Digging at Home: Fences, Gardens & Buried Utilities
Gas, power, water and communication lines can be just inches below your lawn. Hitting one with a shovel or post hole digger can cause an explosion, electrocution or an outage for the whole street. Calling 811 is free and required in every state.
- Homeowners
Call 811 first
- Call 811 or submit a request online a few business days before you dig (each state sets the notice time).
- Do it for any digging: fence posts, mailbox posts, trees and shrubs, decks, gardens, patios and drainage.
- Wait until all utilities have marked or cleared your request.
- Respect the marks: hand dig carefully near them, since lines can be a little off from where they’re marked.
Lines 811 won’t mark
811 marks utility-owned lines, usually up to your meter. Lines you own often aren’t marked, such as:
- Power to a garage, shed, pool, hot tub or yard lights
- Gas lines to a grill, pool heater or detached building
- Sprinkler and irrigation lines
- Septic lines and sewer laterals
- Propane lines from a tank
Look for clues (lights, meters, cleanouts) and consider hiring a private locator. See Private Utility Locating.
Utility mark colors
Red = electric, yellow = gas, orange = communications, blue = water, green = sewer, purple = irrigation or reclaimed water, white = your proposed dig area.
If you hit a gas line: leave the area right away, don’t start a car or use anything that could spark, and call 911 and the gas company from a safe distance. If you hit a power line: let go of the tool if you can, step away, keep others back and call 911.
Digging safely
- Use the right tools, and lift with your legs. See Shovels.
- Power augers can kick hard when they catch a root. See Power Augers.
- Fill or cover holes so no one steps in them.
Standards & references
- Call 811
- See also: Call 811 (for contractors) · Gas Leaks
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