In NSW, it is now mandatory to ‘Dial before you dig’ (DBYD). Before doing any sort of digging or excavation on your property (or elsewhere), it is your responsibility (or that your electrical services provider, plumber or other trade) to make sure that there aren’t any underground power lines, or other utility lines in that area. If there are, you should check the location and the type of the utility lines and dig accordingly.
Why DBYD?
Many vital services like electricity, gas, water, communication cables etc. use underground cables and pipes. In addition to the risk of severe personal injury, you might cause widespread service disruption – even isolation of entire communities. Since DBYD is now a mandatory first step before digging, failure to do so can result in large financial penalties (in the case of damage and even otherwise).
In NSW, the penalty is now $22,000 for individuals and $44,000 for companies. In addition, you might receive a jail sentence of up to 5 years for causing interference with gas or electrical services.
National organisation
‘Dial Before You Dig’ provides information to contractors, property owners, underground maintenance workers or anyone else planning digging work, about the location of underground cables and utilities in the area they are about to dig. Most asset owners in Australia have registered with this national organisation and have provided their complete underground cable/pipe routes to DBYD.
Before starting work, you call DBYD and give them your location information including a UBD reference number and the type of construction you are planning to undertake – landscaping, drilling, boring or excavation. If you are a contractor, you also give them the contract details. DBYD notifies the relevant asset owners who then contact you with more information.
The asset owners also provide detailed instructions on how to work safely while digging near the cables or pipes. In some cases, they even provide a site representative to supervise the work at no cost to you. DBYD is a free service; however, for larger development or planning enquiries, the asset owners might charge you a fee for the information.
Call 1100
To contact DBYD, simply call their helpline on 1100 (free on landlines) or put in an online notification at www.1100.com.au. Various asset owners (utlities providers) respond to your notification with different response times – from a couple of business days to a couple of weeks. It is necessary to call at least 30 days before starting work, especially if it is a large project.
Exempt works
For some digging works, you do not require a DBYD call. This includes:
- Emergency digging or excavation to prevent injuries or death.
- Shallow digging less than 30cm deep without power tools or machinery, or less than 15cm deep with power tools or machinery.
Safe digging practices
Follow safe digging practices to avoid causing any damage:
- First, study the plans provided and make sure you clearly identify the location of all assets. If you are unclear on any symbol or do not know how to proceed, clarify it with the asset owner before proceeding.
- Not all asset owners are registered with DBYD, so the information you receive might not be complete. In any case, they are only an indicator and not an exact location identifier. It is still your responsibility to use potholing techniques using hand tools to visually expose all cables and pipes in the area.
- Cables or pipes are not often laid in straight lines due to the topography of the region or obstacles present during installation. Always dig several potholes to identify the exact location.
- When digging, keep an eye out for warning strips of various colours. Orange for electricity, yellow for gas, green for water, white for communication lines and cream for sewerage are some of the common colours used. Conduit pipes, soft sand, gravel/aggregate, concrete pipes etc. might also indicate the presence of underground utilities.
- You can ask the utility owner for on-site advice and help finding the utility line for a small fee. It is better than causing damage and paying the penalty.
- If the scope of the work changes, you must put in a new enquiry with DBYD.
- Even after you call 1100, if you cause damage due to careless or negligent behaviour, you will be held responsible. In case of any emergency, contact the asset owner directly or the emergency services on 000. DBYD is only an information service, not an emergency service.
Protect our buried assets
Underground pipes and cables provide essential services to Australians across the country. As consumers, all of us are responsible for protecting these from unnecessary damage. Calling 1100 before doing any digging is a simple step, yet one that can prevent personal danger as well as disruption of services to many.
At Everest Electrical, we know the value of putting in an enquiry with DBYD before starting any excavation or maintenance work, and recommend our clients do the same before embarking on DIY projects that involve digging.
We welcome your call on 0410 229 139 to discuss how we can help with a range of electrical services in Sydney’s North Shore and Northern Beaches – even the ones that may involve identifying underground services.