§269E-12 Excavation procedures. (a) The excavator shall exercise reasonable care when excavating in the vicinity of a subsurface installation.
(b) Before using any power-operated or power-driven excavating equipment, the excavator shall determine the exact location of subsurface installations in conflict with the excavation by first excavating down to the depth of the excavation with the appropriate hand tools within the area of the approximate location of the subsurface installations; provided that power-operated or power-driven excavating may be used:
(c) If after making every reasonable effort to locate the subsurface installation, the excavator cannot determine the exact location by hand excavation as set forth in subsection (b), the excavator shall request that the operator provide additional information through the center to locate the subsurface installation. The operator, within two working days, shall provide any information that is available to the operator to aid the excavator in determining the exact location.
(d) If after making every reasonable effort to locate the subsurface installation with the additional information provided pursuant to subsection (c) the excavator still cannot determine the exact location of the subsurface installation by hand excavation, the excavator shall notify the center. The center shall then:
(e) Each excavator responsible for any excavation that results in contact with, exposure of, or damage to a subsurface installation, before continuing excavation in the immediate area of the subsurface installation shall:
(f) If the damage to a subsurface installation creates an emergency situation, the excavator shall: