A Message from Ontario One Call

The first week in May is traditionally the busiest at Ontario One Call in terms of receiving excavation requests.  Based on volumes so far, 2019 will easily surpass all previous records for volume.

During peak season, it’s important for members, LSP’s and excavators to communicate effectively.  For excavators planning major projects, it is vital that members and LSP’s are advised well in advance of any specific needs you may have.  Just like you would give a supplier plenty of notice for a major request, it’s important to give the same consideration to locators.

When submitting requests, please pay careful attention to the size of the request area and the amount of work you expect to complete within 30 days.  Excavators who submit excessively large excavation areas or don’t start their work in a timely manner are wasting locating resources to the detriment of other excavators.  Locators may contact excavators to understand their needs and work to reschedule some of the work to a more appropriate timeline.  That’s an important tool to ensure that locates don’t expire and cause more re-locates.

Ontario One Call offers resources to help excavators manage their needs.  Our Client Services group can show an excavator the tools on our web portal as well as give advice on how to prepare before submitting a locate request.  If you are not familiar with all of those features, contact us at Solutions@OntarioOneCall.ca and we’ll be happy to help.

For major projects, many excavators are using a dedicated locator model.  The feedback from both excavators and members has been very positive when using this method.  Ontario One Call can help members with their setup so that they can take advantage of the dedicated locator model.  We can also help excavators interested in exploring a dedicated locator project get in touch with the relevant members.

Regards,

Ontario One Call