Iowa: 48 hours before you dig.
Iowa One Call · Iowa Code §480.1(6) (2026 Code; amended 2024 Acts ch. 1120 §1)
Read off the statute on . If it has moved since, tell us and we will re-read it.
A waiting period is not always permission. Some states also require that every operator has answered before you break ground, and some require you to mark your own dig path first. Where we have read that requirement, it is in the notes on this page. Where this page is silent, we have not checked it yet — silence here is not the same as absence. We are working through the rest and dating each one as it lands.
Notice before you break ground
48 hours
Forty-eight consecutive hours beginning at 6:00 a.m. the next business day after Iowa One Call receives your notice, excluding weekends and legal holidays.
Worth knowing in Iowa
The clearest-drafted notice definition of any state here — it names the hour the clock starts. §480.1 sets no tolerance width, so none is shown.
Common questions about digging in Iowa
- How much notice do you have to give before digging in Iowa?
- 48 hours before you break ground, through Iowa One Call. Forty-eight consecutive hours beginning at 6:00 a.m. the next business day after Iowa One Call receives your notice, excluding weekends and legal holidays.
Check it yourself
Every figure here was read off Iowa Code §480.1(6) (2026 Code; amended 2024 Acts ch. 1120 §1), not off a summary — summaries of these get the unit wrong, and the unit is usually a weekend. Read the source.
Running a crew in Iowa?
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