One Call Legislation – FAQ’s

All Tier Two members who convert to Tier One will not be charged outgoing transmission fees until January 1, 2021.

All Tier 2 Members who convert to Tier 1 will not be charged outgoing transmission fees until January 1st of 2021.

The new law went into effect August 8, 2018. Colorado 811 is working diligently to implement and make software improvements relating to new law as soon as practicable.

• Tier Two members will begin receiving electronic notifications/tickets on January 1, 2019
• CO811 started converting Tier Two members June 2018 and will continue until January 1, 2021 in a first-come first-served basis
• All Members must be Tier One by January 1, 2021
• Tickets/Notifications will be sent to Tier Two and recently converted Tier One members at no cost until December 31, 2020

No, only laterals in the public right-of-way need to be registered.

Yes, a Tier Two can convert to Tier One before Jan. 1, 2019. Colorado 811 has agreed to the conversion at no charge to allow an appropriate amount of time to accommodate all Tier Two members.

The conversions are mandatory effective Jan. 1, 2019. Colorado 811 has agreed to the conversion at no charge to allow an appropriate amount of time to accommodate all Tier Two members.

Yes, there will be a Tier Two Board of Director until December 31, 2020.

Yes, all locate tickets must have a Positive Response posted to Colorado 811 by the locate by date on the ticket starting January 1 2019. Members will now be able to include comments and attachments (photos, sketches, etc) to positive response.

If Positive Response is not provided by the owners/operator by the locate by date, Colorado 811 will send an additional re-notification to that owner/operator. Colorado 811 will continue to send out re-notifications daily until Colorado 811 receives Positive Response. These notifications will be charged to the member at the standard ticket transmission fee.

Yes, there will be new fields in the locate ticket information being sent to members, for example, new fields for mailing addresses for excavators, new fields for secondary excavator contact and a link to view Colorado 811’s map with the dig site highlighted.

Member Facilities will have 10 business days to respond to Subsurface Utility Engineering Ticket by;

• Providing location records – giving available information on the location, not to include depth
• Providing marks on the ground – giving approximate location, not to include depth
• Providing available information – giving approximate location, not to include depth

Tier Two Members will start receiving locate ticket notifications starting January 1, 2019 if an email address has been provided to CO811. Excavators are still required to contact Tier Two members directly.

No, Positive Response will only be available to Tier One members. Start your transition today!

Road grading tickets are annual road maintenance that does not exceed six inches in depth conducted by a governmental agency on existing unpaved roads. The markings shall be considered valid for up to 180 days. Members within the county will be notified of a road grading ticket and should work with the governmental agency to coordinate the excavation activity accordingly. Members have 10 business days to respond.

No, the responsibilities for Tier One and Tier Two members are the same regarding responding to locate requests within two business days not including the day of the call. Both memberships are required to mark underground facilities or make the excavator aware if the area is clear from facilities.

Colorado 811 delivers locate ticket notifications via email. Positive Response is currently available with an account/username and password via website or TCP/IP. For more information please visit co811.org

Tier Two members will begin receiving electronic notifications/tickets on January 1, 2019 if an email address is provided.

Only Tier One members will be able to post responses to tickets. Responses will be required after transitioning to Tier One.

Yes.

Members are charged on a per transmission basis and each excavator must have their own locate ticket even if it is at the same address.

Colorado 811 will send an invoice with total number of transmissions as well as a zero-balance due.

Yes, the current 250ft buffer will be reduced to 150ft buffer on dig sites. Member buffer will be reduced to a minimum of 30ft.

Will members be able to customize their buffers on 811’s system? Yes, minimum 30ft buffer

The Safety Commission will be responsible for establishing marking standards. To date, those standards have not been established.

Excavators requesting some or all facility owners to be re-notified due to not receiving locates, facility not found in locate area, incomplete locate, incorrect area located, facility owner no show or facility owner no show at meet time will be sent as an Excavator Re-Notification instead of Second Notice.

Secondary excavators may be listed on locate requests for potholing purposes only.

After listening to our facility owners and operators, the Board of Directors approved the request from management to no longer charge a ticket fee for canceled outgoing transmissions. This change will take effect on January 1, 2019.

Home rule cities by the Colorado constitution are cities that have the full right of self-government in local and municipal matters. The larger home rule cities include Denver, Aurora, Pueblo, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins and Grand Junction. Home Rule cities can create their own safety commissions and can enforce the one-call law and imposed penalties for failure to comply with the law.

Yes. Colorado 811 will annually provide a report as well as real time data for the Safety Commission’s work related to underground excavations and safety.

Any person can provide feedback to the Safety Commission.

Yes, the Colorado Safety Commission will have the responsibility to enforce the provisions of the law related to safe practices. The Safety Commission can impose penalties for failure to comply with the law. Home Rule cities may create a safety commission which also have the power to impose penalties for failure to comply with the law. Facility owners and operators and excavators may bring civil actions for damage claims separate from the actions of the Safety Commission.

Only Home Rule cities are exempt from complying with the Safety Commission requirements but they must create their own safety commissions.

CO 811 is not in a position to offer an opinion regarding whether or not the State of Colorado can enforce penalties against a municipality under the new law. The newly created Safety Commission will establish regulations that address this issue in cooperation with the Colorado Attorney General.CO 811 is not in a position to offer an opinion regarding whether or not the State of Colorado can enforce penalties against a municipality under the new law. The newly created Safety Commission will establish regulations that address this issue in cooperation with the Colorado Attorney General.

Please defer to the Safety Commission once established.

The Commission is a state commission having jurisdiction to address underground facility safety issues throughout the State of Colorado with the exception of certain home rule cities

Excavators are not exempt from the overview and jurisdiction of the Colorado Safety Commission. Complaints can be submitted to the commission with respect to excavators, facility owners and firms that provide locate services.

Certain municipalities in Colorado are designated as “home rule cities”. Home rule cities must act to create their own Safety Commissions and enforcement procedures. If a home rule city does not act to create its own commission then the State Commission will have the responsibility to enforce the laws related to underground safety.

The cost or fee for the outgoing transmission will remain the same for all members. The costs associated with an engineering locate request will be paid by the project owner.

ASCE Standards provide technical guidelines for promoting safety, reliability, productivity, and efficiency in civil engineering. For more information please visit https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/programadmin/asce.cfm

Within 10 days of the notice provided, licensed professional engineers will receive documentation through the Positive Response system at Colorado 811.

From our understanding, SUE is required if the local public entity/ agency identifies it as a condition of the right of way or utility installation permit. If you don’t need the information, there is no mandate that says every project needs to be called in as a SUE request. However, nothing prevents an engineer or architect from requesting a design or engineering ticket.

At the time of the request, Colorado 811 will not attempt to verify if the engineer is licensed or not.

It is assumed that the expenses related to engineering locates would be be incurred by the project owner.

Yes, there are several modifications in the new law regarding exemptions they include: farmers/ranchers and new requirements for governmental agencies relative to road grading. Please note, there is no exemption for gravity fed systems. Although, these exemptions exist it is extremely dangerous to dig without first notifying Colorado 811 for the location of underground facilities.

Gravity fed systems are now defined to clarify what information has to be provided in the event there is a request for a locate related to sub-surface utility engineering. The law defining this exemption is located at section 9-1.5-102 (3.4).

All underground facility owner/operators are responsible for the location of service laterals in the public right-of-way.

It is Colorado 811’s intent to provide the excavator this information through the Positive Response system.

Yes, an excavator requiring existing marked underground facilities to be exposed may list a single secondary excavator on it’s notice to Colorado 811.

Colorado 811 is not subject to the Colorado Open Records Act.

Colorado 811 has and is currently communicating with all stakeholders (including excavators) through the co811.org website, social media, email blasts, employee email signatures, 811 hold recording, and news articles in industry media outlets. The Colorado 811 Damage Prevention Liaisons inform excavators of the legislative changes at Damage Prevention Council Meeting and onsite presentations at excavator’s offices.

Even if it was not previously locatable According to the law, any “new” facility installed after August 8th, 2018 must be electronically locatable.

Yes, you can contact either the member services department or the damage prevention liaison in your area by visiting Colorado811.org