Reconsidering The Standard Utility Data Model in Commercial Construction

How to Create & Maintain an Accurate Permanent Utility Record

By Christine Potter, GPRS

Your dig policy is clear: You have to refer to existing utility records, call 811, and have a full public utility mark-out of your planned excavation area before a bucket hits the ground.

I hate to be the one to remind you that even doing everything by the book, you’re still at very real risk of a utility strike. How great that risk is, and its impact on safety, damages, your schedule, your budget, and the continuity of utility services to the community depends on one thing and one thing only: knowing what lies beneath the surface of your site.

Yet getting that vital subsurface utility information – and keeping track of it – are often treated like a quick, one-off job and a regulatory nuisance, rather than the only thing standing between your excavator and a world of trouble.

In fact, the updated statistical model provided by the Common Ground Alliance’s DIRT Report shows that although 263.5 million incoming excavation notifications and outgoing public utility notices were transmitted throughout the U.S. via OneCall centers in 2023, utility strikes/damages continue to occur at a consistent rate; more than 211,000 utility damages were reported to CGA in the same year.

In 2021, GPRS conducted research via The Finch Group to better understand the impact that utility strikes have on facilities. Over 150 facility managers participated in the study nationwide. The information they provided contained trends that were unsurprising, and some data that was unexpected.

Actual comparison of electrical line data from previous as-builts at the University of Toledo (in white) vs. GPRS’ geolocated electrical utility map (red) in SiteMap®.

For instance, we discovered that utility information, for locations as varied as a 150-year-old university campus, a hospital, or a long-established auto plant, was kept in as many as four different locations – in a combination of paper plans, individual laptops, and GIS systems – and that managers considered this standard operating procedure. The vast majority also built-in routine budgetary items for remediating utility strikes, and 66% of all managers surveyed said they’d experienced damages in the preceding five-year period.

The average overall cost of those utility strikes was $56,000 in physical damages, service interruptions, lost labor, and up to six weeks of downtime, per strike.

The number of strikes and their cost were unsurprising; we hear these stories from customers every day. The randomized approach to data collection and retention was unexpected and underpins the need for digital permanent utility records.

Calling 811 is Step One

Calling 811 is a critical first step to identify your subsurface utilities. Plus, submitting that excavation notification is mandated by state and federal law. State OneCall services, like OHIO811, are not-for-profit protection services that help you to notify public utility owners/operators before commencing an excavation. The protection service will submit your notification to registered public utility owners and operators who are required to report their response by marking their lines and communicating through means such as positive response before you break ground.

Step two is understanding that notifying 811 of your planned excavation is the initial, critical data point in building a complete picture of your subsurface facilities
; a permanent record that can be aggregated, updated, digitized, and versioned to provide your organization with comprehensive, secure, and sharable data to help you avoid utility strikes.

Creating a Permanent Digital Utility Record

Aggregating subsurface utility information – particularly in urbanized areas – can seem like a daunting task. Every day, more lines are being laid, many with trenchless technology, than ever before. But creating an up-to-date utility record can be done. Below are suggested steps to help you create and maintain a permanent record of underground utilities for a site of any size – from a single excavation point to a municipality – to help you plan, manage, dig, and build better.

  • Create a Baseline Utility Map Based on Existing Conditions & Records

    An aggregation of public records, utility records, past public utility location data, and observable aboveground facilities like manholes and junction boxes can all be correlated to provide a baseline of public utility locations. It is important to note, however, that this information may be incomplete and does not include private or unregistered utility lines. Verification of all line locations, registered and unregistered, will be required.

  • Aggregate & Digitize Existing Information

    Once existing data is gathered, paper records and photos can be annotated, catalogued, and digitized for upload to a centralized location. Almost all GIS platforms rely on you uploading your records for reference. There are programs like Google Earth that allow you to draw your own utility lines on their satellite map, but do require you to house your information on a computer, as Google Earth does not have cloud computing capabilities.

  • Verify Your Registered & Unregistered Utility Line Data

    Your public utility mark-out data covers only your registered utility lines. Public utility owners do not locate or mark-out unregistered, private utility lines, and some 65% of all buried utility lines are private, not public. So, it is crucial to verify the location of all subsurface utilities, public and private, before committing them to your permanent record. Potholing your registered utility lines can verify their locations and hiring a private utility locating company that provides accurate private utility mapping will give you the most comprehensive picture of your subsurface.

  • Geolocate, Annotate, and Layer Your Findings

    As noted above, most GIS platforms provide the ability to upload your own utility records, which you can tag to a specific location. Research the options available to find the most precise satellite map you can and use GPS or RTK positioning to geolocate exact locations. RTK positioning provides the most accurate geolocation for this purpose.

  • Centralize & Secure Data Storage

    Once you’ve decided on the appropriate cloud-based storage solution, upload all of your relevant data to that location. Even if you are still holding paper plans and using Google Earth, having one redundant cloud-based application where you and your team can find the subsurface utility data you need can save unnecessary miscommunications, eliminate mistakes, and could even save lives.

  • Detail Processes to Update & Version Utility Data

    Getting anyone in the AEC and related industries to adopt new procedures is always a challenge. That’s why a concerted and comprehensive process that is communicated and reinforced throughout your organization is vital. It may take time to get everyone on board the train to the digital age, but once you do, it will make your – and their – jobs easier.

  • Update Your Ground Disturbance Plan to Reflect Existing Data Policies

    One of the most effective ways to structure and communicate the need for a permanent utility record is via your ground disturbance policy. By requiring consistent verification of all your utility information, either by mapping, potholing, or a combination of the two, your safety team helps to ensure far fewer utility strikes and the problems that come with them. GPRS has long offered complimentary ground disturbance plan consultations for this very reason.

Because GPRS has been in the business of existing conditions documentation, subsurface utility mapping, and damage prevention for almost 25 years, providing intelligent visualization services nationwide necessitated that we create our own data capture processes and management systems to keep our customers’ information secure, geolocated, and at their fingertips.

GPRS’ SiteMap® platform (patent pending) provides customers with digitized utility maps, among other applications, and its mobile app lets you keep your existing conditions data in your pocket.

The result is SiteMap® (patent pending). Launched in 2023, it is a proprietary GIS system that can house everything from a layered, interactive utility map to an integrated above-and-below-ground BIM-model flythrough, and everything in between. Inside SiteMap®, GPRS customers can find, annotate, aggregate, and securely share their site infrastructure data with anyone they designate, assuring they keep complete control. That’s why we provide complimentary SiteMap® access at the personal level to every GPRS utility locating customer.

Whether you create your own strike team of safety and data pros to collect and aggregate your historical as-builts or hire a professional utility locator to manage it for you, creating a permanent record of the subsurface is more important than ever.

This article was written by:
Christine Potter
Content Editor for GPRS

christine.potter@gprsinc.com
https://gprsinc.com
https://sitemap.com/

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