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North American Network Operators Group Date Prev | Date Next | Date Index | Thread Index | Author Index | Historical Re: Fiber cuts, telcos and excavators
> I have heard from the excavator community over the years. They often > point out the utilities seem to not care, and don't show up to mark > their utilities on-time. The famous telco appointment time of > between 8 and 5, if at all. The excavator is losing money for every > minute the locate marker is late, or doesn't show up at all. This > isn't a lot of profit margin in excavation. Sometimes the choice is > between not digging and definitely going out of business, or digging > and possibly going out of business. Why is the contractor waiting around? I'm not very familiar with how things are done in the construction industry, but I see a lot of paint on roads and sidewalks around here. I've seen occasional people out putting down paint without any contractors waiting around. I thought the standard practice was to mark the limits of the area you want to dig in with "USA" (Underground Service Alert) and then call the USA 800 number a few days before you want to dig there. That gives the USA people time to contact all the utilities so they can come out and mark the area. I should read the fine print on a call-before-you-dig sign the next time I get a chance. > As far as sending a big bill to the contractor. As has been pointed > out before, most excavators have the minimum insurance and few assets. > And the cynic may look at the number of contractors hired by utilities Does it work to sue the organization that hired the contractor? If not, why?
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