Tool 2 of 7 · BC & 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 BC, Alberta and federal law on September 25, 2026. See every source
Step 1
The job and the request
Anything that adds time?
Step 2
Your dates
- Thu, Oct 15Locate request made
BC 1 Call ticket (online or 1-800-474-6886). The request day itself never counts toward the notice.
- Wed, Oct 213 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.
- Wed, Oct 21Earliest dig date
Every notice period on this plan has run (BC'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.
- Wed, Oct 28Digging 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.
- Fri, Nov 13Ticket 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 — BC 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 | Remove |
|---|
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 (BC) / 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
- BC 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.
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.