Texas: 48 hours before you dig.
Texas811 / Lone Star 811 · Tex. Util. Code ch. 251, subch. D
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
No later than the 48th hour before you start, excluding weekends and legal holidays, and no earlier than the 14th day before. Notify on a Saturday and you may start the following Tuesday at 11:59 a.m. — Wednesday if the Monday is a holiday.
Worth knowing in Texas
No tolerance width is shown. The 18 inches people quote for Texas comes from a Railroad Commission rule that covers pipelines only and does not reach fibre, copper, electric, water or sewer. An excavator who has fully complied is not liable for damage to a facility that was not marked as the chapter requires.
Common questions about digging in Texas
- How much notice do you have to give before digging in Texas?
- 48 hours before you break ground, through Texas811 / Lone Star 811. No later than the 48th hour before you start, excluding weekends and legal holidays, and no earlier than the 14th day before. Notify on a Saturday and you may start the following Tuesday at 11:59 a.m. — Wednesday if the Monday is a holiday.
Check it yourself
Every figure here was read off Tex. Util. Code ch. 251, subch. D, 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 Texas?
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