GA Code § 25-9-6 (2021)
2021 Georgia Code|Title 25 - Fire Protection and Safety|Chapter 9 - Blasting or Excavating Near Utility Facilities|§ 25-9-6. Prerequisites to Blasting or Excavating; Marking of Sites

  No person shall commence, perform, or engage in blasting or in excavating with mechanized excavating equipment on any tract or parcel of land in any county in this state unless and until the person planning the blasting or excavating has given 48 hours' notice by submitting a locate request to the UPC, beginning the next business day after such notice is provided, excluding hours during days other than business days. Any person performing excavation is responsible for being aware of all information timely entered into the PRIS prior to the commencement of excavation. If, prior to the expiration of the 48 hour waiting period, all identified facility owners or operators have responded to the locate request, and if all have indicated that their facilities either are not in conflict or have been marked, then the person planning to perform excavation or blasting shall be authorized to commence work, subject to the other requirements of this Code section, without waiting the full 48 hours. The 48 hours' notice shall not be required for excavating where minimally intrusive excavation methods are used exclusively. Any locate request received by the UPC after business hours shall be deemed to have been received by the UPC the next business day. Such locate request shall:   Describe the tract or parcel of land upon which the blasting or excavation is to take place with sufficient particularity, as defined by policies developed and promulgated by the UPC, to enable the facility owner or operator to ascertain the precise tract or parcel of land involved;   State the name, address, and telephone number of the person who will engage in the blasting or excavating;   Describe the type of blasting or excavating to be engaged in by the person; and   Define the time frame in which requested excavation may occur.     In the event the location upon which the blasting or excavating is to take place cannot be described with sufficient particularity to enable the facility owner or operator to ascertain the precise tract or parcel involved, the person proposing the blasting or excavating shall mark the route or boundary of the site of the proposed blasting or excavating by means of white paint, white stakes, or white flags if practical, or schedule an on-site meeting with the locator or facility owner or operator and inform the UPC, within a reasonable time, of the results of such meeting. The person marking a site with white lining shall comply with the rules and regulations of the Department of Transportation as to the use of such markings so as not to obstruct signs, pavement markings, pavement, or other safety devices.   Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, notice given pursuant to subsection (a) of this Code section shall expire 30 calendar days following the date of such notice, and no blasting or excavating undertaken pursuant to this notice shall continue after such time has expired. In the event that the blasting or excavating which is the subject of the notice given pursuant to subsection (a) of this Code section will not be completed within 30 calendar days following the date of such notice, an additional notice must be given in accordance with subsection (a) of this Code section for the locate request to remain valid. Additional notices for an existing request shall not expand the tract or parcel of land upon which the blasting or excavation is to take place.   For emergencies, notice shall expire at 7:00 A.M. three business days after the notification is made to the UPC.   Except for those persons submitting design locate requests, no person, including facility owners or operators, shall request marking of a site through the UPC unless excavating is scheduled to commence. In addition, no person shall make repeated requests for re-marking, unless the repeated request is required for excavating to continue or due to circumstances not reasonably within the control of such person. Any person who willfully fails to comply with this subsection shall be liable to the facility owner or operator for $100.00 or for actual costs, whichever is greater, for each repeated request for re-marking.   If, subsequent to giving the notice to the UPC required by subsection (a) of this Code section, a person planning excavating determines that such work will require blasting, then such person shall promptly so notify the UPC and shall refrain from any blasting until the facility owner or operator responds within 24 hours, excluding hours during days other than business days, following receipt by the UPC of such notice.   When a locate request is made in accordance with subsection (a) of this Code section, excavators other than the person planning the blasting or excavating may conduct such activity, provided that the person planning the blasting or excavating shall remain responsible for ensuring that any stakes or other markings placed in accordance with this chapter remain in place and reasonably visible until such blasting or excavating is completed; and provided, further, that such blasting or excavating is:   Performed on the tract or parcel of land identified in the locate request;   Performed by a person authorized by and having a contractual relationship with the person planning the blasting or excavating;   The type of blasting or excavating described in the locate request; and   Carried out in accordance with all other requirements of this chapter.     Facility owners or operators may bill an excavator their costs for any requests for re-marking other than for re-marks with no more than five individual addresses on a single locate request. Such costs shall be documented actual costs and shall not exceed $100.00 per re-mark request.     (Ga. L. 1969, p. 50, § 5; Ga. L. 1975, p. 417, § 3; Code 1981, §25-9-5 [repealed]; Code 1981, §25-9-6, as redesignated by Ga. L. 1986, p. 1069, § 1; Ga. L. 1990, p. 805, § 1; Ga. L. 2000, p. 780, § 1; Ga. L. 2005, p. 1142, § 5/SB 274; Ga. L. 2014, p. 652, § 3/SB 117; Ga. L. 2015, p. 5, § 25/HB 90; Ga. L. 2016, p. 239, § 1/SB 191.)    The 2014 amendment,  effective July 1, 2014, substituted the present provisions of paragraph (a)(4) for the former provisions, which read: "Designate the date upon which the blasting or excavating will commence"; and added the last sentence in subsections (b) and (c).    The 2015 amendment,  effective March 13, 2015, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, substituted "facilities either are" for "facilities are either" in the third sentence of the introductory language of subsection (a); and substituted "so as not to obstruct signs" for "so as to not to obstruct signs" in the last sentence of subsection (b).    The 2016 amendment,  effective July 1, 2016, substituted "30 calendar days" for "21 calendar days" twice in subsection (c).   Editor's notes.   - This Code section formerly provided for a gas company's duties upon being notified of proposed blasting or excavating. Ga. L. 1986, p. 1069, § 1 in effect renumbered the former Code section as Code Section 25-9-7.   Ga. L. 1986, p. 1069, § 1 in effect renumbered former Code Section 25-9-5 as this Code section.   JUDICIAL DECISIONS   Violations.    - When an asphalt company admitted that the company had been "scraping" a site where a telephone cable was severed, and telephone company employees testified it appeared that there had been digging at the site where the cable was severed, the evidence was sufficient to support the Georgia Public Service Commission's conclusion that the company violated the Georgia Utility Facility Protection Act, O.C.G.A. § 25-9-1 et seq., by not contacting the utilities protection center to locate buried utilities before the company began work. Douglas Asphalt Co. v. Ga. PSC, 263 Ga. App. 711, 589 S.E.2d 292 (2003).    Cited in Perry v. Georgia Power Co., 278 Ga. App. 759, 629 S.E.2d 588 (2006).   RESEARCH REFERENCES   Am. Jur. 2d.   - 31A Am. Jur. 2d, Explosions and Explosives, §§ 39, 40.   C.J.S.   - 35 C.J.S., Explosives, § 41 et seq.   ALR.   - Liability for property damage by concussion from blasting, 20 A.L.R.2d 1372.   Liability of excavator for injury or damage resulting from explosion or fire caused by his damaging of gas mains and pipes, 53 A.L.R.2d 1083.   Liability of gas company for damage resulting from failure to inspect or supervise work of contractors digging near gas pipes, 71 A.L.R.3d 1174.   Liability of one excavating in highway for injury to public utility cables, conduits, or the like, 73 A.L.R.3d 987.