Ohio: 2 working days before you dig.
OHIO811 — crews still say OUPS · ORC 3781.28 (notice) and 3781.25 (tolerance) — rewritten by HB 227, effective 9 June 2026
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
2 working days
Not counting the day you call, and no more than 16 calendar days ahead. A ticket filed at 9pm Monday still burns Monday, so you dig Thursday.
Tolerance zone
18" each side
18 inches each side of the facility itself, not of the paint line. Hand tools, hydro or air vacuum inside it.
You must break ground within
16 calendar days from when the centre receives your notice
Worth knowing in Ohio
Ohio rewrote its dig law in June 2026, so most summaries are out of date. HB 227 also added ORC 3781.261: anyone with responsibility in the 811 process needs documented damage-prevention training, provided at initial assignment and renewed every five years. If you are mobilizing a crew into Ohio, that paperwork has to exist before the first ticket. OHIO811 runs the training free.
Common questions about digging in Ohio
- How much notice do you have to give before digging in Ohio?
- 2 working days before you break ground, through OHIO811 — crews still say OUPS. Not counting the day you call, and no more than 16 calendar days ahead. A ticket filed at 9pm Monday still burns Monday, so you dig Thursday.
- What is the tolerance zone in Ohio?
- 18" each side. 18 inches each side of the facility itself, not of the paint line. Hand tools, hydro or air vacuum inside it.
- How soon do you have to start work after calling 811 in Ohio?
- 16 calendar days from when the centre receives your notice.
Check it yourself
Every figure here was read off ORC 3781.28 (notice) and 3781.25 (tolerance) — rewritten by HB 227, effective 9 June 2026, 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 Ohio?
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