The short answer: digging without a BC 1 Call locate request risks striking buried gas, hydro or telecom lines, which can injure or kill you, knock out service to your neighbourhood, and leave you holding the repair bill. The locate service is free through BC 1 Call and requests should go in at least three business days before you dig. There is no scenario where skipping it makes sense. Here is what the process involves, what it covers, what it misses, and what actually happens when a bucket finds a live line.
What is BC 1 Call and how does it work?
BC 1 Call is the province’s free “call or click before you dig” service. You submit one request describing where and when you plan to dig, and BC 1 Call notifies its member utility owners, the companies with buried infrastructure in that area, such as FortisBC, BC Hydro and the telecoms. Each member then either marks its lines on the ground with paint and flags or confirms the area is clear.
The process for a Fraser Valley property looks like this:
- Submit the request online at bc1c.ca, at least three business days before digging.
- Wait for responses. Each affected utility responds separately; do not dig until all have.
- Respect the marks. Coloured paint and flags show the approximate line locations.
- Hand expose near marks. Within the marked zone, careful digging practices apply: utilities specify a tolerance zone around their marks where mechanical digging must give way to careful hand or hydrovac exposure.
- Dig the rest mechanically once lines are visually confirmed.
On our jobs, locates go in before the machine is even scheduled. It is the first item on the checklist for every trenching and utility project we take on, and it should be the first question you ask any contractor: “have the locates been submitted?”
What can actually happen if you skip locates?
The realistic outcomes range from expensive to fatal, and none of them are rare enough to gamble on. Utility strikes happen every year in BC, overwhelmingly on digs where locates were skipped or markings ignored.
| What you hit | Immediate consequence | Who pays |
|---|---|---|
| Natural gas line | Escaping gas, evacuation, fire or explosion risk, emergency response | You or your contractor typically face repair costs; FortisBC pursues damage recovery |
| Underground electrical | Arc flash, electrocution risk, neighbourhood outage | Repair billed to the party at fault; BC Hydro treats contact as an emergency |
| Telecom or fibre | Cut internet and phone for homes and businesses in the area | Repair and sometimes service-interruption claims |
| Water or sewer main | Flooding, washout, contamination, municipal repair crew call-out | Municipal repair costs billed to the digger |
| Private septic or irrigation | Sewage release or dead irrigation zone on your own land | You, entirely |
Beyond the direct bill, there are two quieter consequences. First, if the dig is a work site, WorkSafeBC’s excavation requirements require underground utilities to be located and marked before excavation begins, so a strike on an unlocated dig is also a regulatory problem for the employer. Second, insurance gets complicated: an insurer looking at a claim from a dig that skipped a free, standard safety step has an easy argument to make.
Why “I know where the lines are” is not good enough
Because memory, old drawings and visible clues are all unreliable. Lines are rarely exactly where anyone remembers them. Service depths change with regrading; a line buried at proper depth decades ago can sit shallow today because a previous owner lowered the grade. Older rural properties in Abbotsford, Langley and Chilliwack are the worst offenders: generations of owner-built water lines, gas runs to shops, and power to barns, none of it drawn on any plan.
We dig in the Fraser Valley for a living and we still submit locates on every single job. The marks are frequently not where the customer thought the line was. That gap between memory and paint is exactly where strikes happen.
What does BC 1 Call not cover?
Everything on the private side of your meter, which on rural properties can be most of the buried infrastructure. BC 1 Call members mark their own lines up to the service point. Past that, it is your property and your problem:
- Septic tanks, distribution boxes and field lines
- Water lines from wells or from the meter to the house
- Irrigation mains and zones
- Power and communication wiring to shops, barns and outbuildings
- Private yard drains and old perimeter drains
Finding these takes a different toolkit: property drawings if they exist, a walk with the owner, looking for cleanouts and risers, and careful test holes. This is a standard part of how we start drainage jobs, where old private drains criss-cross exactly the ground we need to open. If you are planning work near your house itself, our guide to digging near your foundation covers what typically lives in that ground.
How locates fit into a real project schedule
Three business days sounds trivial but it trips up real projects constantly, because it has to happen after you know where you are digging and before the machine shows up. Plan it like this:
- Define the dig area first. Locates cover the area you describe; a vague request gets vague coverage.
- Submit as soon as the scope is set, even if digging is weeks away. Locates are valid for a limited period, so re-request if the job slips badly, but early is almost always better.
- Book the machine after locates are confirmed, not before. An excavator on site with no locates is an expensive lawn ornament.
Cost is one reason to sequence this properly: waiting time and remobilization are billable, and as our guide to excavation costs in BC explains, mobilization is one of the fixed costs you only want to pay once.
The bottom line
BC 1 Call is free, takes minutes to submit, and needs three business days of lead time. Digging without it risks your safety, your neighbours’ services and your wallet, and it does not survive contact with WorkSafeBC rules on any work site. Every job we dig starts with locates and a property walk for the private lines no database knows about. Planning a trench, a driveway or a full site prep? Get a free quote and we will handle the locates as part of the job.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is BC 1 Call mandatory for homeowners?
BC has no single law forcing every homeowner to request locates, but the practical rules get you anyway. WorkSafeBC requires employers to locate underground utilities before excavation on work sites, utility owners can bill you for damage to their lines, and hitting a gas or electrical line can injure or kill you. Treat locates as mandatory; the service is free.
How long do BC 1 Call locates take?
Submit your request at least three business days before you dig. Utility owners respond by marking their lines or declaring the area clear. Complex requests or busy summer periods can take longer, so build locates into your schedule early. The request itself takes minutes online at bc1c.ca.
What do I do if I hit a gas line?
Stop work, shut the machine off if safe, and get everyone away from the area immediately. Do not try to seal or bury the line, do not create sparks or ignition sources. From a safe distance call 911 if gas is escaping, then FortisBC's emergency line. Even a nicked or scraped line must be reported so it can be inspected.
Does BC 1 Call mark septic lines, irrigation and private wiring?
No. BC 1 Call only covers lines owned by registered members such as FortisBC, BC Hydro and telecoms. Private lines past your meter, meaning septic pipes and fields, irrigation, wiring to shops and outbuildings, and private drains, are not in any database. Finding those takes old drawings, a property walk and careful hand exposure.
Who pays if a contractor hits a utility line on my property?
Generally whoever failed to follow the process. A contractor who dug without locates or ignored markings typically bears the repair costs and should carry insurance for it. If accurate locates were followed and the line was mismarked or unrecorded, liability can shift. Hire contractors who submit locates on every job and put that practice in writing.
Published July 24, 2026 · Last updated July 24, 2026 · Fraser Valley Excavation