Frequently Asked Questions
WHO PAYS FOR BLUE STAKE?
Arizona Blue Stake, Inc., is a non-profit corporation. The Member Facility Owners are the owners of the corporation and underwrite the expenses to provide the Blue Stake Center services.
WHY DO I HAVE TO UPDATE MY NOTICE AND HOW OFTEN?The markings are valid for 15 working days, excluding Saturday, Sunday, and state holidays. Updating the notice number at the Blue Stake Center is a method of compliance with updating the locate markings. The easiest way to remember to update is to call your notice in every 3 weeks on the same day you placed your request for the original notice. (Updating the notice number and markings does not relieve the excavator for digging, under any circumstances, without locate markings).
CAN I MEET WITH THE LOCATORS?Yes, the customer can meet with locators on the excavation site. Take special care to inform the caller that a MEET is not a locate, it is simply a request to meet with the locators at an appointed time. The Excavator must either enter into a mutually arranged written agreement with the locators of call the Center after the meet has taken place and request a ROUTINE notice. Customers will not be allowed to place a request for a MEET and a ROUTINE notice for the same area at the same time.
HOW DEEP ARE THE BURIED FACILITIES?No indication of depth of the buried facilities will be given or indicated. Constant changes to the earth’s surface, naturally or otherwise, are constantly changing the depth of the buried facilities.
HOW DO I KNOW IF THE LINES ARE ABANDONED?The only time you know a buried facility has been abandoned is if the facility has been represented to you as abandoned by the Facility Owner directly. If the Facility Owner has not indicated the buried facility is abandoned, then you must treat it as live. If the customer encounters lines that have not been located or located incorrectly, they should, in all cases, contact the Blue Stake Center for appropriate action.
WHAT IS ALL THIS PAINT IN FRONT OF MY PROPERTY?You should explain to the customer that the paint represents the location of buried facilities in the area. The paint markings are to prevent damages and disruption to service in the area. The markings were generated by an excavator’s notification to the Blue Stake Center of his intent to excavate. You should inform the customer that you will be glad to fill out a Search Request and that it will be processed during Off Peak Hours, typically Friday afternoons. An agent will contact them as soon as the Search Request has been completed. Take the time to explain the importance of maintaining the markings until excavation is complete.
CAN LOCATORS ENTER AND MARK MY PROPERTY WITH PRIOR PERMISSION?Member Facility Owner Locators have the right to mark their facilities anywhere they may be. They enter your private property, at their own risk, however, all locators carry identification and the customer should feel free to ask to see it and contact the appropriate company for confirmation. Any customer complaints of damages with regards to a locator entering their property should be referred to the respective Member Facility Owner.
YOUR LOCATORS HAVEN’T SHOWN UP AND I’M DIGGING NOW!You need to handle these types of situations very carefully. Inform the customer if he digs without locate markings, he is knowingly violating the Blue Stake Law and he can be facing fines and liability for any damages which may occur. Tell him what you can do for him; transmit a priority notice stating his situation. Explain that his notification will be sent to the Member Facility Owner(s) immediately with the customer’s situation indicated. If the caller asks, inform the caller he can charge for down time as a result of a Member Facility Owner’s failure to locate within the scheduled completion time. If he wants to know where to submit his bill, indicate he should forward it to the respective claims department of the Member Facility Owner.
WHAT TO DO WHEN A CALLER STATES HE NEEDS MARKINGS SOONER THAN TWO WORKING DAYS.The appropriate response should be “State Law provides the locators have two working days in which to respond to your locate, and you must know where all buried utility lines are prior to digging. I will include your situation and your dig time on the notice; however, adding this information on the request does not guarantee locations response by your dig time. The locators still have up to two working days to locate their lines.” If the customer indicates he does not intend to wait you should follow through with the response given in the previous question.