The most important first step! Always contact CBYD before work begins so underground utilities are located and marked. Smart, safe digging is no accident.

Homeowners can make dangerous assumptions about the need to have utility lines marked before commencing excavation works. Don’t risk it! It’s the law to contact CBYD first, and is critical in the prevention of damage to underground utilities and avoiding seriously (potentially deadly) injuries.

Call Before You Dig, Inc., (CBYD) is a state regulated, nonprofit organization comprised of all public utilities and municipalities within the State of Connecticut. The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) oversees CBYD. The organization is administered by a board of annually elected directors representing various public and private utilities.

The purpose of CBYD is to function as a statewide, onecall notification system providing excavators, including the general public, with the ability to inform multiple owners and operators of underground facilities during proposed excavations.

Every project that requires digging starts with CBYD! But why?

1. It's the law!
2. You must call for a locate request at least two full working days but not more than 30 days before any excavation starts. (Excluding holidays & weekends).
3. You must submit locate requests regardless of whether the location of the excavation is public or private property. You must call even if it is on private property, out in the middle of a field, or on a street that has no name.
4. You must submit locate requests if you are using mechanized equipment even if you are only excavating a few inches or just surface grading. If you move material, or plan to drill or drive anything into the ground... you must call.
5. Do NOT rely on old marks or faulty information... submit an E-Ticket or call CBYD for your own locate request.
6. Before submitting an E-Ticket or calling CBYD, you must pre-mark the area you plan to excavate with white paint, flags, or white tipped stakes.
7. When investigators from the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) inspect an excavation site or investigate damage, they will check to see if you have a valid locate request. Remember, locate requests expire 30 days from the date it was created.
8. Emergency situations require an emergency CBYD ticket. An emergency is: a situation involving danger to life, health, or property, interrupting the operation of a major industrial plant, or disrupting the continuity of public utility service.
9. In an emergency, submit a ticket online or call CBYD with the location and details of the emergency excavation as soon as possible. The excavator or responsible party is required to notify all utilities listed on the ticket directly.
10. To protect yourself, others working around you, the community residents and the underground assets.