Case study: a fence crew drilled through the shop power line

A homeowner called us after the power to their shop went dead. A fencing company had been out that week installing a new fence. The crew had called 811, got the public utilities marked, and started setting posts.

The shop feed was not one of the lines 811 marked, because it was not theirs to mark. It ran from the meter to the shop, which makes it a private line and the property owner's responsibility to have located. One of the post holes went straight through it.

What we were called out to do

By the time we arrived the fence was in and the line was buried under it. The question was no longer whether the line had been hit, but exactly where, because nobody wanted to open a trench along the whole run hunting for the break.

Electrical fault locating finds the point where a buried conductor has failed. We traced the run, pinpointed the fault, and marked it so the electrician could open one hole in the right place and make the repair.

What it cost

The customer's account was that the repair ran about ten times what a private locate would have cost before the work started. That figure is theirs, not a quote from us, and every site is different. But the shape of it is familiar: the locate is a scheduled visit at a known price, and the repair is an emergency with an electrician, an excavation and a shop with no power until it is finished.

Why 811 did not prevent it

811 is free, legally required, and the right first call on every job. It marks public utilities to the meter. It does not mark the feed to a shop, barn or well pump, the irrigation main, the septic line, or anything else a property owner or a previous owner put in the ground past the meter.

A contractor who calls 811 and gets marks has done what the law requires of them for public facilities. They have not established what private line is on the property, and on a rural parcel the private line is usually the larger share of it. See does 811 cost money, what's free and what isn't.

What would have changed the outcome

A private locate before the first post hole. On a fence line that means walking the run, marking what crosses it, and showing the crew where they cannot auger. It takes a visit.

If you are the contractor, asking the property owner whether a private locate has been done protects you as much as them. If you are the property owner, the private line is yours, which means the damage is too.

More on the pattern: common private utility locating mistakes on rural properties.

Get the private lines located first

Advanced Underground Utility Locating has been locating private utilities since 2002. We locate the lines 811 will not mark, verify the public marks that were made, and mark public lines that were missed. Electrical fault locating is available when a line has already been damaged.

Spokane, Coeur d'Alene and the Idaho panhandle: 509-710-2621. Seattle, Tacoma and Portland: 509-954-8623. Bend, Medford and northern California: 541-678-0629. Eugene and Roseburg: 541-780-4149. Coos Bay and the Oregon Coast: 541-315-6728. Emergency service is available 24 hours.