Weatherbee, Stephanie L.

English

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University of New HampshireUniversity of New Hampshire Scholars' RepositoryDivision 01 – General Requirements Chapter 5 – Technical Construction andRenovation Standards2-26-2016011000 - B - DigSafe - Utility Damage PreventionProgramSandra Hickeysandra.hickey@unh.eduFollow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/pdch_5_01This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Chapter 5 – Technical Construction and Renovation Standards at University of NewHampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Division 01 – General Requirements by an authorized administrator ofUniversity of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact nicole.hentz@unh.edu.Recommended CitationHickey, Sandra, "011000 - B - DigSafe - Utility Damage Prevention Program" (2016). Division 01 – General Requirements. 3.https://scholars.unh.edu/pdch_5_01/3UNIVERSITY of  NEW HAMPSHIRE    PLANNING, DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION GUIDELINES February 26, 2016 CHAPTER 5 – TECHNICAL CONSTRUCTION AND RENOVATION STANDARDS GENERAL REQUIREMENTS – ATTACHMENT A 01 1000 – Attachment A-1  ATTACHMENT A - DIG SAFE – UTILITY DAMAGE PREVENTION PROGRAM   1. PURPOSE: To establish policy to comply with Dig Safe - New Hampshire State Law for Utility Damage Prevention program.   2. SCOPE: Applies to all excavating activities.   3. BACKGROUND: Compliance with State of New Hampshire Law RSA 374, DIG SAFE LAW, and the New Hampshire Code of Administrative Rules, Chapter Puc 800, UNDERGROUND UTILITY DAMAGE PREVENTION PROGRAM, the University of New Hampshire is required to file notice when activities requiring “excavating” are within 100 feet of an “underground facility.”  “Excavating” as defined by RSA 374: 48, Part III "Excavate,” “excavating,” or “excavation” means any operation conducted on private property or in a public way, right-of-way, easement, public street, or other public place, in which earth, rock, or other material in the ground is moved, removed, or otherwise displaced by means of any tools, equipment, or explosive, and includes but is not limited to drilling, grading, boring, milling, trenching, tunneling, scraping, tree and root removal, cable or pipe plowing, fence or sign post installation, tent stake installation, pile driving, wrecking, razing, rending or moving any structure or mass material but does not include the tilling of soil for agricultural purposes, landscaping and maintenance of residential property performed with non-mechanized equipment, landscaping activities performed with mechanized equipment that are intended to cut vegetation, including lawn edging, aeration, and de-thatching, excavations permitted or grandfathered under RSA 155-E, or replacement of department-of-transportation-installed delineator posts in the same location.  “Underground facility” as defined by RSA 374:48, Part VII …any property which is buried, placed below ground, or submerged on a public way, private property, right-of-way, easement, public street, or other public place and is being used or will be used for the conveyance of cable television, electricity, gas, sewerage, steam, telecommunications, or water.  The notice of intent is to be filed with Dig Safe Inc. – Damage Prevention System (RSA 374:49).  Dig Safe Inc. receives notice of proposed excavations (here after referred to as Dig Safe request) and alerts it member utilities.  Dig Safe requests require 3 business days (or 72 hours not including weekends and holidays) for processing; allowing opportunity for the member utilities to locate and identify utilities within an area of excavation.   Violations of RSA 374 can result in substantial fines by the Utilities Commission, as well as injunctions.    4. POLICY AND PRACTICE:   A. Activities associated with UNH Dig Safe will be coordinated and executed by Facilities Campus Planning, and will include the following: 1) Develop Dig Safe request submittal procedure. 2) Ensure UNH Dig Safe policy and procedures are being followed by UNH personnel as well as outside contractors on UNH property.   UNIVERSITY of  NEW HAMPSHIRE    PLANNING, DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION GUIDELINES February 26, 2016 CHAPTER 5 – TECHNICAL CONSTRUCTION AND RENOVATION STANDARDS GENERAL REQUIREMENTS – ATTACHMENT A 01 1000 – Attachment A-2 3) UNH Dig Safe Coordinator will file Dig Safe notification (original notification and renewal) with Dig Safe Inc. 4) Manage and coordinate with utility marking sub-contractor.  5) Conduct annual UNH Dig Safe refresher seminars.  B. Any excavation activity, as defined above, will be required to submit a Dig Safe request with Facilities Campus Planning.   C. All Dig Safe requests are to be submitted to Facilities Campus Planning by UNH personnel only.  Requests from contractors will be redirected to Project Management for review.   Once a request has been received for Dig Safe related activities on campus, Facilities Campus Planning will submit the ticket to Dig Safe Inc. and then relay all pertinent Dig Safe related information (Ticket #, start date, etc.) back to Facilities Project Management who in turn will relay this information to their contractors.  Contractors are strongly encouraged to follow these UNH Dig Safe procedures and guidelines, and should contact the UNH Dig Safe Administrator with any questions. 1) Dig Safe requests from EMCOR are to be submitted by Facilities Utilities Division. 2) Individuals placed in Facilities Operations & Maintenance management and supervisory positions such as Zone Manager or Director of Operations & Maintenance through management agreements are included as the equivalent of UNH personnel and may submit Dig Safe requests.  D. Area of excavation must be identified on site and referred to as “premarking.” 1) Premarking should be completed prior to submitting a Dig Safe request.  2) Only white marking products (paint, flags, stakes, whiskers, or combination) are to be used.  Stakes with the tops painted white or directly painting on the snow with fluorescent pink can be used to premark snowy terrain.   3) Premarking will encompass the entire site perimeter.  No excavation is to occur outside the pre-marked area.  Any additional excavation required that is outside of the pre-marked area requires a new dig safe request to be submitted. a) 1-inch wide solid line, or b) 1-inch wide, 6 to 12-inch long dashed line at an interval of 4 to 10-feet apart depending on the area of excavation, or  c) Point features (flags, stakes, or whiskers) at interval distances that will be obvious to utility locators.    E. Maintenance of the Dig Safe markings is the contractors responsibility through the duration of the project. Failure to maintain the markings will result in charges to the contractor for re-marking the Dig Safe ticket.  F. Dig Safe requests are to be submitted utilizing current Dig Safe request forms. 1) DigSafe_Request_vX.X.pdf – Typical Dig Safe Request 2) DigSafe_Request_Renewal_vX.X.pdf – Renew a Dig Safe Ticket. 3) Dig Safe_Request_Blasting_vX.X.pdf – Activities associated with blasting.  This form is in addition to the DigSafe_Request_vX.X.pdf 4) DigSafe_Request_Emergency_vX.X.pdf – For emergency Dig Safe requests.    G. Dig Safe requests are to be submitted with a site location map that clearly depicts the area of excavation.    UNIVERSITY of  NEW HAMPSHIRE    PLANNING, DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION GUIDELINES February 26, 2016 CHAPTER 5 – TECHNICAL CONSTRUCTION AND RENOVATION STANDARDS GENERAL REQUIREMENTS – ATTACHMENT A 01 1000 – Attachment A-3 H. Dig Safe requests, and site map, should be scanned (PDF file type) and submitted to Facilities Campus Planning via Dig Safe email alias: Dig.Safe@unh.edu      I. Dig Safe requests require 5 business days to process (excludes weekends and federal, state and University holidays).    J. Emergency Dig Safe requests are to be initialized only when “…a sudden or unexpected occurrence involving a clear and imminent danger demanding immediate action to prevent or mitigate loss of, or damage to, life, health, property, or essential public services.” (PUC 802.03).  1) If emergency occurs during normal working hours (8am – 4pm), the UNH emergency dig safe form should be filled out and submitted to Facilities Campus Planning along with a follow up phone call to the Unh Dig Safe Coordinator to confirm receipt of the emergency dig safe submission.   2) If emergency occurs during non-working hours, then the requestor should call Dig Safe Inc. directly at 1-888-DIG-SAFE.  Note that no UNH owned utilities will be marked out until normal working hours begin, requestor should be extremely cautious when excavating for emergencies during non-normal hours.  Following calling Dig Safe Inc., requestor should fill out the UNH Emergency Dig Safe form and submit to Facilities Campus Planning along with all information (Dig Safe Number etc.) received from Dig Safe Inc.  K. Processed Dig Safe requests will receive a Dig Safe Number, Dig Safe Date, Dig Safe Time, and Renew by Date. 1) Site excavation may not begin until after the Dig Safe date and time. Some dig safes for large projects may take longer than the Dig Safe law of 72 hours to mark out and as such no excavation should take place until confirmation of mark out completion is given to the requestor from Facilities Campus Planning. 2) Dig Safe Number will expire 30 calendar days from the time Facilities Campus Planning submits the request to Dig Safe Inc.  3) Projects longer than 30 days in duration will be required to submit a renewal request by the Renew by Date. Maintenance of the marks is the contractors responsibility. 4) Renewal Requests submitted after the Renew by Date will not be accepted.    L. If a Dig Safe number expires, and a renewal has not been submitted, site excavation must stop and a new Dig Safe request must be submitted.   M. Facilities Campus Planning will maintain complete records of all Dig Safe request forms and provide copy of the documentation to the requestor via PDF format.    N. Underground facilities will be marked according to the American Public Works Association color codes and marking procedure.  O. Once located, utility markings will be maintained by the requestor as per state law.      

011000 - B - DigSafe - Utility Damage Prevention Program

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011000 - B - DigSafe - Utility Damage Prevention Program

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