The snow is gone and spring is finally here! With the warmer weather rolling in, homeowners and contractors are eager to get outside and start tackling their spring landscaping, renovation, or construction projects. But before you pick up that shovel or start up the excavator, there’s one essential step you can’t afford to skip — calling Ontario One Call for a free underground locate!
Call Before You Dig
Ontario One Call offers free locating services for underground utility infrastructure. Contact Ontario One Call at least 5 business days before you dig in on your project.
Why Should You Call Before You Dig?
Across our city, a complex network of essential services such as electricity, gas, water, telecommunications, and sewer lines are hidden below the surface. Accidental contact with underground infrastructure can carry a high cost including major service disruption, hefty fines, and, in many cases, serious injury.
Ontario One Call is a free provincial service designed to keep you, and the critical infrastructure that keeps our community running smoothly, safe. With one simple call or click, you can schedule a trained professional to locate and mark the buried infrastructure clearly and accurately, ensuring your safety and peace of mind while you complete your projects.
What You Need to Know Before You Dig
It’s the Law
In Ontario, anyone planning to dig must contact Ontario One Call to locate underground utilities before beginning excavation. Failing to do so can lead to serious consequences, legally, financially, and for your safety.
It’s Quick and Easy
Simply call Ontario One Call at 1-800-400-2255 or submit your request online at www.ontarioonecall.ca at least 5 business days before you plan to dig in.
It’s Free!
There’s no cost to homeowners or contractors to request a locate.
What’s Under Your Feet?
In Ontario, essential underground infrastructure may be closer than you think! Beneath your lawn, driveway, or project site lies a complex network of services that power your home, keep your taps running, and provide vital communications.
Here’s a quick overview of typical buried infrastructure you might encounter:
Electrical Lines
Cables supplying power to your home or business.
Natural Gas Lines
Pipes delivering gas to your furnace, stove, water heater, etc.
Water Lines
Pipes carrying potable water to your home or business.
Telecommunications Cables
Lines for telephone, internet, and cable TV services.
Sewer and Drain Lines
Pipes responsible for removing wastewater from your home or business.
Understanding the Markings
Once you’ve submitted your request by phone or online, a trained professional will visit your home or worksite to locate underground infrastructure and coordinate with the infrastructure’s owner to mark areas with coloured flags and/or paint indicating where infrastructure is present. Here’s a quick guide to understanding these markings:
- Red: Electricity cables and conduits.
- Yellow: Gas, oil, steam, petroleum, or gaseous materials.
- Orange: Telecommunications, alarm or signal lines.
- Blue: Water pipes.
- Green: Sewer and drain lines.
- White: Proposed excavation site.
Stay Safe and Dig with Confidence
Call Before You Dig to protect your family, your property, and your community!
Oshawa Power is proud to support safe digging practices and encourages everyone in our community to stay safe, plan ahead, and dig safely.
For more information or to submit your locate request, visit www.ontarioonecall.ca or call 1-800-400-2255.
