Grant Piraine
Aug 21, 2018
When excavation or drilling takes place on commercial or industrial property, the responsibility for safety does not rest with one party alone. Property owners play a central role in the public and private locate process and their involvement, or lack of it, directly affects risk outcomes.
A common misconception is that calling for locates and receiving paperwork is enough. In reality, locate reports and marks on the ground only communicate what has been identified, not what necessarily exists. Without proper context, records, and site understanding, critical buried infrastructure can be missed, misunderstood, or incorrectly assumed to be absent.
Property owners are uniquely positioned to close this gap.
Understanding the Property Owner’s Role
When work is performed on private property, the property owner or their management company is typically the only party with full knowledge, or access to knowledge, about privately owned buried utility infrastructure. This includes services installed over decades, undocumented modifications, abandoned systems, and infrastructure that may not appear on public utility records.
To reduce risk and support safe ground disturbance, property owners should understand and actively participate in the following areas.
1. Public Locates
Ensure that any contractor performing ground disturbance on the property has requested public locates and is waiting for marks and documentation covering publicly owned buried infrastructure. Public locates address only a portion of what may exist on private property and should never be assumed to represent the full underground picture.
2. Private Locates
Ensure that privately owned buried utility infrastructure is identified through a qualified private locate contractor. Private locates are not a substitute for public locates. Each serves a different purpose and both are necessary to establish a baseline understanding of underground conditions.
3. Utility Records and Drawings
Provide all available utility records, drawings, site plans, and as built documentation related to privately owned infrastructure. When records are incomplete or unavailable, the level of uncertainty increases and additional care should be taken during locating and excavation activities.
4. Knowledgeable Personnel
Make knowledgeable personnel available during the locate process. Facility managers, maintenance staff, and long term employees often hold critical institutional knowledge that cannot be found on paper. Their involvement can help identify anomalies, confirm assumptions, and reduce the likelihood of missed buried facilities.
5. Access to Mechanical and Service Areas
Ensure that locate contractors have access to mechanical rooms, electrical rooms, valve chambers, and service entry points. Without access, the ability to trace and confirm buried infrastructure is limited, increasing the risk of incomplete locates.
Beyond Paperwork
One of the most overlooked aspects of damage prevention is the relationship between above ground utility structures and what they imply below ground. Transformers, post indicator valves, telecom cabinets, sewer structures, generators, and similar installations exist for a reason. Each is serviced by buried infrastructure that should be accounted for in locate documentation and site markings.
If a worker is standing beside one of these structures and there are no corresponding marks on the ground or references in the locate report, that discrepancy should raise immediate questions. This is not about assigning blame. It is about awareness and risk recognition.
Without understanding utility structures and how they are typically serviced underground, property owners, supervisors, and workers have no reliable way to assess whether a locate is complete, incomplete, or still outstanding. In those situations, decisions are made based on assumptions rather than knowledge, and assumptions are where risk lives.
Owning Safety on Private Property
KNOWING your role as a property owner is a critical part of damage prevention. When property owners understand the locate process, the limitations of paperwork, and the importance of site context, they enable safer decision making for everyone involved.
Safety cannot be outsourced. It must be understood, supported, and owned by those responsible for the property and the work being performed.