Service Locates

Call Before You Dig!

Before you start any digging or drilling projects (pools, fences, underground sprinkler systems, etc.) around your house or business you must have all of your underground utilities (electricity, gas, telephone, etc.) located.

Failure to obtain locates leading to subsequent utility damages could carry multiple fines, fees to repair damaged utilities, and more. However, the most important reason to get locates is to put safety first!

The City of Orillia is a member of Ontario One Call which is a private, not-for-profit corporation that has a large call centre which takes down the necessary information regarding any excavation work - large or small - and notifies its members with underground facilities in the area.

Ontario One Call can be contacted online (www.on1call.com) or by telephone (1-800-400-2255) to advise of a project you are planning that involves any digging.  This is a free service and there is no charge to you to have your services located and marked.

Once they have obtained all relevant information, they will call and notify their member companies of your project. Members then determine if their buried network is near the site you plan to dig and, if necessary, will locate and mark their facilities before you dig.

Listed below are some of the types of questions Ontario One Call will ask when you call. To save yourself time, have the answers ready when you phone:

• Are you doing the digging yourself or having a contractor do it?
• How deep will you be digging (in feet)? tree,etc.
• Who is the work being done for? (homeowner/self)
• What city or town are you digging in?
• What County or Region are you digging in?
• What is the full address where you will be digging?
• What is the telephone number at the dig site address (not a cell phone number)
• What is the nearest intersecting road?
• Did you mark the area where you will be digging (with white paint or stakes)? (Yes? No?)
• What side of the street is your address? (N, S, E OR W?)
• Where on the property will you be digging? (Front, rear, or N. S.E. or W. side?)
• Will you be digging by machine or by hand?
• Date you plan to start digging. (require a minimum of one week after you call)

After Ontario One Call takes the information, they will tell you the names of the utilities that they will notify. They may also be able to provide "all clears" for some of their members while you are on the line. Be sure to write this information down.

At the end of the call you will be given a request number for future reference should you need to talk to the call centre again or to a utility representative.

Call, no matter how small the job!

Tips for Safe Digging

• Determine the limits of your excavation.
• Mark out your excavation area in white paint.
• Before digging, you should check that all known facility owners have marked-out their underground facilities.
• Hand locate and protect underground facilities.
• Respect & maintain the field markings for the duration of the job.
• Notify the appropriate service provider immediately if you contact, scrape, dent, nick or otherwise damage any underground line or cable.
• Never assume you know the location or depth of a cable.

It is also the law under the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act: all underground utilities must be located before you dig.

Call 1-800-400-2255 before you dig or drill into the ground.

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