The Louisiana 811 Board of Directors and Staff have been working hard to search for ideas that would assist designers/surveyors in determining the location of our members’ underground and submerged utilities/ facilities. Historically, designers enter locate requests and members may or may not respond to such notices resulting in frustration from both parties. A recent amendment to the Louisiana Underground Utilities & Facilities Damage Prevention Law (Dig Law) solidified membership’s opinion regarding this matter by stating that the law is specifically for excavation and demolition purposes only (reference RS 40:1749.13 A.). However, it is apparent that the services provided by designers/surveyors are invaluable and ultimately benefit the Louisiana 811 members.
After some research around the country, it was discovered that Iowa One Call had a robust program that has been in place for years and works very well for both parties. The board and staff reviewed the process with several engineering firms and have decided to mimic Iowa’s process and implement a Pre-Design ticket that will go into effect as soon as we have secured engineering contact information from our members. We anticipate this process to be completed very soon.
Here is how this process will work:
1. A “Pre-Design” ticket header will be selected by a designer/surveyor.
2. The area of the proposed work area would be outlined online like any other ticket.
3. The system (software) would generate a mock ticket indicating the impacted members and will display a member’s engineering contact information (an email address and possibly a phone number).
4. After initial contact from the designer/surveyor, it would be the engineering contact’s responsibility to respond to the designer/surveyor within five (5) business days with either as-built drawings, detailed maps, or any other information sufficient to aid in the design work of the project.