Miss Utility of Virginia: For ALL excavation work ANYWHERE in Virginia!   Call 811 or 1-800-552-7001 Miss Utility is the free "one call" Virginia communications center for excavators, contractors, property owners, and those planning any kind of excavation or digging. The Miss Utility center notifies participating utilities of the upcoming excavation work so they can locate and mark their underground facilities in advance to prevent possible damage to underground utility lines, injury, property damage and service outages. The "Miss Utility Law" (Virginia Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act ) requires that Miss Utility be called at least 3 working days in advance of the planned work to allow time for marking, that the marks be respected and protected, and that excavation be completed carefully. References to "working day" means every day, except Saturdays, Sundays, and legal state and national holidays. Call Miss Utility of Virginia From 7 am to 5 PM weekdays (except Virginia state and federal holidays) for:

	"Normal" underground utility location requests - requires 48 hour period for marking of utilities beginning at 7:00 AM on the next working day after the call. The 48 hour period does not include any hours on Saturdays, Sundays or state and national holidays. For example, a notice of excavation called in on Friday will allow excavation on the following Wednesday after 7:00 AM.
	"3-hour notice" - Call Anytime - When there is clear evidence of unmarked utilities when you arrive on the jobsite after requesting a Normal notice of excavation and waiting the required time for marking to be completed. Virginia law requires that you know what response each utility operator posted on the Positive Response System (1-800-552-3120) for the original notice of excavation.
	"Emergencies" (Call Anytime - for excavation caused by an emergency situation that requires immediate action to prevent loss of life, health, property or essential public services) These are given top priority and are marked within three hours.
	Re-marking of lines (if paint marks are no longer visible because of weather, time or construction activity) - requires 48 hour working day period for marking of utilities beginning at 7:00 AM on the next working day after the call
	"Update" (marks are valid for 15 working days; excavators should call on the 12th or 13th working day to request an "Update" ticket if the project will not be completed by the end of the 15th working day)
	"Meeting" requests (to discuss large or complex special projects - NO MARKING WILL BE DONE!) After the meeting has occurred, call Miss Utility to obtain a Normal ticket for excavation. Provide the meeting ticket number with your instructions so that locators coordinate their marking as discussed at the meeting.
	"Designer" requests (to identify the utility owners and plan a large or complex project) will be completed within 15 working days. Only licensed professional engineers and architects can use this process. Only one designer request will be completed for each project at no charge.
	"Special Project" requests - for the purpose of notifying the operators of the excavator's desire to enter into an agreement for locating and protecting the operators' underground utility lines for a specific, unique or long-term project. The terms of the agreement must be in writing and signed by the excavator and operator before excavation commences. The excavator must have complete control over all activities within the project area. It is recommended that a Meeting be held before using this type of ticket!

Call anytime 24/7 for: 1.) Emergency calls (given top priority.) 2.) Notice of unmarked utilities - 3 hour notices 3.) To check the Miss Utility positive response system to determine marking status of underground utility lines. Miss Utility Damage Prevention Specialists (DPS) are professionals trained to obtain "the specific location of the proposed work" to ensure that your locate request is handled quickly and accurately by the utility companies who receive the notice. In addition to entering the E911 address or distance from street intersections, the DPS will ask questions in order to locate the dig site on our digital map of Virginia. Using the geographic information that has been stored on the map by the utility companies, we notify the correct utilities. All calls to Miss Utility are recorded and archived. Callers can save time by having the necessary information ready:

	Telephone Number/Caller name/Company name - If you have called Miss Utility in the past your information may already be on file with us. Provide us with your main Company Phone Number and we may be able to find your caller file.  In addition, please provide a "Field contact" - someone who will be on the jobsite.
	Mailing address/Telephone numbers (office, field)/Fax number/E-mail address of excavator or demolisher. The e-mail address or fax number provided will be used to notify the caller of the status of the marking based on information entered in the Positive Response System by utility locators. Provide a fax number ONLY if the fax machine can receive a fax automatically - 24 hours a day.
	Specific Location of the Proposed Work: Street address OR • Street or route number • Nearest intersecting street or route - in the case of new streets, provide descriptive information from the nearest major roads. • Subdivision or area name
	In the event a specific location of the excavation cannot be given as required by law, the excavator should mark the route or boundary of the excavation area by means of white paint, if practical.
	Type and Extent of Work: Utility locators need to know the specific reason for the excavation. "Installation of sanitary sewer lateral" is much more helpful than "digging for sewer line."
	"Location" Field Information: Provide a detailed description of the area to be excavated. Do not use "left" and "right" since they are relative points of view. If these terms must be used, preface them by stating "Facing the house from (give the street name)". Describing the area to be excavated is much better than using terms like "locate entire property". Locating all utilities on a property is not an efficient use of the service if work will only take place in the front or back, etc. This type of description can slow down a locator's progress and cause delays for excavators!! Use the following terms to describe your excavation area: A. Center Lane(s) - in a 4-lane street, the two lanes at center of the pavement B. Cul-de-sac - local street open at one end with special turn area C. Culvert - any pipe or structure under road or driveway to drain surface water D. Curb Lane(s) - traffic or parking land immediately adjacent to curb E. Curb to Curb - paved area of road right-of-way between two curb lines F. Curb to Property Line - area between curb and front property line G. Curb Line - point where curb meets edge of street pavement H. Easement - right to use or control property of another for designated purposes I. Frontage Road (access road) - local street or road auxiliary to and located on the side of arterial highway for service to abutting property and adjacent areas and for control of access J. Front Lot Line - (same as Street Right-of-Way) property line adjacent to the street right of way K. Intersection - general area where two or more highways join or cross, within which are included the roadway and roadside facilities for traffic movement L. Interchange - system of interconnecting roadways in conjunction with one or more grade separations providing for movement of traffic between two or more roadways on different levels M. Lot Line - line marking legal limits of individual's property N. Lot Line to Lot Line - area between two side lot lines on private property or entire road right of way. O. Median - portion of a divided highway separating traveled ways for traffic in opposite directions P. Property Line - see Lot Line (M) Q. Rear Lot Lines - property lot line at rear of the lot (area opposite street) that connects two side lot lines R. Right of Way - dedicated street areas bounded by two generally parallel lines called right-of-way lines or front property lines S. Road - highway in rural area T. Roadway - portion of highway, including shoulders, for vehicular use U. Shoulder - edge of road (generally gravel) between normal traffic lanes and grass areas; term normally used in areas where there is no curb V. Side Lot Line(s) - two property lines which normally extend away from street W. Street - highway in urban area
	Work Date & Time: allow at least 3 working days before planning to dig. Utility locators have 48 hours beginning at 7 AM on the next working day after your call to locate the lines and place their response on the Positive Response System. In order to dig on a Saturday morning, you will need to call Miss Utility no later than 5 PM on Tuesday. Weekends and holidays do not count as "working days".
	Done for: the customer's or general contractor's name.
	City or County: where the work will be performed. Be specific about the jurisdiction to speed up the mapping process.
	Map Page & Grid: (not required by law but helpful to the locator) Where available ADC Map Books, E911 maps or VDOT maps are often used by locators. It is helpful if this information is available.
	Instructions: directions to the site and any other information that will help locators find the site quickly and mark it accurately.

	Computer system identifies the member utilities in the area of the excavation and electronically transmits a notice of excavation (ticket)  to them.
	Utilities review the ticket. If they have underground lines on the job site, they dispatch locators to mark them.
	Utilities confirm the completion of marking or report that they have no facilities in the area, etc. on the Miss Utility Positive Response System.

Miss Utility Positive Response System: Before digging, excavators must either call the Virginia positive response system at 1-800-552-3120to confirm the completion of marking, or receive the response by providing an e-mail address or fax number when the initial call is made. By providing an e-mail address or fax number, you will be notified as soon as all utilities have responded and you may be able to begin excavation before 7 AM on the third working day after the call. In most cases the response will one of the following: Marked: (Utilities within the proposed excavation area have been marked.) Clear: (The utility has no facilities at the job site.) No conflict: (Any utilities at the job site are outside the stated excavation area.) Click on this link for a  full list of response codes: Call Center Holidays: Saturdays Sundays Legal Virginia State and National Holidays