Call 811 Before Tearing Out or Digging for Concrete

What the law requires

Kansas statute K.S.A. 66-1804 says that, except in an emergency, an excavator must serve notice of intent of excavation at least two full working days, but not more than 20 calendar days, before the scheduled excavation start date, on each operator with underground facilities in the proposed area (K.S.A. 66-1804, notice of intent of excavation). In practice that notice goes through Kansas 811, the state's one-call notification center, and the utility operators then mark the approximate location of their lines.

"Excavation" is broad. Removing a slab and digging out base, setting forms that need stakes, trenching for a footing, grading and digging post holes for a retaining wall all count.

How the waiting days count

Kansas 811 publishes a waiting-period table that shows the earliest start time for a locate request placed on each day of the week. Weekends do not count as working days, and the table lists the holidays that do not count either: New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and the day after, and Christmas (Kansas 811, waiting period table). A request placed late in the week will not clear until the following week. Around holidays, the wait gets longer.

The 20-calendar-day limit cuts the other way: a locate requested too far ahead expires before work starts. Projects that slip because of rain may need a new request.

Who calls

The law places the duty on the excavator, the person or company doing the digging. On a contracted concrete job that is normally the contractor. On a do-it-yourself tear-out or patio, it is you. Either way, ask to see the locate ticket number before work begins.

What the marks mean

Utility operators mark lines with paint or flags in standard colors. Common ones:

• Red: electric power
• Yellow: gas, oil or steam
• Orange: communications, cable and fiber
• Blue: potable water
• Green: sewer and drain lines
• White: proposed excavation area, marked by the excavator

Marks show an approximate location, not an exact depth. Digging close to a mark is done carefully by hand.

What 811 does not mark

Utility locates cover lines owned by the utilities that are members of the notification system. They usually do not cover private lines on your side of the meter, such as:

• Lawn sprinkler pipes and valves
• Landscape and yard lighting
• Electric lines to a detached garage, shop or pool
• Gas lines to a grill or outbuilding
• Invisible pet fences
• Septic lines and older private sewer laterals

Before a tear-out, walk the area with the estimator and point out any of these you know about. A private locating service can mark private lines for an additional charge.

Why concrete jobs hit lines

Concrete work digs shallow but wide. A driveway tear-out often runs right over the gas service, the water service and the communication drop to the house. Breaking equipment and skid steers put weight on the ground, and new forms need stakes driven in. Sidewalks and approaches sit over lines in the right-of-way. That is why the locate step matters even for a job that only digs a few inches.

Building rules for deeper work

Steps, retaining walls and footings go deeper than flatwork. The Wichita-Sedgwick County building code lists a frost depth of 24 inches below finished grade for footings in its area, and lists retaining walls not over 4 feet tall from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall, unless supporting a surcharge, among work exempt from a permit (Wichita-Sedgwick County Unified Building and Trade Code (MABCD)). Deeper digging means more chance of crossing a line, so locates are essential before footing work.

Fitting locates into the schedule

Because the law sets both a minimum wait and a 20-day window (K.S.A. 66-1804, notice of intent of excavation), timing a locate request is part of planning a pour. Requesting too early risks an expired ticket if rain delays the job; requesting too late pushes back the start. Many concrete jobs request locates once the pour date is reasonably firm. Marks can also fade or be scraped away by equipment, so keep the ticket number handy in case they need to be refreshed. On larger tear-outs, ask whether the request will cover the haul route and staging area as well as the slab itself.

A simple sequence

1. Settle on the scope and mark the dig area in white.
2. Submit the locate request with Kansas 811 and note the ticket number.
3. Wait the required working days.
4. Check that every utility has responded and marks are visible.
5. Point out private lines.
6. Start work, hand-digging near marks.

See concrete tear-out and replacement and the estimate factors page for how excavation affects scope.

For what a tear-out scope usually includes, see tear-out and haul-off factors.

Sources: K.S.A. 66-1804, notice of intent of excavation; Kansas 811, waiting period table; Wichita-Sedgwick County Unified Building and Trade Code (MABCD).