Sufficient Particularity

 

As required by O.C.G.A. § 25-9-6, and GPSC Rule 515-9-4-.14, it is the responsibility of Georgia 811 to develop a policy defining what “Sufficient Particularity” is when calling in for an excavation locate request. This policy will assist all facility owners, facility operators and locators in the state by providing more detailed information on the extent of any proposed excavation. It will also assist excavators by allowing for more efficient use of the existing locating resources within the state.
 
Additionally, this definition will provide guidance to the Georgia 811’s Customer Service Representatives when taking locate requests by phone and also to excavators entering locate requests through the Web, as to whether supplemental “White Lining” will be required on a locate request or not.

 


 

Policy

Single Address Locate Requests:

To assist in better defining the extents of excavation on a “Single Address Locate Request”, each address will be subdivided into four quadrants. These will be “Front Left, Front Right, Back Left, and Back Right” and they will be identified as if standing at the centerline of the street in front of the requested address, at the curb, facing the property in question.
 

Back Left Back Right
Front Left Front Right

“Street”


 
When excavation work will occur within three or four of the quadrants of the address, requesting the entire lot will be considered sufficient particularity.
 
Examples of this would be house construction, grading, etc.
 
When excavation will occur within only one or two of the quadrants of the address which is linear in nature or of significant size, then identifying the quadrant(s) in question will be considered sufficient particularity.
 
Examples of this would be installing a utility main or service line, a fence, driveway, sidewalk, septic tank, in ground pool or deck. To further clarify, the excavator may tell the CSR or place on a web request, “The service line will be placed on the left front quadrant of the property from the curb to the meter which is on the left front side of the house.”
 
When spot location work will occur within only one or two quadrants of the address, then identifying the quadrant(s) together with sufficient additional measurement information will be considered sufficient particularity.
 
Examples of this would be setting a pole, installing anchors, installing a sign, planting a bush or a tree, or removing a storage tank. To further clarify, the excavator may tell the CSR or place on a web request, “The tree will be planted in the front yard 30 feet directly in front of the front door.”
 
If a Single Address Locate Request cannot be described with sufficient particularity in accordance with the above policy, then the excavator shall be required to “White Line” the area of excavation.
 

Single Street Locate Requests

To assist in better defining the extent of excavation on a “Single Street Locate Request”, the excavator will be asked if the excavation will occur completely within the Public ROW or not.
 
In addition, the excavator will be asked if the excavation is a linear excavation or if it is a series of smaller excavations (Examples: Set poles, trees, signs or anchors). If it is a linear excavation and the prior question on ROW has been answered, that would be considered sufficient particularity.
 
If it is a series of smaller excavations, then additional measurement information will be required on each location to be considered sufficient particularity.
 
If a Single Street Locate Request cannot be described with sufficient particularity in accordance with the above policy, then the excavator shall be required to “White Line” the areas of excavation.
 

Restakes and Remarks

If the original request describes the area of excavation with sufficient particularity, then on a restake or remark there is no additional requirement to white line. If the extent of the original excavation request was defined using white lining and those marks are no longer visible, then the excavator shall remark the limits of excavation using white paint or stakes to assist the facility owners in locating their facilities.
 

Exceptions to the White Lining Requirement

Unless otherwise required by applicable municipal or county ordinance, white lining will not be required in the following situations:
 
Any large project so designated in accordance with GPSC Rule 515-9-4-.13;
 
Any jobsite that can be described with such particularity as required by O.C.G.A. §25-9-6(b);
and
 
“Emergencies” and “extraordinary circumstances” as such terms are defined in O.C.G.A. §25-9-3 (10) and O.C.G.A. §25-9-3 (14), respectively, are [pursuant to O.C.G.A. §25-9-12] statutory exceptions to O.C.G.A. §25-9-6(a) requirement for obtaining a locate request prior to commencing mechanized excavation and, hence, also exceptions to the requirement for white lining under the Rule. However if a particular emergency notification is later determined not to have been an emergency or an extraordinary circumstance, then the excavator’s failure to procure a locate request before excavating will be treated as a violation of O.C.G.A §25-9-6 and of this Rule as per O.C.G.A. §25-9-12. Also, pre-excavation emergency locate requests (that is, a requests for a locate on an expedited basis sooner than the prescribed statutory time limit) will not be an exception to white lining as required in this Rule.