Virginia: read this before you schedule.
Virginia 811 · Va. Code §§56-265.17, 56-265.19, 56-265.24
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.
Read this before you schedule
Virginia does not work on a waiting period. You request a locate, then you check the positive response system — and you may not break ground until every operator has marked, said it has nothing there, or posted a response that lets you start.
Worth knowing in Virginia
The 'three working days' figure quoted for Virginia is the OPERATOR's deadline to mark and post a response — by 7 a.m. on the third working day — not a period you can count and then dig. Waiting three days without checking positive response is a violation, which is why no notice number is printed here. A ticket runs 15 working days from 7 a.m. the next working day after the request, or 15 working days after your scheduled start date, whichever is later; that dual anchor is why no figure is shown either. Ask for a re-mark at least three working days before it lapses.
Common questions about digging in Virginia
- How long do you have to wait before digging in Virginia?
- Virginia does not work on a waiting period. You request a locate, then you check the positive response system — and you may not break ground until every operator has marked, said it has nothing there, or posted a response that lets you start.
Check it yourself
Every figure here was read off Va. Code §§56-265.17, 56-265.19, 56-265.24, 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 Virginia?
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