NATIONAL SAFE DIGGING MONTH
A Legal Case Involving Utility Hit that WAS Marked by 811
As we ’ ve reported before , Washington state strengthened its “ Call Before You Dig ” laws about five years ago to create a much stricter regime , with significant penalties for property owners , utility providers , and contractors that fail to comply with its requirements . And now we ’ ve got one of the first published decisions under the new regime , which holds that the new Call Before You Dig law creates strict liability for violations .
In Titan Earthwork v . City of Federal Way , an excavator struck a power line , the utility sought to hold it liable , and the excavator sued the owner , claiming that the owner had misrepresented the location . The plaintiff excavator had called 811 , and did have the utilities located and marked , but claimed that it had relied on Federal Way ’ s assurances that the power lines had been relocated , and so sought to have Federal Way pay for the damages .
The court of appeals agreed that the undisputed evidence showed that the excavator had performed its work within the tolerance zone of the utility locator ’ s marking ( i . e ., too close to the surface markings ). The excavator argued that under the Call Before You Dig law excavators have only a duty of reasonable care , and that the excavator had exercised reasonable care when it relied on Federal Way ’ s representation about the utility lines , being relocated , which led the excavator to dig too close to the boundaries marked by the utility locator .
26 DITCHMEN • APRIL 2021