Page 11 - Alabama

Alabama’s Underground Damage Prevention legislation has been enacted since 1994. Over the years there have been amendment to strengthen and improve the damage prevention program in our state. We will focus on some of the key terms and sections to ensure a thorough understanding of the underground damage prevention as outlined in Alabama state law.
Alabama Statute 37-15-4: Notice of Intent to Excavate or Demolish
This Section, §37-15-4, outlines the responsibilities and process required in notification of proposed excavation. The section focused on here is subsection (e) which states:
When engaged in extensive and contiguous construction, demolition, or excavation activity, working agreements may be established to accomplish the intent and purpose of this chapter between operators, public agencies, and contractors AFTER initial compliance with the notification provisions of this chapter.
It becomes very easy to get into the routine of a two working day notice,
but not all excavation projects are
of the nature that can be located in
a two working day period prior to excavation. This may be due to the length of the project, the expected time it will take to complete the project, or simply due to the number of existing facilities in the ground in the area
that must be identified and worked around. Alabama’s law has always
had this provision to allow for a large project to be worked out between involved parties to locate as needed in conjunction with exactly how the work is to be performed. The law allows
in subsection (b) of this section that a locate request notice can be from 2 to
10 working days prior to the start of excavation. Allowing for any additional notification time for the facility owners to schedule a locator to mark is a big help. But if the job is larger than that, the initial notice can be given, and a meeting requested to allow for involved parties to communicate the size and scope of the project and come to an agreed-upon locating schedule to ensure it is marked timely to reduce any risk of damage and maintain a safe work site.
If you are having a larger project, please be sure to place your locate request
with as much notice as possible and realistic to the timeframe you plan to be able to conduct the work. A few key points to help improve the damage prevention process:
• Give up to the 10 working days whenever possible by providing the proposed work date and not just the minimum 2 working day notice
• Spread out the request relative to your work schedule and not call in a large amount of locate requests if you do not plan to have crews on site on the date of the proposed excavation.
• Updating locate requests when work is not being actively performed is a violation under the state law.
• Talk to AL 811 staff if you would like to arrange a large project meeting to work with the utilities to establish a marking schedule.
Working together is a key part to ensure your job goes smoothly and locates can be performed accurately and timely to accommodate an agreed upon work schedule.
Legislative Corner
2024, Issue 2 Alabama 811 • 9