The commercial utility contractors, here at Dub-L-EE, can locate and install underground utilities for your business. The nature of these utilities can vary dramatically depending on the business we’re serving – everything from electrical wires to gas lines can be located underground.
It’s essential that we locate existing utilities before repairing or installing anything underground. To that end, we offer accurate underground utility locating, using a wide variety of tools that receive electromagnetic signals to locate and identify utilities. These tools can even detect things like dead wires.
You may be wondering why you can’t just call 811 before you dig, or why such precise tools are needed to locate utilities. This post was created to answer these questions, and to expand your knowledge of underground utility locating.
Public vs. private utility locating
811 serves an important purpose – they can let you know about all kinds of different public utilities that are located underneath your property. They have an extensive map of the underground utilities in New Mexico, including electrical, gas, communications, sewer, and more.
The problem with only using 811 is that they only keep track of public utilities. It’s impossible for them to inventory every private underground utility, because they’d have to request that information from every business in New Mexico – a daunting task.
That’s where we come in. We can find private utility connections that 811 aren’t aware of. This is especially useful if the building you’re operating from used to have different owners – owners who may not have provided you with documentation on all of the utility connections they had installed.
The importance of utility locating
Someone who hits a gas line with an excavator has caused an emergency that may lead to whole city blocks being closed down. Someone who hits a live wire with an excavator may put their own health or the health of their team members at serious risk.
By locating these utilities before any work begins, you reduce the risk of serious harm coming to your team, your property, and your business. Utility locating is an essential part of any project that requires digging.
What you can do to facilitate the process
When you call us to locate utilities, you can take steps to make the whole process more efficient. Choose a date where pedestrian and vehicle traffic on your property will be limited. Get as many cars out of the area as possible – parked cars can make it difficult for us to detect utilities. You should also make sure we have access to utility and storage rooms – we may also need access to other rooms. Have someone with keys to the whole building on site when we arrive.
We hope this piece has given you a better understanding of underground utility locating, its importance, and what you can do to help. If you have any questions about our process, don’t hesitate to get in touch!
Eddie has been a resident of Albuquerque his entire life.
After he graduated from high school, Eddie joined the Plumbers & Pipefitters Union where he obtained his Journeyman Plumber and Journeyman Gas Certifications. He then worked in the commercial plumbing industry for 7 years until he and his father decided to go into business together and started Dub-L-EE, LLC.
In the last 7 years Eddie has obtained his GA02, GA03, and MM98 certifications allowing Dub-L-EE to fully utilize Eddie Sr. and Eddie Jr.’s expertise in the construction industry.