Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How do Gopher State One-Call and Digger's Hotline work?
A. Like all one-call centers, GSOC and Digger's Hotline work as an intermediary between registered utility operators and customers seeking information on the location of buried utilities.  Their operators enter locate request information into a computerized system that automatically identifies and notifies registered utility owners who have indicated they have facilities in a given area.  GSOC and Digger's Hotline do NOT mark underground facilities.

Q. If GSOC and Digger's Hotline don't mark the utilities, then who does?
A.  The utiliity operator is responsible for marking their facilities in response to a locate request through the one-call system.  In many cases, they contract with a locating company who receives the locate request and responds to it on their behalf.  Some utility operators use in-house personnel to respond to locate requests.  There is no practical difference in the end result.

Q. I called GSOC and they told me that some utilities are "private".  What does that mean? 
A. Not all buried utilities belong to a GSOC registered owner.  Underground utilities that are "private" include facilities that were installed for the use of their owner typically by someone other than a utility company like Xcel Energy, Qwest, or CenterPoint.  They include most parking lot lighting and commercial signage, internal communications lines on the campuses of schools, businesses and hospitals, and a variety of residential-use lines like power to pools, tennis courts, and gates as well as LP lines, sprinkler systems, and wells.   In fact, there are thousands of miles of private utility lines in the ground in Minnesota and most of the time getting them marked requires the hiring of a private utility locator who specializes in marking private utilities.

Q. Does Hance Utilty Services mark private facilities?
Yes.  Hance has been marking all types of facilities including private utilities since the early 1980's.  We are more than happy to schedule the location of your private utility lines, typically within two days- although same day service is sometimes available.

Q. How are private utility lines marked?
Private utility lines are located and marked in much the same way that owners of registered utilities mark theirs.  A technician will visit your location, request any information you might have in the form of a map, utility drawing, or even your personal recollection.  Then he or she will attempt to find the lines using electromagnetic induction.  Electromagnetic location of your utilties involves the placement of a radio signal onto the conductor and then tracing it from the surface using a specialized radio receiver.  In most circumstances, the technician will need only minimal access to the facility and will not need to disrupt service.  Depending on the nature of the site, the technician may also perform a passive sweep looking for 60Hz and VLF radio evidence of unknown utilities.  Any lines that are found are typically marked using an environmentally friendly paint system, color coded to utility type.  Evidence of the marks usually fades in a matter of three weeks or less.  Disposable flags can be used with or in place of paint at your request.

Q.  It sounds like you use pretty sophisticated equipment.  Is your service expensive?
A. We use industry standard equipment and it can be expensive to purchase and operate; however, we are always sensitive to the need to provide good value.  Our private locating services are competitively priced and we'll never try to sell you something you don't need or want.  Our service call prices vary depending on the type of site we're marking with residential customers getting the lowest rates, followed by commercial and industrial accounts.  Our service is almost always cheaper than a damaged line.

Q. Can you find an underground break in a line?
Usually, yes.  We operate underground fault locating equipment and enjoy a high degree of success in finding underground breaks- saving you time and money in the repair process.  The faulted line needs to be accessible at either end and our technicians cannot disconnect anything for you.  Direct buried lines work best and our success rate diminishes significantly when the ground is frozen or when the fault is locating under asphalt or concrete.  This is due to the nature of the process and equipment used. 

Q. Can you find or inspect my sewer or septic line?
A. Most of the time.  It depends on the particulars.  We do operate a lighted sewer camera that can be propelled through your piping and located from the surface even as it provides a video inspection record of the inside of your piping.  Cast iron piping does inhibit the location of the camera from the surface. When performing sewer camera work, we typically require the presence of a plumber on site.

Q. Do you offer a guarantee?
A. Unfortunately, no.  There are far too many variables that can interfere with a locate including the chance of there being underground facilities that no one knew were there and that our instruments were unable to detect.  But our success rate is very high and we've been protectng the assets of underground facility owners for a quarter of a century.  If we're having a difficult time finding something due to the physics of the locate or the nature of the site, we'll tell you about it and help you determine a safe dig plan.  Plus, as we like to say, we always improve your odds of a safe dig. 

Gopher State One-Call (Minnesota)
http://www.gopherstateonecall.org/

Digger's Hotline (Wisconsin)
http://www.diggershotline.com/


Miscellaneous

Excavation Safety Online
http://www.excavationsafetyonline.com/

International Locate Rodeo
http://www.locaterodeo.com/

State Fire Marshal, Minnesota DPS
http://www.dps.state.mn.us/pipeline/index.html