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Georgia 811
SUBMIT DIG TICKET
TICKET STATUS

Extraordinary Circumstances

Periodically there are reasons a Georgia 811 Member needs to invoke Extraordinary Circumstances to alert excavators that they are unable to mark their underground facilities in accordance of the law. This means that the affected member will respond to PRIS using 3J to notify the excavator of their circumstances.

In order to declare Extraordinary Circumstances, the member must meet the criteria as described in the Georgia Underground Facility Protection Act:
§ 25-9-3. Definitions 14) “Extraordinary circumstances” means circumstances other than normal operating conditions which exist and make it impractical or impossible for a facility owner or operator to comply with the provisions of this chapter. Such extraordinary circumstances may include, but shall not be limited to, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, ice and snow, and acts of God.

After declaring Extraordinary Circumstances with Georgia 811, members must still respond to all applicable requests with the PRIS code 3J. Notifying Georgia 811 is only one step in the process. Extraordinary Circumstances is not fully invoked until utility members respond to any/all locate requests, during their specified time period, with that code.

Once the Extraordinary Circumstance has passed, the member must update all instances of 3J responses to the applicable PRIS code.

When a member submits the form below during normal business hours (Monday to Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.), the Extraordinary Circumstance (EC) will be added to the current Georgia 811 List of EC Declarations during the same business day.

When the form is submitted outside of normal business hours, the Extraordinary Circumstance will be added to the Georgia 811 List of EC Declarations no later than 10 a.m. on the next business day.

Please fill out the below form to declare Extraordinary Circumstances (All Fields Required). Please note that it is the member’s responsibility to inform their Locate Contractor that they have declared Extraordinary Circumstances and the date range for which it was declared. Locate contractors will need to ensure they are responding to the tickets within the member’s service areas with the 3J PRIS code during that time frame.

Declare Extraordinary Circumstances

Extraordinary Circumstances

Name(Required)
MM slash DD slash YYYY
Start Time for use of the code(Required)
:
MM slash DD slash YYYY
End Time for use of the code(Required)
:

Extraordinary Circumstances Frequently Asked Questions

The information you will need to make an informed decision on EC is contained in the statute. In addition, Georgia 811 has procedures which outline the EC process and how a member facility owner/operator communicates to Georgia 811 when they want to declare EC after having received a notice of proposed excavation. For more information, click here or visit Georgia811.com, and click on “Extraordinary Circumstances” under the Member tab.
Yes. All utilities who declare EC with Georgia 811 must respond to each ticket with the 3J PRIS code within the two-business days response time until the EC has ended. Once the EC has ended the utility must respond to the locate request with marked, clear or a similar PRIS to complete the process.
No. Please keep trying to contact the utility.
No. When a utility declares EC they must provide a date range for when the EC starts and ends. After the facility owners have completed their reevaluations they may reinvoke EC again with new dates, if they deem it necessary, using the Georgia 811 process.
Yes.
If you are locating based on a signed marking agreement you should notify the excavator in writing of the EC and the dates of duration. If you are marking based on associated large project normal tickets, respond to PRIS with the 3J code.
Yes, it is acceptable to utilize virtual tools (video calls, conference calls, emails, etc.…) in lieu of an in-person meeting for new Large Projects. You are encouraged to document and/or record your meetings and communication.
Members should be aware that the statute has provisions for an emergency excavation even in instances where there has been an Extraordinary Circumstance response from a given facility owner to a given dig notice. Excavators choosing to proceed must do so in compliance with these emergency statutory provisions. If you have further questions, please contact the Georgia Public Service Commission.