N.Y. General Business Law 764 – Duties of excavators
§ 764. Duties of excavators. 1. No excavator shall commence or engage in any excavation or demolition unless and until timely notice is served of the location and date of the proposed excavation or demolition as provided in this article to operators who maintain underground facilities in the area in which the excavation or demolition is to take place. The provision of such notice to a one-call notification system is deemed to be compliance with this section; and notice to the one-call notification center is notice to each member. Such notice shall be served in accordance with the rules and regulations adopted by the public service commission pursuant to § 119-b of the public service law.
Terms Used In N.Y. General Business Law 764
- Damage: means an impact upon or removal of support from an underground facility consequent to excavation or demolition which, according to the operating practices of the operator, would necessitate repair of such facility, destruction of any underground facility or its protective coating, housing or other protective device, and impact with or severance of an underground facility. See N.Y. General Business Law 760
- Demolition: means the wrecking, razing, rending, moving or removing of any structure. See N.Y. General Business Law 760
- Excavation: means an operation for the purpose of movement or removal of earth, rock or other materials in or on the ground by use of mechanized equipment or by blasting, and includes, but is not limited to, auguring, backfilling, drilling, grading, plowing in, pulling in, trenching and tunneling; provided, however, that the movement of earth by tools manipulated only by human or animal power and the tilling of soil for agricultural purposes shall not be deemed excavation. See N.Y. General Business Law 760
- Excavator: means a person who is engaged in a trade or business which includes the carrying out of excavation or demolition; provided, however, that an individual employed by an excavator, and having no supervisory authority, other than the routine direction of employees, over an excavation or demolition, shall not be deemed an excavator for the purposes of this article. See N.Y. General Business Law 760
- One-call notification system: means an organization among whose purposes is establishing and carrying out procedures and programs to protect underground facilities from damage due to excavation and demolition including, but not limited to, receiving notices of intent to perform excavation and demolition, and transmitting the notices to one or more of its member operators of underground facilities in the specified area. See N.Y. General Business Law 760
- Operator: means a person who operates an underground facility or facilities to furnish any of the following services or materials: electricity, gases, steam, liquid petroleum products, telephone or telegraph communications, cable television, sewage removal, traffic control systems, or water. See N.Y. General Business Law 760
- Underground facilities: means pipelines, conduits, ducts, cables, wires, manholes, vaults or other such facilities or their attachments, which have been installed underground by an operator to provide services or materials. See N.Y. General Business Law 760
2. Prior to any excavation or demolition, the excavator shall verify the precise location of the underground facilities in a manner set forth in the rules and regulations adopted by the public service commission pursuant to § 119-b of the public service law.
3. An excavator may proceed with such work if he has received notice from each operator notified by the one-call system that it has no underground facility in or within fifteen feet of the proposed work area or that the operator marked any underground facility located in or within fifteen feet of the proposed work area.
4. An excavator engaged in excavation or demolition shall be responsible for protecting and preserving the staking, marking or other designation by the operator until no longer required for proper and safe excavation or demolition work at or near the underground facility, maintain clearance between the underground facility, and the cutting edge or point of any equipment to avoid damage to the underground facility and provide support to and prevent damage to any underground facility or its protective coating, in the means and according to the methods set forth in the rules and regulations adopted by the public service commission pursuant to § 119-b of the public service law.
5. In the event of contact with and/or damage to an underground facility, the excavator shall immediately notify the operator of the facility and no backfilling shall be done by the excavator until inspection and/or repairs have been made by the operator and no repairs shall be undertaken by the excavator until authorized by the operator. In the event of an electrical short or the escape of gas or hazardous fluids endangering life, the excavator shall immediately notify the operator of the electric, gas or hazardous liquid underground facility and 911, and all persons who might be endangered and assist in the evacuation of such persons.