There are hundreds of Dial Before You Dig members across Australia, with a significant proportion of these being councils.
Dial Before You Dig is the national referral service for excavators looking for information on underground assets. When an excavator lodges an enquiry, Dial Before You Dig sends that information on to its members. Members then liaise directly with the excavator to ensure the work does not lead to the damage of underground pipes and cables.
Protection of underground assets is the most obvious reason for gas, electricity, water and telecommunications companies to become members of Dial Before You Dig, however, for Local Government it can be so much more.
Councils own their underground assets and ensuring these are not damaged is of vital importance. It may be stormwater, irrigation systems, data cables or a variety of other pipes and cables that need protecting.
Keeping track of excavators working within your council boundaries is of additional benefit.
Most councils register the entire area within their boundaries as their area of interest, meaning any excavator lodging a Dial Before You Dig enquiry within those boundaries will be made known. This is a great way for councils to gain a much better understanding of who is working in their streets and parks, when they are working and what sort of activities they are undertaking. This also makes following up unsatisfactory reinstatement work a lot easier.
A common problem is when footpaths and landscaping are not properly returned to their previous state. Having access to Dial Before You Dig records provides an up to date database that can be accessed when unsatisfactory reinstatement work is reported.
Membership can also help with council permit processes, as Dial Before You Dig records can be used to measure the effectiveness of road opening permit systems, and planning departments can even use the records to review enquiries lodged of both a commercial and residential nature.
Membership of Dial Before You Dig can provide councils with a significant amount of highly valuable information.
For more details go to www.dialbeforeyoudig.com.au
*Copy supplied by Dial Before
You Dig
