09
LOCATES & THE 24-INCH TOLERANCE ZONE
NOVA SKILL MODULE M-09
Read: 6 min
Full rules: NU-OPS-002 Ch.4
The marks are the only thing between a shovel and a gas line. A ticket with one response missing is not a cleared path — it is a guess with a case number.
Do it in this order — every time
- Ticket valid and not expired, with a POSITIVE RESPONSE from every utility on it. One missing response = that path is not cleared. No exceptions.
- Screenshot every ticket into the work order folder. That screenshot is the legal proof later.
- Know the colors cold: red electric · yellow gas · orange comms · blue water · green sewer/storm.
- Walk the whole path, entry to exit, prints in hand. Match every mark to the plan.
- Look for what paint misses — meters, pedestals, valve lids, manholes, drop wires, fresh trench scars. A gas meter with no yellow paint near it is a red flag, not a detail.
- THE TOLERANCE ZONE IS 24 INCHES EACH SIDE OF A MARK. Inside it, hand tools only.
- A machine in the tolerance zone is 6 points — a Class C violation. The mark is not where the line is; it is where the line is about.
- Shoot every crossing with your own wand. Paint can be feet off. Your reading counts.
- Marks missing, faded, or not matching the plan — STOP. Not one shovel bite. Stage other work until they're refreshed and you're cleared.
- Uncover a line nobody marked — stop, don't touch it, cone the hole, stand by. Crew Lead now.
TICKETS GO STALE. Know the life of the ticket you're digging on and get re-marks before it runs out — an expired ticket is the same as no ticket the day something goes wrong. Spring is the worst month for it.
NEVER — THESE FOUR END IT
- Never dig on a ticket with one response missing.
- Never put a bucket inside 24 inches of a mark.
- Never trust the paint over your own wand.
- Never let anybody talk you past a bad mark. It is the Locator's call and nobody overrules it.
Signed off when he can do all three — watched, not talked about
| States the tolerance zone distance and the hand-tool rule without being asked. | |
| Names all five APWA colors cold. | |
| Reads a live ticket and says whether the path is cleared — and why. | |
Trainee name / date
FIELD SUPERVISOR initials / date — only he signs