2006 Ohio Revised Code - 153.64. Protection of underground utility facilities during construction of public improvement; registration of protection services.

§ 153.64. Protection of underground utility facilities during construction of public improvement; registration of protection services.
 

(A)  As used in this section: 

(1) "Public improvement" means any construction, reconstruction, improvement, enlargement, alteration, or repair of a building, highway, drainage system, water system, road, street, alley, sewer, ditch, sewage disposal plant, water works, and all other structures or works of any nature by a public authority. 

(2) "Public authority" includes the state, or a county, township, municipal corporation, school district, or other political subdivision, or any public agency, authority, board, commission, instrumentality, or special district of or in the state or a county, township, municipal corporation, school district, or other political subdivision. 

(3) "Underground utility facilities" includes any item buried or placed below ground or submerged under water for use in connection with the storage or conveyance of water or sewage; or electronic, telephonic, or telegraphic communications; electricity; electric energy; petroleum products; manufactured, mixed, or natural gas; synthetic or liquified natural gas; propane gas; or other substances. "Underground utility facilities" includes, but is not limited to, all operational underground pipes, sewers, tubing, conduits, cables, valves, lines, wires, manholes, and attachments, whether owned by any public or private or profit or nonprofit person, firm, partnership, company, corporation, joint stock association, joint venture, or voluntary association, wherever organized or incorporated, except for a private septic system in a single- or double-family dwelling utilized only for that dwelling and not connected to any other system. 

(4) "Underground utility protection service" means a notification center not an owner of an underground utility facility, existing for the purpose of receiving notice from public authorities and from other persons that plan to prepare plans and specifications for, or engage in, public improvements involving digging, blasting, excavating, or other underground construction activities and distributing this information to its members. "Registered underground utility protection service" means an underground utility protection service registered with the secretary of state and the public utilities commission of Ohio pursuant to division (F) of this section. 

(5) "Owner of underground utility facility" does not include telephone companies classified as medium or small under rule 4901-7-01 of the Ohio Administrative Code, owners of pipelines that conduct liquid petroleum products, or cable television companies as defined in division (B) of section 505.90 of the Revised Code to the extent that it requires membership in an underground utility protection service. 

(6) "Construction area" means the area delineated on the plans and specifications for the public improvement within which the work provided for in the contract will be performed. 

(B)  In any public improvement which may involve underground utility facilities, the public authority, prior to preparing plans and specifications, shall contact the registered underground utility protection services and the owners of underground utility facilities that are not members of a registered underground utility protection service for the existence and location of all underground utility facilities within the construction area. The public authority shall include, in the plans and specifications for such improvement, the identity and location of the existing underground utility facilities located in the construction area as provided to the public authority by the owner of the underground utility facility and the name, address, and telephone number of each owner of any underground utility facilities in the construction area that does not subscribe to a registered underground utility protection service. Any anticipated temporary or permanent relocation of underground utility facilities deemed necessary by the public authority shall be negotiated or arranged by the public authority with the owners of the underground utility facilities prior to the start of construction. If a temporary or permanent relocation of utility facilities is necessary, the owner of the underground utility facility shall be given a reasonable time to move such utility facilities unless the contractor to whom the contract for a public improvement is awarded or its subcontractor agrees with the owner of the underground utility facility to coordinate relocation with construction operations. The public authority, within ten calendar days after award of a contract for a public improvement, shall notify in writing all owners of underground utility facilities known to be located in the construction area of the public improvement of the name and address of the contractor to whom the contract for the public improvement was awarded. Where notice is given in writing by certified mail, the return receipt, signed by any person to whom the notice is delivered, shall be conclusive proof of notice. 

(C)  The contractor to whom a contract for a public improvement is awarded or its subcontractor, at least two working days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, prior to commencing construction operations in the construction area which may involve underground utility facilities, shall cause notice to be given to the registered underground utility protection services and the owners of underground utility facilities shown on the plans and specifications who are not members of a registered underground utility protection service, in writing, by telephone, or in person. Where notice is given in writing by certified mail, the return receipt, signed by any person to whom the notice is delivered, shall be conclusive proof of notice. The owner of the underground utility facility, within forty-eight hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, after notice is received, shall stake, mark, or otherwise designate the location of the underground utility facilities in the construction area in such a manner as to indicate their course together with the approximate depth at which they were installed. The marking or locating shall be coordinated to stay approximately two days ahead of the planned construction. 

(D)  If the public authority fails to comply with the requirements of division (B) of this section, the contractor to whom the work is awarded or its subcontractor complies with the requirements of division (C) of this section, and the contractor or its subcontractor encounters underground utility facilities in the construction area that would have been shown on the plans and specifications for such improvement had the registered underground utility protection service or owner of the underground utility facility who is not a member of a registered underground utility protection service whose name, address, and telephone number is provided by the public authority been contacted, then the contractor, upon notification to the public authority, is entitled to an increase to the contract price for itself or its subcontractor for any additional work that must be undertaken or additional time that will be required and is entitled to an extension of the completion date of the contract for the period of time of any delays to the construction of the public improvement. 
 

In the event of a dispute as to the application of this section, procedures may be commenced under the applicable terms of the construction contract, or if the contract contains no provision for final resolution of the dispute, pursuant to the procedures for arbitration in Chapter 2711. of the Revised Code. 
 

This section does not affect rights between the contractors and the public authority for any increase in contract price or additional time to perform the contract when the public authority complies with division (B) of this section. 
 

Any public authority who complies with the requirements of division (B) of this section and any contractor or its subcontractor who complies with the requirements of division (C) of this section shall not be responsible to the owner of the underground utility facility if underground utility lines are encountered not as marked in accordance with the provisions of division (C) of this section by the owner of the underground utility facility, unless the contractor or its subcontractor has actual notice of the underground utility facility. Except as noted in this division, this section does not affect rights between the contractor or its subcontractor and the owner of the underground utility facility for failure to mark or erroneously marking utility lines. The public authority shall not make as a requirement of any contract for public improvement any change in responsibilities between the public authority and the owners of the underground utility facilities in connection with damage, injury, or loss to any property in connection with underground utility facilities. 
 

The contractor or its subcontractor shall alert immediately the occupants of nearby premises as to any emergency that he may create or discover at or near such premises. The contractor or its subcontractor shall report immediately to the owner or operator of the underground facility any break or leak on its lines or any dent, gouge, groove, or other damage to such lines or to their coating or cathodic protection, made or discovered in the course of their excavation. 

(E)  This section does not affect rights between the public authority and the owners of the underground utility facilities for responsibility for costs involving removal, relocation, or protection of existing underground utility facilities, or for costs for delays occasioned thereby. 

(F)  An underground utility protection service shall register with the secretary of state and the public utilities commission of Ohio, identifying its name, address, telephone number, membership, and other pertinent information. The secretary of state and commission shall establish procedures for accepting such registrations and providing information about registrants to public authorities on request. 
 

HISTORY: 139 v H 538 (Eff 7-26-82); 144 v H 724. Eff 1-8-93.