Call 811 before you bury a wire

When each state's dig law applies to trenching for a feeder, a generator line or a post light, and how much notice its 811 center needs.

Updated October 3, 2026123 official sources

Before you or an electrician dig a trench for a feeder to a garage, a generator line or a post light, call 811 so the buried utility lines are marked. Each state's law sets how much notice it needs and what digging it covers. In every state, trenching a feeder, a generator line or a post light is excavation under the one-call law, so where the law covers you it needs a locate request first. The table says who each law covers and how much notice its center wants.

State	811 center, notice, and what the law covers
Alabama	Alabama 811: 2 to 10 working days, not counting the day of notice. Today the law covers digging with powered equipment, homeowners included. A new law from January 1, 2027 adds hand digging, except by a property owner using hand tools on their own property.^1-3
Alaska	811 Alaska: 2 to 15 working days. The law covers anyone who moves earth by any means, homeowners included.^4-5
Arizona	Arizona 811: 2 working days (the time operators have to mark). The law covers digging by any tool in a street, a utility easement (including the implied easement over a home's service lines) or a mobile home park, so a homeowner trenching a feeder, generator line or post light must wait for marks.^6-8
Arkansas	Arkansas 811 (Arkansas One Call): 2 to 10 full working days. Arkansas 811 tells homeowners the law requires a call before digging. Hand digging away from a utility's right-of-way or easement is exempt, but trenching a feeder, a generator line or a post light with a machine isn't.^9-10
California	USA North 811 (northern California) or DigAlert (southern California): 2 working days, and no more than 14 calendar days, not counting the day of notice. A homeowner digging at their own home is exempt only when the work needs no permit, so trenching a permitted feeder, generator line or post light needs a locate request.^11-14
Colorado	Colorado 811: 2 business days, not counting the day of notice. Colorado 811 says property owners must contact it before any digging, small projects included.^15-16
Connecticut	Call Before You Dig (CBYD): 2 full working days, not counting the day of notice, weekends or holidays. The law covers digging with powered or mechanized equipment by anyone, homeowners included; hand digging falls outside the definition.^17-18
Delaware	Delmarva 811: 3 to 12 business days. Homeowners must call too, though the owner of a private residence digging only on that land, away from utility easements, isn't subject to the penalties. Trenching a feeder, a generator line or a post light near a service line needs a locate request first.^19-20
District of Columbia	Miss Utility: 96 hours to 10 days, not counting weekends and legal holidays. The law covers digging with any tool on private property as well as in public space, with no homeowner exemption.^21-23
Florida	Sunshine 811 (Sunshine State One-Call of Florida): 2 full business days. An owner of a single-family home digging only on that land up to 10 inches deep, away from utility easements, is exempt. Burying a feeder, a generator line or a post light goes deeper than that, so it needs a locate request.^24-25
Georgia	Georgia 811: 2 to 8 business days, starting 7 a.m. the business day after the request. The law covers digging with mechanized equipment by anyone, homeowners included; hand digging falls outside it.²⁶
Hawaii	Hawaii 811 (Dig Safely Hawaii Notification Center): 5 working days to 28 calendar days. Digging at an existing one- or two-family home on a residential lot of 2 acres or less isn't 'excavation' under the law, so the notice rule doesn't bind a homeowner trenching a feeder or generator line there. Other property, including larger lots, is covered.^27-29
Idaho	Idaho DigLine: 2 to 10 business days. Digging less than 15 inches deep on private property outside a recorded utility easement is exempt. Deeper trenching for a feeder, a generator line or a post light needs a locate request first, homeowners included.^30-32
Illinois	JULIE (Joint Utility Locating Information for Excavators): 2 to 10 days, not counting weekends, holidays or the day of notice. The law has no homeowner exemption, and JULIE says anyone digging for any outdoor project must notify it.^33-35
Indiana	Indiana 811: 2 full working days to 10 calendar days. Only hand digging on your own property to 12 inches or less is exempt. Trenching a feeder, a generator line or a post light goes past that, so it needs a locate request.^36-37
Iowa	Iowa One Call: 48 hours, starting 6 a.m. the next business day and not counting weekends or holidays. The law covers anyone excavating with tools or equipment, homeowners included; only gardening and similar work is left out.^38-40
Kansas	Kansas 811: 2 full working days to 20 calendar days. An occupant digging at their own primary residence isn't an 'excavator' under the law, though Kansas 811 asks homeowners to call before every job. A contractor trenching a feeder, a generator line or a post light must request a locate.^41-43
Kentucky	Kentucky 811: 2 full working days (no more than 10). It applies to homeowners too: only hand digging on private property away from a utility's right of way or easement is exempt (KRS 367.4915(4)).^44-46
Louisiana	Louisiana 811: 48 hours, excluding weekends and holidays (no more than 120 hours). The law covers anyone digging on a customer's premises by powered or manual means, homeowners included.^47-49
Maine	Dig Safe System: 3 business days (no more than 30 calendar days). The law covers anyone digging with power tools or equipment, homeowners included; hand digging and gardening aren't covered.^50-51
Maryland	Miss Utility: 3 business days (no more than 12). The law covers anyone moving earth with any tool, homeowners included, hand-dug or machine-dug.^52-54
Massachusetts	Dig Safe System: 72 hours, excluding weekends and legal holidays (no more than 30 days). The notice rule covers an excavator installing or repairing a facility on public or private land, and the dig area must be premarked.^{51, 55-56}
Michigan	MISS DIG 811: 72 hours, counted in business days (no more than 14 calendar days). The law covers digging with power tools or power equipment by anyone, homeowners included.^57-59
Minnesota	Gopher State One Call: 48 hours, excluding the day of notice, weekends and holidays (no more than 14 calendar days). The law covers anyone disturbing soil with powered tools or machines, homeowners included.^60-62
Mississippi	Mississippi 811: 3 working days (no more than 10). A homeowner digging by hand less than 12 inches deep on their own property is exempt (Miss. Code 77-13-5(4)(b)), but a trench for a feeder, generator line or post light goes deeper and needs a locate first.^63-64
Missouri	Missouri 811 (Missouri One Call System): 2 working days (no more than 10). The law covers digging on private property with any tool or equipment, homeowners included.^65-68
Montana	Montana 811: 2 business days (facility owners have 2 business days to mark). Homeowners are exempt only for gardening or hand landscaping under 12 inches deep (MCA 69-4-501).^69-71
Nebraska	Nebraska 811: 2 full business days (no more than 10). The law covers anyone moving earth with tools or equipment, homeowners included, apart from tilling and gardening.^72-73
Nevada	USA North 811: 2 working days (no more than 28 calendar days). A homeowner digging by hand is covered once the dig goes deeper than 12 inches, and any digging with mechanical equipment is covered (NRS 455.092).^{13, 74}
New Hampshire	Dig Safe System: 72 hours, excluding weekends and legal holidays (no more than 30 days). The law covers digging on private property with any tool, except landscaping and upkeep of a home done without machines (RSA 374:48), and the dig area must be premarked.^{51, 75-76}
New Jersey	New Jersey One Call: 3 business days (no more than 10). Only routine residential upkeep and landscaping with hand tools is excluded (N.J.S.A. 48:2-75).⁷⁷
New Mexico	New Mexico 811: 2 full working days. The rule counts a locate ticket as effective after two full working days, and New Mexico 811 asks homeowners to call too.^78-79
New York	UDig NY (upstate); New York 811 (New York City and Long Island): 2 working days, not counting the day of the call (no more than 10). The rule covers digging with machines or blasting, so hand digging is outside it.^80-81
North Carolina	NC811: 3 full working days. An owner digging on their own single-family property is exempt unless they dig by machine on a utility's right of way or easement (G.S. 87-124). Anyone else, including an electrician trenching a feeder, generator line or post light, must give notice first.^82-84
North Dakota	North Dakota One Call: 48 hours, not counting weekends and holidays. The law covers anyone who digs, homeowners included. Garden work is exempt only above 12 inches deep.^85-86
Ohio	OHIO811 (Ohio Utilities Protection Service): 2 working days, not counting the day of notice, and no more than 16 calendar days ahead. The law applies to anyone who digs with hand or power tools, homeowners included.^87-89
Oklahoma	OKIE811 (Oklahoma One-Call System): 48 hours, not counting the day of notice, weekends and legal holidays. An individual digging on their own property isn't covered unless the digging is in a private or public easement or right-of-way, where service lines often run. A contractor trenching a feeder, generator line or post light must call.^90-91
Oregon	Oregon Utility Notification Center (Oregon 811): 2 to 10 business days. Homeowners must call too; an owner or tenant is exempt only for digging under 12 inches on their own property outside any easement (OAR 952-001-0050). A trench for a feeder, generator line or post light is usually deeper, so it needs a locate first.^92-93
Pennsylvania	Pennsylvania One Call System (PA 811): 3 to 10 business days, not counting the day of notice. The law covers digging with powered equipment by anyone, homeowners included; hand digging isn't covered.^94-95
Rhode Island	Dig Safe System: 72 hours, not counting weekends and holidays, and no more than 30 days ahead. The law covers digging with powered or mechanized equipment by anyone within 100 feet of a utility line; hand digging is excluded.^{51, 96-97}
South Carolina	SC811 (Palmetto Utility Protection Service): 3 to 12 full working days, not counting the day of notice. Since May 22, 2026 hand digging counts as excavation; a homeowner is exempt only for hand digging under 12 inches on their own land away from utility easements.^98-99
South Dakota	South Dakota 811 (South Dakota One Call): 48 hours, counted from 12:01 a.m. the day after notice, not counting weekends and state holidays. The law covers digging with any tools, homeowners included; only gardening under 12 inches is exempt.^100-101
Tennessee	Tennessee 811: 3 working days, and up to 10 working days ahead. State law requires anyone responsible for an excavation, hand digging included, to contact Tennessee 811 first (TCA 65-31-106), homeowners included.^102-103
Texas	Texas811: 48 hours, not counting weekends and legal holidays, and no more than 14 days ahead. The law covers digging 16 inches or deeper with powered or mechanized equipment by anyone; hand digging and shallower work aren't covered. A machine-dug trench for a feeder or generator line usually reaches that depth.^104-105
Utah	Blue Stakes of Utah 811: 48 business-day hours, starting 8 a.m. the next business day, and no more than 14 days ahead. The law covers moving earth with any tools, homeowners included.^106-108
Vermont	Dig Safe System: 72 hours, not counting weekends and legal holidays, and no more than 30 days ahead. The law covers digging with powered or mechanized equipment within 100 feet of a utility line, and the area must be premarked first; routine home gardening with hand tools is excluded.^{51, 109}
Virginia	Virginia 811: 3 working days (lines marked by 7 a.m. on the third working day after the request). No person may dig with any tools or equipment without first submitting a locate request, homeowners included.^110-113
Washington	Washington 811: 2 to 10 full business days. Homeowners must call too, except for digging under 12 inches deep on their own private noncommercial property. A trench for a feeder, generator line or post light is usually deeper, so it needs a locate first.^114-116
West Virginia	West Virginia 811: 48 hours, not counting weekends and holidays, and no more than 10 work days ahead. The law applies to any person digging with any tools, homeowners included.^117-119
Wisconsin	Diggers Hotline: 3 working days. The law covers anyone who moves earth with any tools, homeowners included.^120-121
Wyoming	One-Call of Wyoming (Wyoming 811): 2 to 14 full business days. The law covers digging with hand or power tools by anyone, homeowners included; only tilling and gardening are excluded.^122-123

Dig laws and 811 centers from state legislatures and the states' one-call centers, checked October 2026.

Call 811 before you bury a wire

Tell us about your job

Sources (123)

Find electricians in your county