# Success of Excavation Companies



## mattbatson (Nov 30, 2006)

Yep, I know all about cutting fiber.
Used to work for bellsouth in florida. I sat in many a pit over night splicing up big cable, or running new overhead cable, which the construction crew took out when leaving with the excavator on it's trailer:no: 
And yes, bellsouth went after the guys who did the damage.

It pays to locate 
luckily for me, with my experience in the field, I can usually tell what, if anything, is buried.

I think I looked at the kubota model you mentioned. I was that close to buying one that day too.


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## IDIGDIRT (Nov 27, 2006)

CPSpool said:


> CBYD!?!??!


I always do ,but this particular job was for a plumbing contractor and he used a private locating company for his jobs. My fault for relying on someone else, never again. Now I make the call and get the ticket in my name.
Incidentaly, on this job the locater started tracing the line I cut but in the next yard picked up an abandoned line and marked it 12' away from where I was digging. I even had the proposed excavation area marked and finding no marks in that area, I started digging. Didn't go 3' before little pieces of phone wire started flying out of the trench! After some intense arguing and a call from my lawyer, they accepted responsibility and paid the bill.
My dad always says if you want something done right - do it yourself.


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## tgeb (Feb 9, 2006)

IDIGDIRT said:


> . Now I make the call and get the ticket in my name.


Here it is required that EVERY contractor have their own ticket for each job.

Found out by damaging an underground electrical service. And the utility Company jumped my a$$ for not having my own ticket.

I explained over and over that I had the Builder call on MY behalf and was working under that ticket. I had the builder call it in cause at the time we were working 10-12 hour days and could not get it called in personally.:smile:


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## dayexco (Mar 4, 2006)

in south dakota, if 100 contractors were digging on the same site, all 100 better have their own ticket verification # for locates. if you're found on a site without a locate verification #, the first offense is a written warning from the one call board of directors, the 2nd violation is a $500 fine.


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## IDIGDIRT (Nov 27, 2006)

Yes, the damage penalties have gotten expensive here too. This particular event happened years ago (late 80s) but it was still a huge bill for that time. That was one of the reasons for giving up trenching as the sole line of work. I still do some but I prefer using the hoe, with a close eye you can see a previously excavated ditch unlike the trencher where by the time you see it it's too late. Nowadays, there is so much stuff buried it is getting crowded down there.

Day & Tgeb, in your areas how far from the markings are you required to hand dig? Here they have a 3' leeway with the mark being center.


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## tgeb (Feb 9, 2006)

dayexco said:


> the first offense is a written warning from the one call board of directors, the 2nd violation is a $500 fine.


Not that strick here yet.

As explained to me they want every contractor to have their own ticket because... how do I know that contractor "A" who had a marking done 3 days ago did not install a gas line or fiber optic, that would not be located unless I make a call for a new stake out.

Makes sense in that regard, but when a builder calls me and wants us on site on Thursday and I tell him I cannot start till marked by Miss Utility, and they offer to call it in, cause they know I'm in a piece of equipment all day or in the dump truck or what ever, I think that should be OK.

Thankfully we can now order locates over the Internet, which is great for me since I am rarely in office and available to make these kind of calls during "normal" business hours.


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## tgeb (Feb 9, 2006)

I-D-D, 

In our local it used to be 18" each way on the markings. But since technology for marking got better, ie. better equipment for locating the utilities, and the people doing the locates got worse, ie. the lazy bastards won't pay attention to the equipment they use, we now have to maintain 36" each way.:thumbup: 

I had a guy do a locate for some gas lines a few years ago and it was obvious were the gas pipe was buried since the contractor did not compact the trenches and months had passed, you could SEE the trench that had settled and this guy was "eyeballing", or something, on where the gas line was. Every single one was miss marked by 3 or 4 feet. 

It was a remarkable site to see all this yellow paint 4 feet from the trench and wonder what that dude was on at the time.:laughing:

Lucky for us we had the old trench as a guide or...


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## dayexco (Mar 4, 2006)

our law says the utility owner has an 18" "fudge" each side of his utility, at 18-1/4".....it's their baby should it get cut or damaged. one of my competitors says his attorney maintains that contractors can backcharge the utility owner for lost time for mislocates if the repair of that activity slows down the contractor's operations. i hope somebody tests the law.


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## thom (Nov 3, 2006)

While doing a service drop my local utility pulled up my 1" clearly marked water line (PEX) and stretched the hell out of it. After hitting it he kept pulling until it was about 6' in the air. He then told me there was no damage done because it wasn't leaking.

Fortunately I watched the whole thing, the utility paid to replace it. I called the utility right away and gave them an earfull. They had a manager out within 30 minutes.


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## IDIGDIRT (Nov 27, 2006)

I agree, with all the improvements in locating equipment today it still boils down to one thing- the competency of the operator.

One good thing we have around here is when excavating for a private residence driveway, if we supply the culvert pipe, our DOT people will install it free of charge, including the gravel to bed the pipe and for the top coat. They have a waiver from utility damage repairs so this is a win-win for the contractor. 

The only thing I don't like is they will not let us use poly culvert pipe where the driveway meets a state maintained road. We can use it anywhere else on the site though. They require concrete or galvanized only.


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## PipeGuy (Oct 8, 2004)

IDIGDIRT said:


> I agree, with all the improvements in locating equipment today it still boils down to one thing- the competency of the operator....


I disagree somewhat - it also boils down to how much of a priority the contractor (owner) makes of locating utilities by hand first and how experienced the guys on the ground are. All the 'operator' in the world isn't going to prevent a loss if the owner has a 'rip and gouge' attitude about uncovering utilities and the guys with the shovels are a bunch of greenies with their pants falling off.


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## dayexco (Mar 4, 2006)

we get a substantial reduction in our insurance liability rates since we put on a 2k deductible on our XCU policy. needless to say, we spend the time it takes to hand expose buried utilities


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## tnmtn (Dec 15, 2006)

mattbatson,
i live about 20 minutes from western N.C. although things seem good it is a bit deceiving. i noticed the same thing you did about 2 years ago and have moved forward with an excavation co. the guys that have been in the bussiness for a while are booming. the newcomer (me)is still plugging along. there is work but so far not busting down the door. i would find out how many contractors will use you then divide that by 10. if the answer gives enough to make a go for it, good luck. i am hoping the first couple years are the hardest. you might test the water a bit with rental equipment. it may end up being a nice compliment to your flipping bussiness. the small jobs are fun and nice but it takes many of them to fill the calender.
good luck and best wishes


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## Chaney88 (8 mo ago)

I have been around dirt work my entire life. You guys are not correct in assuming everyone is taking it in. I recently went out on my own. Fixed expenses alone are close to 10k per month. To inventory 1/2 a million in equipment (what you need to function) you should have the opportunity to earn more. Then factor in repairs and fuel. Oh and now you can’t find operators on top of that. The reward should be high, because the risk is also really high.


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## tgeb (Feb 9, 2006)

Thanks for resurrecting a 16 year old post, but yeah the same principles apply.


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