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New Issue of the Damage Prevention Process in Alberta!

A new issue of the Damage Prevention Process in Alberta has been released! This issue introduces two important changes to the Damage Prevention Process in Alberta: the lifespan of locates has been updated and so has the acceptable formats for locate documentation.

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Starting May 1, 2018, the lifespan of a locate ticket is extended to 30 days for most buried utilities in Alberta. Previously, locate tickets were only valid for 14 days, but could be extended to 30 days as long as certain conditions were met. Now locate tickets are valid for the full 30 days from the date they are issued (unless otherwise stated on the locate ticket).

Some utilities, including pipelines and other high-pressure lines, will continue to have 14-day locates, after which time the locates must be refreshed before work can continue.

It is the responsibility of the excavator to read and
understand the ticket information for each utility.

Information on acceptable formats for locate documentation has also been updated to include both electronic locates and paper reports as acceptable formats. The screen size for electronic reports must meet an industry accepted standard.

Our Best Practices Committee

The Canadian Common Ground Alliance (CCGA) Best Practices Guide is widely regarded and utilized as the preeminent and trusted resource for underground damage prevention.

The Best Practices are agreed on by consensus of all stakeholder groups and designed to improve worker safety, protect vital infrastructure and ensure public safety during excavation conducted in the vicinity of existing underground facilities.

The Best Practices Committee objectives are:

Improve the damage prevention process in Alberta through the identification and validation of existing practices, acceptable to all stakeholder groups, that have the potential to reduce damages.
Promote the adoption of those practices by stakeholders where appropriate.
Propose inclusion of appropriate Alberta best practices in the Canadian Best Practices Guide.
Identify, evaluate and document developing damage prevention legislation from other jurisdictions.

CCGA BEST PRACTICES Version 3.0

DAMAGE PREVENTION PROCESS IN ALBERTA