asset owners, insurers, and legal professionals.

 

This structure ensures consistency across the industry while allowing deeper specialization where accountability and exposure differ.

Delivery Format

  • Online, self-paced training. Start and stop as needed.

  • Approximately 4 hours total instruction

  • North America focused, with regional adaptability

  • Certificate of completion issued upon successful completion

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