Tool 2 of 7· B.C. & Alberta
Dig planner
The most common reason a buried line gets hit is that nobody asked where it was. The second is digging on a stale or expired locate. Put in your request date and see every date that matters, then work through the checklist and print it for the job file.
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.
Step 1
The job and the request
Anything that adds time?
Step 2
Your dates
- Fri, Sep 25Locate request made
BC 1 Call ticket (online or 1-800-474-6886). The request day itself never counts toward the notice.
- Fri, Oct 23 full working days' notice has passed
BC 1 Call's standard notice. Every owner on the ticket should have responded by now — chase any who haven't. No response is not a clearance.
- Fri, Oct 2Earliest dig date
Every notice period on this plan has run (B.C.'s 3-day one-call notice is BC 1 Call practice; the law requires the locate itself). You still need every owner's response, visible marks and any permissions in hand before you dig.
- Thu, Oct 8Digging must have started
BC 1 Call: start within 14 calendar days of the request (counting the request day as day 1, to be safe), or make a new request. Your ticket and each owner's locate sheet show the actual dates — use those if they differ from this plan.
- Sat, Oct 24Ticket expires
BC 1 Call: valid 30 calendar days from the request date — but only if digging started within the first 14 days. Counted with the request day as day 1, to be safe. Re-request sooner if marks are lost or the work moves. Your ticket and each owner's locate sheet show the actual dates — use those if they differ from this plan.
How we count: the request day never counts, the full notice must pass before the start day, and weekends plus every day that could be a holiday are skipped — B.C. statutory holidays, plus Easter Monday, Boxing Day and weekend holidays observed on a Monday. That can make a date a day or two later than the one-call centre’s own count, never earlier. The dates on your ticket and each locate sheet are the ones that count.
Step 3
Track every owner’s response
Copy the owners from your ticket. A request isn’t permission — you need an answer from each one.
| Owner | Facility | Response | Locate ref. | Valid until |
|---|
Step 4
Pre-job ground disturbance checklist
Before the request
- Mark the boundary of the proposed work so locators mark the right place. Note an alternate colour on the ticket in winter.
- Archaeology Information Request through the Province.
- The supervisor must be qualified (B.C.) / competent (Alberta) for this work.
- Triggers include a worker who may enter a trench over 30 m long or a non-trench excavation over 1.2 m deep, a project over $100,000, or engineered components. The owner or prime contractor sends it.
Locates and permissions
- B.C. provincial lines within 10 m; Alberta rights of way and within 5 m; federal lines within 30 m.
On site, before the first bucket
- Near a federal pipeline this is also how you meet the duty to tell everyone working for you what the CER damage-prevention rules require.
Exposing and digging
Backfill and close-out
Take it with you
The PDF has the dates, owners, full checklist with sources, and signature lines. The calendar file drops every date into Outlook, Google or Apple Calendar.
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.
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.
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.