- Excavation is planned. White lining your proposed dig site with paint, flags, or stakes is recommended but required when a member utility cannot understand the locate description.
- Contact Sunshine 811 at 811 or on the Sunshine 811 website to request a ticket. A ticket is valid for 30 calendar days.
- Wait for member utilities to clear or mark the dig site. They have up to two full business days for dig sites on dry land and 10 full business days when the dig site is underwater. The wait time does not include weekdays and holidays.
- Member utilities send their locators to mark underground facilities within the required time. Sunshine 811 does not mark underground facilities.
- Each member utility responds to your ticket using a positive response code that indicated Clear or No Conflict, Marked, or Unmarked. Both Marked and Unmarked codes may have instructions requiring your response.
- Check the member's positive responses throughout the required timeframe to follow their progress. This also gives you time to respond to any instructions before the required wait time expires.
- All members have responded, and you have completed the task requested. At the dig site, pull up the member's positive responses once again before you put the shovel in the ground. Compare the positive response codes to what you see at the dig site. If they don't match, contact the member utility for clarification. Note: Using Exactix to access the positive responses gives you the most accurate information. Create your account today on the Sunshine 811 website.
- Once it's safe to dig, remember the marks are approximate and you must dig carefully near them. The underground facility's tolerance zone is 24 inches from the outer edges of a buried facility. Protect the locate marks throughout the project and request another ticket if the marks become faded or destroyed.
Member companies do not locate private facilities. Here are some examples of private facilities: water, sewer/septic, or irrigation systems; landscape lighting; electricity to pools; detached garages, sheds/barns, date cables, invisible dog fences; propane or natural gas run to grills or pool heaters, etc.