Miss Utility is your partner when it comes to safe digging! Having a variety of utility services could mean you have lines and pipes running underground – do you know where they are? If you plan on any type of excavation or digging on your property, Miss Utility can help.
Miss Utility is the official one-call notification center for Maryland, Washington, DC, and Delaware. The law in these states requires prior notice to all utility operators of any proposed excavation or demolition so that they can mark the locations of any underground infrastructure they have that may be affected by your project. The Miss Utility Call Center does not perform locating or marking services. We inform subscribing facility/utility owners of proposed excavation so you don’t have to call them each individually. They, in turn, will locate (mark your dig site or verify the site is clear). Whether you plan to install a new mailbox or plant a garden, contact the Miss Utility Call Center before you put that shovel in the ground.
Homeowner Guide (English | Spanish) | Damage Prevention Guide (English | Spanish)
Underground lines are continually being installed. It is important that each time you plan on digging, you process a locate request regardless of excavation depth, by either using online or contacting the call center for your region.
Select your region:
Once you have submitted a locate request, owner-members need time to respond to your ticket. The laws that govern how long they have to do that vary by state, but can be found in the FAQ section below. You may also use our free Search & Status® feature to view and print the status of your locate request.
The owner members suggest that the dig site be identified using white paint or stakes. This will not only save locating time, it may also prevent unnecessary property markings.
Once your dig site has been marked or cleared by the member-owners, you may carefully “hand” dig around the marked lines. Do not use mechanized/electric/power equipment within:
The call or internet request to Miss Utility is FREE!!
According to Maryland Title 12 Law; If a contractor is working for you, the contractor must have a ticket in their company name. They cannot perform any work using a homeowner’s ticket number.
The notified utility owner-members will not mark privately owned underground lines. These include but are not limited to; invisible fencing, sprinkler systems, well and septic systems and their power or electric service, water and sewer pipes from the meter to your home, etc. If you have private underground lines and want them located, you should contact a private locating company before digging. Please refer to your local telephone directory for companies providing private locating services.
Call the Miss Utility Call Center for assistance. If the damage results in a release of natural gas or other hazardous material or the damage creates an emergency – immediately take steps to safeguard life, health and property AND call “911” or your local emergency personnel to report the emergency.
YES, simply dial 811 or 1-800-257-7777 to reach a Miss Utility Call Center customer service representative. Please be prepared and have a pen/pencil and paper ready to receive important information.
The customer service representative will ask you a series of questions needed to process your locate request that will include the following;
If you are digging in:
Maryland: at least (2) full business days, but not more than 12 business days.
Delaware: at least (2) full working days, but not more than 10 working days.
District of Columbia: at least (48) business hours, but no more than 15 business days.
The Miss Utility Call Center will provide you a unique ticket number after we collect all the data that is required to complete the notice process. Keep the ticket number in a safe place and be prepared to provide the ticket number whenever you call the Miss Utility Call Center. In addition, the customer service representative will provide:
No, you do not need to be home for the notified utility owner-members to perform their locating work on your property. But, please make sure gates are unlocked and pets are secured if access is needed to those areas.
Locating technicians will identify underground owner-member utility lines by using a colored paint that relates to the particular owner-member’s underground lines. The paint is temporary, solvent, biodegradable and either chalk or water based.
White: Proposed Excavation
Pink: Temporary Survey Markings
Red: Electric Power Lines, Cables, Conduit and Lighting Cables
Yellow: Gas, Oil, Steam, Petroleum, or Gaseous Materials
Orange: Communication, Alarm or Signal Lines, Cables or Conduit
Blue: Potable Water
Purple: Reclaimed Water, Irrigation and Slurry Lines
Green: Sewers and Drain Lines
In Maryland and Delaware, the notified utility owner-members will provide their locate status to the Ticket Check® System. Before digging, call 1-866-821-4226 (toll free), or use Search & Status, to check each of the owner-member responses to your ticket. In the District of Columbia, some of the notified utility owner-members will provide their locate status to the Ticket Check® system. Before digging, call 1-866-821-4226 (toll free) or use Search & Status to check each of the owner-member responses to your ticket. Utility owner members not using Ticket Check will contact you directly if they do not have underground lines in your area of excavation. Otherwise, the marked line(s) will serve as an owner-member response. REMEMBER, you cannot begin digging until all notified utility owner members have provided a positive response to your ticket.
If you believe the notified utility owner-members have not responded to your ticket and after you have verified their response via the Ticket Check® System, call the Miss Utility Call Center for assistance.
The Maryland and District of Columbia law states you must hand dig 18 inches (24 inches in Delaware) on each side of the utility mark(s) to expose the utility line in your excavation area. Once you expose the line, no mechanized equipment is to be used within 18 inches (24 inches in Delaware) on all sides of the outermost extremity of the line/pipe. If you are using a contractor to work on your property, the contractor must have a Miss Utility ticket in their company name. The contractor cannot dig on your homeowner ticket.
Call the Miss Utility Call Center, Monday-Friday from 7:00am to 5:00pm (excluding holidays) and we will process a cancellation notice for you.
ITIC Lite is a simplified version of our web-based ticket entry system designed specifically for homeowners. Users can begin entering a ticket simply by entering their email address. Special tools make it easy for first-time users to identify their dig site while notification center professionals remain available for assistance.
Search and Status is an easy to use tool that helps users find processed tickets by entering a ticket number, using search criteria to find a ticket or using the Search and Status map.
The displayed ticket includes the Ticket Check ‘status’ by scrolling down the ticket to the MEMBERS NOTIFED section. A full list of time stamped status’ are available when ‘STATUS HISTORY’ is clicked. From the MEMBERS NOTIFIED section, Discrepancy and Dispute notices can be processed on a valid ticket.
Note: For ticket status codes, please select your state from the ‘Laws by State’ link in the navigation.
Click on, FIND A TICKET to select the Search and Status service area.
The facility owner or their contract locator will mark the ground with either flags or paint. The colors below are industry standard and each color identifies a specific type of utility.
White: Proposed Excavation
Pink: Temporary Survey Markings
Red: Electric Power Lines, Cables, Conduit and Lighting Cables
Yellow: Gas, Oil, Steam, Petroleum, or Gaseous Materials
Orange: Communication, Alarm or Signal Lines, Cables or Conduit
Blue: Potable Water
Purple: Reclaimed Water, Irrigation and Slurry Lines
Green: Sewers and Drain Lines
The notified utility owner-members will not mark privately owned underground lines. These include but are not limited to; invisible fencing, sprinkler systems, well and septic systems and their power or electric service, water and sewer pipes from the meter to your home, etc. If you have private underground lines and want them located, you should contact a private locating company before digging. Please refer to your local telephone directory for companies providing private locating services.
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