Does 811 Mark Private Utility Lines in Colorado?
No. 811 tells the utility companies to mark their own lines up to your meter. Everything past the meter is yours, and the 811 ticket says nothing about it.
811 vs. a private locate
Two different jobs, and you need both
No. Colorado 811 does not mark private lines, and that surprises most people the first time they dig.
What 811 is. A free notification service, required by Colorado law before you excavate. You file a ticket online or by phone, the member utilities get two full business days to respond, and each utility owner sends its own locator to mark its own lines. Nobody at 811 marks anything; they pass the word.
What 811 covers. The utility companies' facilities up to the point of service, which is usually your meter or the end of the utility's own line. The gas main and the service to the meter. The electric primary and the service to the meter. The water main to the curb stop. The sewer main in the street. The phone and cable to the pedestal.
What 811 does not cover. Everything you own past that point, which on most lots is most of what is buried: the power to the shop, the garage, the gate or the well; the gas line to the fire pit, the grill, the pool heater or the generator; the irrigation main and its laterals; landscape lighting; the sewer lateral from the house to the main; the water service on the house side of the curb stop; private fiber and communications between buildings; septic and leach lines; buried downspout drains. The utilities do not own those lines, so they do not mark them, and a finished 811 ticket says nothing about them.
The right order. Call 811 first; it is free and it is the law. Wait for the marks. Then have a private locator mark the private side. Then dig, and hand-dig anywhere near a mark, public or private, rather than trusting the machine to miss it.
What we do. We are the private side, in Colorado Springs and along the Front Range. We trace with an electromagnetic locator and sweep with ground-penetrating radar, paint the results in APWA color code where the line runs, give no depth, and put in writing anything we could not find. Send the address and what you are digging through the request form, or call or text (719) 800-4937, and we send a firm number, within one business day.
811 ticket done? Now the private side.
Send the address and what you are digging through the request form, or call or text (719) 800-4937. Firm quote within one business day, often the same day.