Private utility locating · 50 states and D.C.

Find a Private Utility Locator Near You

811 marks public utility lines up to the meter. Everything on your side of the meter is yours: water and sewer laterals, power to pools and shops, gas to grills, irrigation and fiber. Find a private locator in your state to mark them before you dig.

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1. Call 811 first

Your state's One Call center sends utility companies to mark their public lines up to the meter. It's free.

2. Know what's private

Sprinklers, pool power, sewer laterals, gas to grills and lines to shops belong to the property owner.

3. Hire a private locator

GPR and EM equipment find metal and plastic lines and mark them on the ground before you dig.

What 811 doesn't mark

Private lines a locator can find

On most properties, the lines installed by the owner, a builder or a contractor after the meter are private. They are the lines most often hit by fence, deck, pool, landscaping and solar projects.

Electric

Power to pools, hot tubs, detached garages, shops, gate operators, landscape and parking lot lighting, EV chargers and standby generators.

Gas

Lines from the meter to grills, fire pits, pool heaters, generators, outdoor kitchens and detached buildings.

Communications

Fiber, data and low-voltage cable between buildings, and wiring for security cameras, alarms and gates.

Water

The service line from a curbside meter to the house, private fire lines and hydrants, and lines to barns and outbuildings.

Irrigation

Sprinkler mains, lateral lines and zone valve wiring, which are often shallow and run across the whole yard.

Sewer and drains

Sewer laterals to the street, septic tanks and drain fields, storm drains and buried downspout lines.

Reading the marks

What the paint colors mean

Public and private locators use the same APWA uniform color code, so marks look the same no matter who placed them. Lines are shown with paint, flags or both.

RedElectric power lines, cables, conduit and lighting cables
YellowGas, oil, steam, petroleum or other gaseous or flammable material
OrangeCommunication, alarm or signal lines, cables or conduit
BluePotable (drinking) water
PurpleReclaimed water, irrigation and slurry lines
GreenSewers and drain lines
PinkTemporary survey markings
WhiteProposed excavation: the area where you plan to dig

Marks show the approximate location of a line, not its exact position or depth. Dig by hand near any mark, and check your state's 811 center for the required clearance.

How private utility locating works

A private utility locator is a company you hire to find and mark the buried lines on your property that 811 member utilities don't mark. The work is done with the same kinds of equipment the utilities use, plus tools made for lines that are hard to trace.

Electromagnetic (EM) locating

Most metal lines and tracer wires are found with an EM transmitter and receiver. The locator connects the transmitter to the line at a meter, valve or riser, or induces a signal into it from the surface, then walks the route with the receiver and paints the path. EM locating is fast and accurate on electric, gas lines with tracer wire, metal water pipe and communication cable.

Ground penetrating radar (GPR)

GPR sends radar pulses into the ground and records what reflects back. It can pick up plastic and concrete pipe, abandoned lines and other buried objects that carry no signal. How deep it can see depends on the soil: dry, sandy soils work well, while wet clay can limit it to a shallow depth. That is why a good locator uses GPR alongside EM, not instead of it.

Sondes and sewer cameras

Sewer laterals and drain lines are often clay, cast iron or plastic with no tracer wire. A locator can push a camera or a small transmitter called a sonde through the pipe from a cleanout and follow it from the surface, which also shows the depth and the condition of the pipe.

What you get at the end

On a typical job the lines are marked on the ground with paint or flags in the standard colors. For larger commercial and engineering projects, many locators also provide a sketch, a GPS map or CAD files so the results can be used in design and kept for later work.

Who hires a private locator

For homes, job sites and engineering projects

Homeowners

Before a fence, deck, pool, patio, tree, mailbox or garden goes in, and before hiring someone to dig.

Contractors and trades

Fence, landscape, irrigation, plumbing, electrical, solar and EV charger installers who need to protect crews and avoid repair bills.

Engineers and surveyors

Subsurface utility engineering (SUE) and utility mapping for site design, often to ASCE 38 quality levels.

Drilling and environmental

Clearing locations for soil borings, monitoring wells, geotechnical testing and directional boring.

Facility and property managers

Campuses, plants, schools, hospitals and multi-family properties with private networks that 811 never marks.

Commercial builders

Renovations and additions on developed sites where old, undocumented and abandoned lines are common.

Before the locator arrives

Call 811 and keep your ticket number handy.
Outline the dig area in white paint or flags so the locator knows where to focus.
Find your meters, cleanouts, irrigation controller and electrical panels, and make them reachable.
Gather any site plans, as-built drawings or old permits you have.
Tell the locator about anything you already know is buried: a septic system, an old tank or lines to an outbuilding.

What affects the price

The size of the area and how many utilities need to be found.
Whether GPR, a sewer camera or a sonde is needed in addition to EM locating.
Site conditions such as pavement, heavy vegetation, fencing or limited access.
Travel distance and after-hours or emergency scheduling.
Deliverables such as a written report, GPS mapping or CAD files.

Quick tips

Locating utilities the smart way

Crew digging safely on a marked job site

Dig safe

Working safely should be the top priority on every project, large or small. Don't cut corners: have the private lines marked so everyone leaves the job site safe.

Excavation planned around marked utilities

Plan ahead

Include a private locate in the design phase and budget, so buried lines don't turn into surprises and change orders during installation.

Damaged underground line exposed during digging

Don't gamble

A private locate costs far less than repairing a cut line, the downtime that follows or an injury. Know what's below before the first shovel goes in.

Questions about private locates

What utilities are marked by 811 One Call?

Calling 811 is free. Your state's One Call center notifies its member utilities, and they mark their public lines up to the meter. It does not cover lines installed on private property after the meter, which are the owner's responsibility. Private utility locators use ground penetrating radar (GPR) and electromagnetic (EM) equipment to find those lines: power to pools and outbuildings, water and sewer laterals, irrigation, gas to grills and heaters, communications conduit, storage tanks and other buried features.

What utilities are considered private?

Private utilities are the buried lines after the meter or main line. If your meter is at the curb, the line from the meter to your house is private and will not be marked by 811 member utilities. Other lines that usually are not marked include sewer laterals, private lighting, sprinklers, fire mains, power to detached garages and septic lines.

Is a private locate free?

No. Private locating companies charge a service fee. The private lines belong to the property owner, so the owner covers the cost of locating them. Price depends on the size of the area, how many utilities need to be found, the equipment needed and travel. Request a price quote to compare.

I found an unmarked buried line. What should I do?

Stop digging near it and contact your state's 811 One Call center. They will ask member utilities to check whether the line is theirs. If no member utility claims it, it is a private line and will need to be traced by a private utility locator. If you damage a line or smell gas, move away and call 911.

Do I still need to call 811 if I hire a private locator?

Yes. In every state you must contact 811 before you dig, even when a private locator is coming. 811 gets the public lines marked for free, and the private locator marks the rest, so you need both to see everything that is buried on the site.

Can a locator find plastic pipe?

Often, yes. Plastic pipe can be found with ground penetrating radar, by tracing a tracer wire if one was installed, or by pushing a small transmitter (a sonde) or camera through the pipe. No method finds every line in every soil, so locators combine methods and you should still dig carefully by hand near any mark.

How do I use this website to find a private locator near me?

Choose your state from the list at the top of this page, the Search by State map, or the state links below. Each state page lists the private locators who serve that state, with a phone number and a quote request button, plus the 811 center for the state.

Are you a private utility locator?

List your company on your state's page and get web quote requests and calls from homeowners, contractors and engineers who need lines marked.

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