Why You Should Call 811 Before You Dig

There are gas, electric, water and communication lines buried under most yards, and a rented trencher or excavator does not stop for any of them the way a shovel would. Before the blade ever touches dirt, those lines have to be located and marked, which is a free service that takes a few days to line up. Hitting a buried line is expensive at best and deadly at worst, and the whole thing is avoidable with one call. Here is the 811 process, start to finish, so you book the machine for the right day and dig around what is down there instead of into it.

What 811 is

811 is the free national call-before-you-dig number that gets your buried utility lines located and marked before you break ground. One call, or one request filed online, notifies the utilities in your area to send locators out to mark what they own.

It is free, and in most places it is also the law. Dig without it and you own whatever you hit, the repair bill, the fine, and the liability if someone gets hurt. This is not a step for big contractors only; anyone putting a powered blade in the ground uses it, renter included. Read more about whether you need training to rent a skid steer or excavator before you take one on.

Make the call before you book the equipment

Put in the 811 request first, then schedule the rental around it, because the locate takes a couple of business days, not a couple of hours. Call or file online, describe where you plan to dig, and the utilities send locators to mark their lines.

Plan on a typical wait of about 2 to 3 business days, and remember that weekends and holidays usually do not count toward that window, so a request filed Friday afternoon may not be marked until midweek. The practical order is simple: file the locate, get your expected mark-by date, then book the trencher or excavator for after the marks are down. Book the machine first and you are paying for equipment that has to sit in the driveway while you wait. Route the exact timeline to your local 811 center, since the required notice varies by state.

What the colors mean

The locators mark each type of line in a standard color, so once the marks are down you can read exactly what is buried where. You will see spray paint on the ground, flags, or both, following the same uniform color code everywhere.

Red marks electric power lines. Yellow marks gas, oil and steam. Orange marks communication lines, cable and fiber. Blue marks potable water. Green marks sewer and drain lines. Purple marks reclaimed or irrigation water. Pink marks temporary survey points, and white marks the area you plan to excavate. The two you least want to nick are the red and the yellow, so treat any electric or gas mark as a hard line to stay away from.

Dig around the marks, not on them

A mark is not a to-the-inch guarantee, so treat a band on either side of it as a no-machine zone and hand-dig to find the line before the powered blade gets near it. The paint shows the approximate location, and the actual line can sit off to one side of it or deeper than you expect.

Keep the trencher, auger or excavator bucket back from the marked line, expose the line carefully by hand or with careful soft digging, then work around it once you can see it. This is exactly where a first-timer with a rented machine gets into trouble, because a trencher does not stop for a water line the way a shovel does. Route the exact tolerance zone to your local rules and the 811 center, and when in doubt, keep the machine farther back. Read more about how to dig a trench with a mini excavator once the lines are marked.

If you hit something, stop

If you nick or hit a line, stop the machine, get clear, and call it in, because a struck gas or electric line is an emergency, not a patch-it-yourself job. Do not try to cover it, fix it or finish the dig.

If you smell gas or hear it hissing, get everyone away from the area and call 911 and the utility from a safe distance. A struck line of any kind gets reported, even one that looks minor, since the damage you cannot see is the one that fails later. The rental can wait; the line cannot. Read more about choosing the right machine with a mini excavator versus a trencher for your dig.

What about insurance and damage protection?

Before operating rented equipment, contact your insurance provider to ask whether your policy covers liability for heavy equipment operation on your property or job site.

Eligible rentals booked through Big Rentals also include Basic Rental Protection at checkout. This added protection can help limit your financial responsibility for certain damage or theft events during the rental period.

For full details on how Basic Rental Protection works, including deductibles, exclusions and renter responsibilities, review our FAQ and platform terms.

The Short Version

• 811 is the free national call-before-you-dig number that gets your buried lines located and marked
• File the request first and expect about 2 to 3 business days, not counting weekends and holidays, then book the machine for after the marks are down
• Read the color code: red electric, yellow gas, orange communications, blue water, green sewer, purple reclaimed water, pink survey, white excavation area
• A mark is approximate, so keep the machine back, hand-dig to expose the line, and work around it
• If you hit a line, stop, get clear, and call it in; a gas leak means everyone leaves and you call 911 and the utility

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