Established in 1983, Tennessee 811 serves as the statewide official one-call center. Tennessee 811 does not mark lines but functions as a communications link between our member utilities and anyone excavating.

Tennessee’s Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act (TCA 65-31-101) requires everyone who digs to contact Tennessee 811 at least three (3) working days’ notice before starting a project. Tennessee 811 processes the notification of proposed excavation and notifies our member utilities, or their contract locators, to mark their underground facilities prior to the excavation. 

This free service helps prevent damage incidents which can result in millions of dollars in property damage, the interruption of utility service, personal injuries, and even loss of life.

Tennessee 811 is a non-profit governed by a Board of Directors.

Tennessee 811 does not mark lines - we serve as a communications link between excavators and our member utilities.

Utility companies (or their contract locators) are responsible for marking the underground lines they installed and/or maintain. Not all underground lines belong to utility operators, so you may encounter privately owned lines in your area of excavation. For more information on private utility lines, click here.

In one word - YES! 

Tennessee state law (65-31-101, Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act) requires anyone who engages in, or is responsible for, the planning or performance of any type of excavation e.g.; hand digging, grading, demolition, cultivating, augering, blasting, or boring to provide advance notice of at least three full business days to Tennessee 811 by dialing 811, 800-351-1111, or online via Remote Ticket Entry or E-Ticket. 

State law requires each person responsible for excavation to have a locate request. In a legal sense, a person is any legal entity, like a business. Each company excavating on a project needs to have their own locate request, and that request will cover all employees of the company. This requirement is for both professional excavators and homeowners/private property owners. 

If a homeowner hires an excavator to work on their property, that excavator must have a ticket in their name. A ticket issued to the homeowner will not cover the excavator working on their property.

The Locate Request Agent (LRA) will ask for some basic information about the location and the type of work to be done. The location information will be compared to service area information provided by member utilities. If a conflict occurs, the member utility will receive notice of your intent to dig. The LRA will provide a ticket number and a list of the member utilities that TN811 will notify.

You’ll need the following information handy when you contact us:

• Your name, company name (if applicable), phone number, and mailing address.
• Field contact information.
• Type of work to be done.
• The county, city, address, and nearest cross street of the proposed excavation site.
• Where on the property you want marking done.

A normal locate request requires at least three (3) working days' notice. That’s 72 hours excluding weekends and holidays.

You can provide as much as ten (10) working days' notice when you know that your schedule is a little more flexible – we call this “postdating” a ticket. Because of the high volume of tickets each day, postdating your ticket and giving more than three days’ notice may mean that you can better rely on the start date of your ticket. 

Whether you give three days or ten working days’ notice, you’ll be able to keep up with the status of your locates through Positive Response. 

1) When all utilities listed on your ticket have responded to Positive Response.

or

2) Your legal start date and time has been reached.

If you are missing responses in Positive Response or observe clear evidence of unmarked utilities, you are required to call 811 to submit a 2nd Notice. The 2nd Notice allows 811 to notify the utilities of the issue. There is no additional wait time required after you submit a second notice, but we suggest you wait until all lines are marked to begin your digging work.

It is very important to wait until the legal start date and time assigned. Beginning work earlier can result in forfeiture of your rights and protections granted under the Tennessee code, 65-31-101. 

You can view up-to-date responses from all utility companies notified by Tennessee 811 by checking Positive Response.

Positive Response is a service that TN811 provides to help you track the status of your locate request. 

In accordance with the Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act (65-31-108 (b)), all member utilities are required to notify Tennessee 811 that they have marked the approximate location of underground facilities or that the member has no underground facilities in the proposed area of excavation via Positive Response.

Tickets are valid for fifteen (15) calendar days after the legal start date requested on the Tennessee 811 ticket. 

If your excavation will not be completed within fifteen (15) calendar days, contact 811 three (3) working days prior to the expiration of your ticket to request an update to ensure that your ticket does not expire during excavation.  Working on an expired ticket is against state law and may result in you being reported to the state and being responsible for repair costs if a damage occurs. 

Once you have completed digging, do not continue to update the ticket. 

Utilities are not required to provide depth information with their utility markings, and the depth of a utility line can vary over time, even if an as-built drawing reflects depth of cover at the time of installation.

Locating is not an exact science; therefore, the actual location of the facility could vary from the position of the marks. 

Tennessee Code 65-31-108 - (c) An excavator shall exercise reasonable care to avoid damage caused by an excavation or demolition within the safety zone around the marked location of the underground utilities by hand digging when practical, utilizing pneumatic hand tools, or utilizing mechanical or technical methods approved by the facility owner or operator. Hand digging and noninvasive methods are not required for removal of pavement or concrete. As used in this subsection (c), “safety zone” means a strip of land at least four feet (4′) wide, but not wider than the width of the utility plus two feet (2′) on either side of the utility.

(d) If, upon arrival at the site of a proposed excavation, the excavator observes clear evidence of the presence of an unmarked utility in the area of the proposed excavation, the excavator shall not begin excavating until an additional notice is made to the one-call. The excavator may then proceed, exercising reasonable care to avoid damage to the utility which may be caused by such excavation or demolition.

Tennessee state law establishes a tolerance (or safety zone) that is the width of the buried facility plus two (2) feet (or 24 inches) on each side. The tolerance zone is often based on the surface marking provided by utility locators, but utility locating is not an exact science, so the best way to pinpoint of a buried line is to carefully expose it. 

Utilities are not required to provide depth information with their utility markings, and the depth of a utility line can vary over time, even if an as-built drawing reflects depth of cover at the time of installation. 

Tennessee state law requires excavators to exercise reasonable care when working inside the tolerance or safety zone.  This includes, but is not limited to, digging by hand, potholing, hand held pneumatic tools, vacuum or hydro excavating and any other soft digging practices approved by the facility owner.

Whether it’s a cable, pipe, or wire, if you damage an underground utility line or its protective coating, stop digging and call the utility owner to report the damage. If you damage a tracer wire, but not the actual buried utility, you should still notify the utility. If the wire is not fixed, the line becomes unlocatable and is at risk for future damage. 

Allow the utility reasonable time to accomplish necessary repairs before continuing excavation in the immediate area of the damaged facility. 

If the damage results in the escape of flammable, toxic, or corrosive gas or liquid, move to a safe area upwind and uphill of the escaping product and call 911. After the call to 911, don’t forget to notify the utility operator and 811. 

State law also requires an excavator who damages a buried utility to submit a damage notice to 811. The damage notice to 811 is not an admission of fault or liability and it does not trigger enforcement action – it is for informational purposes only. 

Do not attempt to repair a damaged facility. 

Do not bury, hide, or perform any backfilling at the site of the incident.

Not all underground lines belong to utility operators, so you may encounter privately owned lines in your area of excavation. Here are some examples of privately owned lines that the property owner and/or excavator may be responsible for locating:

• Water services between the meter and house or building.
• Sewer laterals that connect a house or building to a sewer main.
• Sprinkler system and irrigation lines.
• Propane lines from the tank to a house or building, or between buildings on a property.
• Alarm, security, or other communication lines buried between buildings on a property.
• Electric services and/or secondary lines that extend from a pull box or transformer to a meter or building.
• Gas lines are generally located up to the meter, but the point of service where a utility's responsibility ends could also be another piece of equipment like a farm tap.
• Electric and gas lines that continue beyond a meter to grills, lights, or outbuildings.

A private locator may be able to help you locate and mark private lines in your area of work. 811 cannot contact a private locator on your behalf, but you can find a list of private utility locators here.