Is it Industry Standard to call Dig Safe before stump grinding?

nyclimber

nyclimber

Or is it state to state? Is it dependent on the size of the stump or depth, etc? I know a lot of tree companies don't call before hand but this seems strange to me...any thoughts/ideas? Thanks a lot!
 
Every single time. In Ontario it's law but a stumper can easily take out the cable line and I've seen pipes and wires no where near how deep they should've been. It covers your butt and saves repairs costs and times. Also ask the home owner for extras like irrigation, garden lights, shed power cords often very shallow.
 
A salesman for a company I used to work for buried a dead rabbit for a client he was doing a proposal for. He went to his truck, grabbed a shovel, went into the back yard and started to dig a hole. He hit a gas line, with the shovel, at 8 inches. (Gas line was the plastic lines) The gas company was called, they were not at all happy. They informed him that he needed to call dig safe. They threatened the company with a BIG fine for not calling. Yeah, he was supposed to call dig safe every time ANYTHING is to be dug up. We always called dig safe for stump grinding, air spade work, butt who would of thought to call for burying a rabbit in the back yard. Long story short. The gas company was at fault for not properly installing the gas line to a depth of 3 feet. I guess it was a temporary line, but nothing was posted anywhere to indicate this.
So, I would call dig-safe before you dig for anything. Even dead rabbits.
 
Mandatory in NJ. Once a company I used to work for didn't, the operator hit a plastic line about 4" below grade. It was in the middle of a complex about 60' away from any building in any direction. No reason to even think this would be here. The complex had to be evacuated, fire dept called in, police cordoned off the area, utility company crews there to patch it up.

The irony of it though, is there was no evidence of it the line. Nothing on any of the drawings the utility had. To top it off they had the company that did the markouts come to find where the line ran to so they could shut it off. They couldn't find it because it was plastic. Still though, the company was being held responsible because the markout wasn't requested.
 
In New England any excavation requires a call to DIGSAFE. We won't do the work without having our name on the DIGSAFE ticket.

Not so worried about gas, water,cable or ElCo lines, but we've seen tons of TelCo lines just tucked under the turf and once you wrap one of those babies around your cutter shaft you'll never forget it.
 
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