National Safe Digging Month promotes calling 811

National Safe Digging Month stresses importance of utility locate tickets before digging

• Thursday, April 2, 2026

• News

An estimated 60 million American households plan to undertake an outdoor digging project in the next year, according to Common Ground Alliance, but roughly one in six homeowners are likely to not have their underground utilities located before that work begins.

In Iowa, contacting 811 to have underground utilities marked before starting an excavation project is the law — and not submitting a locate ticket can damage utilities or lead to serious injury or death.

The Iowa Utilities Commission joins the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) in recognizing April as National Safe Digging Month and reminds Iowans to submit an Iowa One Call ticket at least 48 hours before starting a digging project — whether planting a tree, installing fence posts or mailboxes, or tackling major construction.

Excavators, operators, locators, and residents are all required by Iowa Code chapter 480 to submit plans for any digging project online to IowaOneCall.com or by calling 811. The use of the online ITIC system can be easily navigated by utilizing Iowa One Call’s resource page. After a One Call notification is made, the owners of the underground utilities will mark the locations within the intended work area using paint or flags.

The IUC always recommends the following steps before you begin your project:

• Submit an Iowa One Call ticket at least 48 hours before starting your project. If a professional has been hired, verify they have submitted the One Call request and the underground utilities are properly marked.
• Confirm that you have received an email from Iowa One Call that all utilities have been marked and that there are no additional steps needed before you start to dig.
• Ensure you or the professional hand dig around any utilities identified with paint or flag markings before using heavy or powered equipment. The IUC participates annually in State Damage Prevention and One Call grant programs conducted by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). Both programs are intended to minimize and eliminate damages to underground utilities and to ensure safe digging practices through education, related compliance activities, training, and the IUC’s agreement with PHMSA to perform pipeline safety inspections.

The Iowa Attorney General’s office enforces the One Call law and the IUC assists by investigating One Call complaints. You can review the Attorney General’s One Call webpage or go to the IUC webpage Iowa's One Call Law for more information.