Tool 3 of 7· B.C. & Alberta

Locate marks & safe zones

Paint and flags tell you roughly where a line is — never how deep, and never exactly. Learn to read the marks, then see how close a machine can go before someone has to pick up a shovel or a hydrovac wand.

Checked against B.C., Alberta and federal law on September 25, 2026 · See every source

Read before using this tool

You are responsible for your dig. Before any work begins, whoever uses this toolkit must consult, confirm and understand every law, regulation, permit, consent, crossing agreement, locate and facility owner requirement that applies to their site and their work.

This toolkit is general information to help you find those requirements. It is not a locate, not legal advice, not an engineering design and not a substitute for competent supervision. Do not rely on it to decide whether, where, when or how to dig.

Laws change, owners set stricter conditions, and every site is different. Where anything in this toolkit differs from the law, a regulator, a locate sheet or a facility owner's instructions, they govern — not this toolkit.

Where is the work?

Part 1

What the colours mean

Tap a colour. Canada uses the same uniform colour code as the U.S. (APWA), set out in the CCGA Best Practices and used by BC 1 Call, Utility Safety Partners and the CER.

A single line of paint, flags or stakes: the approximate centreline.

Parallel lines joined by an arrow or chevron: the approximate width of a wide facility or duct bank.

Offset marks: the line is a stated distance away — used where the surface will be removed.

Marks never tell you depth, and they’re only as accurate as the locate. Lines can be shallower than you think — frost, grading and erosion all change cover. Only exposing the line tells you where it really is.

Part 2

How close can the machine go?

Pick what’s marked, then slide the bucket toward the line. This shows the minimum the law or regulator sets. The owner’s locate sheet, permission, consent or crossing agreement can require more — and when it does, it wins.

Plan view to scale · distances measured horizontally from the centre of the line (the zone edge includes half the line’s width) · zones apply to the full depth and mirror on the far side · marks are only approximate — the zone is there because the line may not be exactly under the paint

Bucket distance from the centre of the line: 4.00 mWidth of the line (mm)Pipe outside diameter or duct-bank width, from the locate sheet. NPS 12 = 324 mm.The line has been exposed and positively identified

B.C. — power, telecom, water, sewer and other lines

Outside this line's hand-expose zone

As far as this line goes, machine digging is allowed here — other lines on the ticket have their own zones, and owner conditions still apply. A spotter watches for unmarked lines; stop if you see tape, sand bedding or anything not on the sheet.

The 1 m figure is WSBC's and BC 1 Call's guidance, not a number in the Regulation. The owner's instructions on the locate sheet are binding under s. 20.79(2) and may be wider.

Part 3

Why the numbers differ

Different laws, different owners. When two apply to the same line, use the widest zone. Owner conditions — a crossing agreement, a consent, a FortisBC permit — can be stricter than any of these, and they bind you.

Line	Zone	The rule
B.C. — power, telecom, water, sewer and other lines	1 m each side of the marks	1 m each side of the locate marks (WSBC / BC 1 Call guidance). The Regulation itself requires the location to be accurately determined and the owner's requirements followed — an owner can set a wider zone.
B.C. — natural gas lines (FortisBC and other gas companies)	1 m each side of the marks	The line is taken to lie anywhere in a zone of its diameter plus 1 m either side of the gas company's marks (Gas Safety Reg. 39(6)). Before ANY machine digging near it beyond breaking the surface cover, expose it by hand at enough points to find its exact position and depth (39(7)).
B.C. — provincial pipeline (BCER)	Set by the permission	No fixed hand-expose width in B.C. law. Within 10 m of the pipeline you need the permit holder's written permission, and the permission sets the hand-expose distance and machine limits.
Alberta — gas distribution, telecom, water, sewer and other facilities	1 m each side of the marks	1 m each side of the locate marks (OHS Code definition of hand expose zone). No mechanical excavation inside it until the facility is exposed by hand or an owner-accepted non-destructive method.
Alberta — buried power cable	1 m each side of the marks	OHS Code: 1 m hand expose zone each side of the marks. Alberta Electrical Utility Code Rule 2-020(3): no excavation within 1 m of an underground electric utility cable unless it's under the operator's care and control and the method is acceptable to them.
Alberta — provincial (AER) pipeline, or any line at 700 kPa or more	5 m each side of the marks	5 m: the OHS Code hand expose zone for a high-pressure pipeline is 5 m each side of the marks, and the Pipeline Rules require hand exposure once work comes within 5 m of a pipeline, with the licensee's certified rep present. After exposure, machines within 600 mm of the pipe — or anywhere beneath it — only under the owner's direct supervision.
Alberta — federal pipeline (CER)	5 m each side of the marks	The stricter of two laws: the federal 3 m no-machine rule (measured from the pipe) and Alberta's OHS Code hand expose zone of 5 m each side of the marks for any pipeline at 700 kPa or more — which most federal lines are. After exposure, machines within 600 mm only under the owner's direct supervision.
B.C. — federal pipeline (CER)	3 m from the pipe	No mechanical excavation within 3 m of the PIPE until it's exposed by hand (or the company confirms its exact location — and for a crossing, that it's at least 60 cm deeper than the dig).

Hydrovac limits are set by each owner — for example Enbridge: under 1,500 psi and 38 °C within 0.3 m of the pipe; ATCO: 1,500 psi and 60 °C; CCGA best practice for frozen ground: 45 °C at the wand tip. Ask every owner on the ticket.

These materials contain information that has been derived from information originally made available by the Province of British Columbia at: http://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca and this information is being used in accordance with the King's Printer Licence – British Columbia available at: https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/standards/Licence.html. They have not, however, been produced in affiliation with, or with the endorsement of, the Province of British Columbia and THESE MATERIALS ARE NOT AN OFFICIAL VERSION.

You are responsible for your dig. Before any work, whoever uses this toolkit must consult, confirm and understand every law, regulation, permit, consent, locate and facility owner requirement that applies — and must not rely on this toolkit to decide whether, where, when or how to dig. It explains the rules; it is not the rules, a locate, or an engineer. It’s built from B.C.’s OHS Regulation (Part 20) and pipeline crossing rules, Alberta’s OHS Code (Part 32) and Pipeline Rules, the federal Canadian Energy Regulator damage prevention regulations, and the published guidance of regulators and one-call centres. Where we say Law, legislation requires it. Where we say Guidance, it’s a regulator’s or industry body’s advice. The facility owner’s written instructions and the law always win. This toolkit is Alpha Training Solutions’ own work and is not made or endorsed by any regulator or one-call centre.

Alberta legislation © Alberta King's Printer (OHS Code 2021, OHS Act 2020, Pipeline Rules 2023, Pipeline Act and Historical Resources Act 2000), reproduced from the consolidations at kings-printer.alberta.ca. Not the official version.

Federal law reproduced from the Justice Laws Website (laws-lois.justice.gc.ca), current to September 3, 2026. This is not an official version.