Yes, you have to call 811 before digging in California, and the call has to happen at least two working days before the shovel or the excavator goes in the ground. That goes for a homeowner setting fence posts as much as for a crew trenching a sewer line. The call is free, and the utilities come out and mark their lines for you.
This question comes up every fall, right when people want to wrap up fence, pad, and drainage projects before the rain shuts the ground down. Most of them assume 811 is for contractors. It isn't. The law doesn't care whose property it is or how small the hole is.
What counts as digging under California law
California's one-call law is Government Code section 4216, part of what's called the Dig Safe Act. It defines excavation as moving, removing, or displacing earth by grading, trenching, digging, ditching, drilling, augering, tunneling, scraping, or plowing and driving cable or pipe. It doesn't set a minimum depth.
So the list is longer than most people expect. Fence posts, a mailbox, a new tree, a drainage ditch, a pond edge, a well test boring, and blading a driveway with a dozer all count. If you're cutting a house pad, grading is on that list too.
How to file an 811 ticket
The process is short, and none of it costs anything. USA North 811 is the notification center for Northern and Central California (45 counties in all), and you can reach it by phone or online.
- Mark the dig area in white paint. Stakes, flags, or even flour work if paint would be a problem. This tells the utilities where to look.
- Dial 811, or file an online ticket at usanorth811.org.
- Wait two working days, not counting the day you call. Weekends and holidays don't count either.
- Check for markings and responses from each utility before you start.
- Hand dig near any marked line (more on that below).
Here's how the timing plays out. Call on a Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday are your two working days, so Thursday is the earliest legal start. Call on a Friday and you're looking at the middle of the next week. If the dig is further out, you can set a later start date on the ticket, up to 14 calendar days from the day you call.
| Rule | The number |
|---|---|
| Notice before digging | Two working days, not counting the day you call |
| Longest lead time you can set on a ticket | 14 calendar days |
| Hand-dig zone around a marked line | 24 inches on each side |
| Utility's time to remark faded or missing marks | Two working days after you ask |
| Report damage to the notification center | Within 48 hours |
| Cost of the ticket | Free |
Those numbers come from Government Code 4216 and its related sections, plus USA North's own site for the free part.
What the 24-inch rule means in the field
A marked line isn't a precise line. Paint on the ground tells you a pipe or cable is somewhere close, so the law builds in a buffer. The tolerance zone is 24 inches on each side of the marking, which gives you a strip at least four feet wide.
Inside that strip you find the actual line with hand tools before any power equipment touches the ground. There's an exception for vacuum excavation if the utility agrees, but a backhoe bucket is not a hand tool, however carefully it's run.
We'd go further than the minimum. If the paint is old, smeared, or the line runs at an odd angle, we'd expose it by hand well outside the zone. Potholing is cheap. A hit gas line costs a neighborhood its evening.
What 811 won't find
This is the part that catches rural property owners, and it matters a lot around Corning and the ranch country west of I-5. The utilities that belong to USA North mark their own lines. They don't mark yours.
Lines that usually aren't in any utility's records:
- The septic line from the house to the tank, and the drainfield laterals past it
- A well line or pump wire run to a pressure tank or a barn
- Irrigation pipe laid by a previous owner or a ranch hand
- A buried power run out to a shop, pole barn, or gate
A rancher off Corning Road who puts in a new pond fence line is trusting 811 to catch a buried waterline that was never a utility's to begin with. It doesn't get caught.
For septic, ask the county Environmental Health department whether a permit drawing exists for the property. If it doesn't, or it's vague, probe by hand before the machine goes in and plan the dig around what you find. The same goes for a septic system installation or a new trenching and conduit run: find out what's down there before the machine starts.
Burned lots have their own version of this problem. On a lot in Paradise where the house is gone, the old gas, water, and sewer services are still in the ground, and the foundation demo and pad grading will cross them. Walberg, Inc. has disaster-response experience on the Camp Fire, and a cleared lot is not an empty site underground.
What to do if you hit a line
You stop, and you make calls in a specific order. Under California law you notify the utility operator right away. If the damage involves a gas or hazardous liquid line with a release, you call 911. You also have to report the damage to the notification center within 48 hours.
Report even the small stuff. The statute covers breaks, leaks, nicks, dents, gouges, and grooves, because a gouge in a gas line coating or a nicked fiber cable can fail weeks later, long after the trench is backfilled. Don't backfill over a line you hit and hope it's fine.
Who files the ticket when you hire a contractor
Whoever does the digging is the excavator, and the excavator files. In practice you should ask for the ticket number before the crew shows up. A good contractor can hand it to you without looking it up.
If someone tells you a job is too small or too shallow to need a ticket, find a different contractor. A general contractor who needs a cut and compacted pad before framing starts also has to build the two-working-day wait into the schedule, and it's a mistake to leave it for the morning the equipment arrives.
Walberg, Inc. has been owner-operated since 1999 and works across Tehama, Butte, and Shasta counties, and if you'd like our crew to handle the dig, our excavation service is the place to start. We also install sewer and water lines, which is where locating existing utilities matters most.
Common Questions
Do I have to call 811 to dig on my own property in California?
Yes. The Dig Safe Act applies to property owners and contractors alike, and it doesn't exempt private land. The utilities may have lines on your parcel that you don't know about, and the ticket is how you find out.
How long after calling 811 can you dig in California?
Two working days, not counting the day you call. If you call on a Monday, you can start Thursday. You can also schedule a later start date on the ticket, up to 14 calendar days out.
Is calling 811 free?
Yes. USA North 811 doesn't charge for tickets, and the utilities mark their own lines at no cost to you. You might pay a private locator if you need to find lines that aren't in any utility's records.
Do I need to call 811 for a fence post or a garden bed?
Fence posts, yes. The law defines excavation by what you do to the ground, not by depth, and post holes are a classic way to hit a buried line. A shallow garden bed worked by hand is less clear-cut, and when in doubt a free ticket is cheaper than a repair bill.
What happens if I dig without calling 811 in California?
You're responsible for repairing what you damage, and the Dig Safe Act lets the state pursue civil penalties against excavators who skip the ticket. The bigger risk is a hit on a gas line or a fiber trunk, which can cost far more than any fine.
Bottom line
File the ticket yourself on anything small, ask for the ticket number from any contractor on anything big, and add a week of cushion to your schedule if you want the dig done before the November rain. For lines that 811 can't mark, like septic and well runs, plan on probing by hand.
If you have a pad, a trench, or a drainage project coming up in Corning, Chico, Redding, or anywhere in the three counties, request a free estimate and tell us about the dig so underground lines get planned for before the machine goes in.