Underground electric, gas, communications and water lines are everywhere—even on private property. Striking a single line while digging can cause serious injuries, as well as service disruption that may result in repair costs, fines, and environmental damage.

The good news is that you can easily avoid these hazards by having your underground pipes, wires, and equipment located and marked out for free.

Call 811 First—It's the Law

Call 811 at least 3 and no more than 10 business days prior to digging to have underground pipes, wires, and equipment located and marked for free.

Digging projects include:

• Planting a tree
• Putting in a new mailbox post
• Installing a fence
• Doing any kind of home, garage, or deck construction

What happens when you call 811?

You'll be automatically connected to the One-call center and asked to provide some basic information about your digging project.

The One-call center will then provide the information to the utility companies, who will send representatives to mark the locations of underground lines in the immediate vicinity of your planned work location.

You can expect any mark outs to be done within three business days—do NOT begin digging before this time has elapsed. If the site does not have underground utilities, you will be notified.

The mark-out permission will expire after 45 business days. Digging must begin within 10 business days after the original mark out was requested.

Once lines have been properly marked with colored paint, flags or stakes, you are free to carefully dig around the marked areas. Always dig by hand within two feet of marked lines.

Excavators are reminded to be constantly on the lookout for private facilities and inquire from home and property owners about the location of underground facilities that are not marked out as a result of notice to New Jersey One Call (NJOC).

If you hit an underground line ...

If you accidentally damage gas piping or smell gas when excavating, please move to safe area and call 911 immediately, and then PSE&G at 1-800-880-7734 (PSEG). 

To learn more about safe digging, check out New Jersey One Call or the Call 811 websites.

Who is digging on my property?

If you ever see utility markouts on or near your property and want to know more information, you can use the QR code that is visible in the top right corner of the markout flag. This will direct you to the New Jersey One Call Center’s search and status webpage. You can use the search fields to enter your location to generate a list of markout tickets that are in your area.

Free Utility Damage Prevention Presentations

Interested in a free utility damage prevention presentation for your organization? A PSE&G representative may be able to deliver an interactive presentation for your group. Contact us at public.awareness@pseg.com for more information.