Calling 811 before you dig is the right first move, and it's free. But a lot of people assume that call marks every line on the property. It doesn't. The utilities that get you hurt on private ground are usually the ones 811 never touches, and finding those is a separate job.
What 811 Actually Marks
811 is the national one-call number. You place the call, and the utility owners in your area send locators out to mark their lines with paint and flags. It's a legal requirement before most digging, and it works well for what it covers. But the key word is owners. A one-call locator marks only the lines the utility company owns and maintains, the public runs in the street and easement that feed up to your meter or demarcation point.
Past that meter, the line belongs to the property owner. And that's exactly where the one-call ticket stops.
Where 811 Stops and Private Lines Begin
On a single small house, the gap is minor. On a commercial lot, an industrial yard, a farm, or any site with more than one building, the gap is enormous. Almost everything running between structures is a private line, and none of it shows up on a standard 811 mark. That includes:
- Water and gas past the meter, feeds to outbuildings, shops, pole barns, and secondary structures.
- Private electric between buildings, to signs, gate motors, well pumps, and parking-lot lighting.
- Irrigation mains and zone lines across a lawn, field, or landscape.
- Data and communications runs tying buildings together on a campus or complex.
- Propane lines from a tank to the buildings it serves.
- Sewer and septic laterals, force mains, and drain lines.
These lines carry the same risks as anything in the street. A private gas or propane line is just as dangerous to hit. A private electric feed is just as live. But because no utility company owns them, no one comes to mark them unless you arrange it.
What a Private Utility Locate Does
A private locate fills that gap. A technician uses electromagnetic locating equipment to trace conductive and traceable lines, energizing a line and following its signal to map the route and mark it on the surface. Where lines are non-conductive or records are thin, ground-penetrating methods can help confirm what's down there. The result is the same as an 811 mark, but for the lines 811 leaves out: paint, flags, and a clear picture of where you can and can't dig.
Why It Matters
A strike is never just the cost of the pipe. Hitting a private line can mean a gas leak and an evacuation, an electrical arc, flooding, or a cut that knocks out service to an entire building. Beyond the safety risk, the job stops cold: you're now waiting on emergency repairs, explaining the damage to the owner, and eating the delay. The cost of a private locate is small next to any one of those outcomes.
When You Need One
Arrange a private locate before you break ground any time the site is more than a simple single-service lot. In practice that means:
- Before excavation on any commercial, industrial, or multi-building site.
- Before directional boring or trenching, where an unseen line is directly in the path.
- Before new construction or an addition on an existing property.
- During due diligence on a property purchase, to know what's actually in the ground.
- Any time buildings, outbuildings, irrigation, or site lighting sit between you and the street.
How DrillTek Handles It
On our own jobs, a private locate is the first step, not an afterthought. Before any drill turns, we call in the public 811 ticket and run a private locate to find everything past the meter. We'd rather spend the time up front knowing where the lines are than find one the hard way. It's the quiet part of the work that keeps the rest of it clean.