811 & Safety Tips for Contractors & Excavators
Contact 811 Before You Dig - It’s the Law!
Protect yourself and those around you by contacting Underground Service Alert, at no cost.
Accidents involving contractors and excavators are one of the leading causes of pipeline damage. With approximately 100,000 miles of natural gas pipelines in SoCalGas® service territory, unmarked pipelines can be anywhere. Damage to natural gas pipelines can cause injury or death and can result in additional costs. It's especially important for contractors and excavators to be informed of the potential safety issues that might arise when working around natural gas pipelines.
Notifying 811 prior to excavation is required by California law.
Failure to comply can result in heavy fines.
Digging, excavation and grading near buried pipelines are major causes of pipeline damage, which can result in injury, costly repairs, natural gas service disruptions and project delays. Regardless of the size or scope of the work you're planning, protect yourself, your employees, and the community by having the pipeline locations marked.
Follow these important steps before you start a project:
Mark
Mark out your proposed excavation area. Use white paint or provide other markings.
Contact
Submit a request online. or call 811 to submit a location request at least two business days before digging, not including the date of notification. SoCalGas will be contacted, as well as other utility owners, to mark the location of all utility-owned lines for FREE. Check utility responses to your 811 ticket by visiting DigAlert.org or USANorth.org.
Wait
Do not dig until we either mark our natural gas pipelines or you are advised that the area is clear.
Confirm
Confirm the utilities have marked the proposed work area. Natural gas is indicated in yellow. If no natural gas facilities are in your work area you may get a call, email, or see writing on the ground that indicates “no conflict” or “no natural gas.”
Hand Tools
Use only hand tools within 24 inches on each side of marked utility lines to carefully expose the exact locations.
A USA ticket is valid for 28 days. If work is to continue, the ticket must be updated prior to the end of 28 days.
NOTE: SoCalGas is responsible for marking natural gas pipelines up to the gas meter. To locate and mark customer-owned lines, which typically run from the meter to natural gas equipment, contact a qualified pipe-locating professional.
Recognize a Natural Gas Leak
Be aware of signs you may see, hear or smell when there is a leak.
Look
If you see a damaged connection to a natural gas appliance, dirt/water blowing into the air, a dry patch of grass, fire or an explosion near a pipeline.
Listen
If you hear unusual sounds like hissing or whistling.
Smell
If you smell the distinctive odor[1] of natural gas.
[1] Some persons may not be able to smell the odor because they have a diminished sense of smell, olfactory fatigue (normal, temporary inability to distinguish an odor after prolonged exposure to it), a temporary loss of smell due to COVID-19 or another physical condition, or because the odor is being masked or hidden by other odors that are present. In addition, certain pipeline and soil conditions can cause odor fade (the loss of odorant so that it is not detectable by smell).
Report a Natural Gas Leak
If you suspect a natural gas leak, evacuate the area immediately, and from a safe location, call SoCalGas at 1-800-427-2200.
- Do not smoke or light a flame; or turn electrical appliances or and lights on or off.
- Do not use any device that could cause a spark.
- Do not attempt to control the leak or repair damaged pipe or meter. Natural gas leaking from a plastic pipe can create static electricity that can ignite the natural gas.
Odor Fade
Sometimes physical and/or chemical processes can cause a loss of odorant in natural gas, making it undetectable by smell. Odor fade can be caused by adsorption, absorption, oxidation or any combination thereof.
Odor fade is more likely to occur in the following situations:
- In new, steel pipe that has been recently manufactured or hasn’t been used for odorized natural gas before
- In natural gas piping systems using higher gas pressure, and when natural gas flow is limited or intermittent
- In the presence of rust, mill scale, moisture, air, cutting oil, pipe thread compound, liquids, condensates and other substances
- The design and construction of the customer’s gas piping systems, such as, pipe length and/or diameters
Because of the possibility of odor fade, it's important to not rely only on your sense of smell to be alerted to a natural gas leak. For a printable copy about odor fade and safe purging practices, see our Safety Bulletin.
If you have additional questions or concerns regarding pipe conditioning or odor fade, call us at 1-800-427-2200 or contact a licensed, qualified professional.
COVID-19 may cause a temporary loss of smell that could make it more difficult to detect the odorant that is added to natural gas to help make leaks easier to detect.
Additional Resources
Earthquake Shut Off and Excess Flow Valves
See how shut off and excess flow valves can help in an emergency.
Clearing an Exterior Sewer Line
Make sure your sewer line isn’t blocked by a natural gas pipeline.