MISS DIG 811 in Michigan: when a plumber has to call before digging

What the law asks

Michigan’s damage prevention law is 2013 PA 174, in force since April 1, 2014. An excavator has to give notice before digging, by calling 811 or using the MISS DIG website, and the owners of buried facilities have to mark where their lines run. The State of Michigan’s page sets the notice at least 3 business days ahead of the dig, and that is the one timing source we read in full.

The finer detail reached us second hand. A summary of MCL 460.725 and a Michigan Municipal League fact sheet describe the notice as at least 72 hours, not counting non-business hours, and not more than 14 calendar days before excavating. A notice given after 5 p.m., or on a non-business day, counts from 7 a.m. on the next business day. The statute itself would not open for us, so take those figures as the likely reading and confirm them with MISS DIG before you plan around a particular hour.

Either way, “call the day before” is wrong. Consumers Energy’s own safe digging advice says to call at least 3 days ahead.

Who has to call: the contractor or the homeowner

Whoever digs is the excavator, and the excavator gives the notice. When a plumbing contractor is digging, the contractor should contact MISS DIG, and MISS DIG’s website says as much: make sure your contractor contacts them. When you get a quote for outdoor work, ask who will place the ticket and when.

A homeowner who digs is an excavator too. MCL 339.6107 lets a homeowner install their own plumbing, building sewer or private sewer in a single-family home with a permit, but the permit does not stand in for the MISS DIG notice. They are separate steps with separate offices. What a homeowner can do without a permit covers the licensing side.

When a plumber digs for a sewer lateral or a water service

Most plumbing never goes near MISS DIG, since the law is about digging. A water heater swap, a stoppage or a new fixture happens indoors. The jobs that matter open the ground: a new or repaired sewer lateral, a replaced water service line, and gas piping run outside.

Sewer and water service work has a licensing twist as well. Michigan’s licensing law exempts a building sewer or water service pipe from the master plumber requirement when it is done under a permit with inspections, and LARA says a permit for a building sewer or water service only may go to people other than licensed plumbing contractors. A sewer repair can therefore involve a licensed plumber, an excavation crew and a homeowner, so ask which of them holds the permit and which placed the ticket. Our sewer line repair page and the guide on main sewer line replacement cost cover the rest of that job.

Who owns the lateral changes who pays but not who calls. Traverse City says property owners maintain their own sewer lateral, including the connection to the public main, and other cities differ, so ask yours where the line stops being the city’s.

Lead service lines are a separate program. EGLE says the water supplier is responsible for removing the entire lead line from the main to the home, at its cost, and that partial replacements are banned. If your supplier is replacing one, its crew is the excavator, so ask them about the dig rather than ordering your own.

What gets marked, what skipping the call costs, and how to check a ticket

The utilities mark their own lines in response to a ticket. MISS DIG itself is a free notification service and marks nothing.

Private lines fall outside that marking. MISS DIG’s homeowner pages say some lines “will not be marked because they are not owned by the utility company,” and that they need a private locator, for a fee. Its homeowner introduction names sprinklers, pool lines and septic systems. The statute’s definitions of owner, operator and marking do not say whether customer-owned lines count, so we rely on MISS DIG’s wording. If a company quotes you for digging, ask how it will find lines no utility will mark.

Skipping the notice has a price. Under MCL 460.731, knowingly damaging an underground facility without promptly telling its owner, covering the damage by backfilling, or willfully removing or destroying location marks is a misdemeanor: up to a year, a fine of up to $5,000, or both. After a complaint and a hearing, the Michigan Public Service Commission may also order a non-governmental violator to pay a civil fine of not more than $5,000 for each violation. The same section leaves anyone free to sue for damages, so who pays for a broken line is a separate question from the fine. Treat $5,000 as a ceiling, not a typical bill.

To place or check a ticket, call 811 in Michigan (800-482-7171 from elsewhere) or use the MISS DIG website, and keep the ticket number. MISS DIG says you are required to check Positive Response before digging. That is an online tool where each utility posts the status of its markings, and you look your ticket up with the Check Status link on or after the Work Legal Start Date. Every response has to read Marked, Exempt from Marking or No Conflict before work begins. If one says Has Not Responded, or you see unmarked lines on site, call 811 again. MCL 460.725 backs this up: an excavator who sees no positive response, or a response pointing to a facility with no marks visible, has to give additional notice and stop digging nearby. A ticket is good for 21 days from the start date on it, or 180 days when the notice says the job will run longer.

Unlicensed plumbing is a separate matter and a crime in its own right: practising without a license is a misdemeanor under MCL 339.5601, with a fine up to $500 or up to 90 days, or both. Check the license on the LARA lookup before the work starts.

If a line is hit

Leave the area first. If you smell gas, leave the house, then call 911 and your utility from somewhere safe. DTE’s gas leak hotline is (800) 947-5000. Consumers Energy’s is 800-477-5050, which is also the number it gives for a gas line that has been hit or nicked. The (800) 477-4747 number that gets posted as a gas line is DTE’s electric line. Do not look for the leak yourself, and do not use switches, phones or a flame inside.

A short checklist for the person ordering the work

Ask the company whether any part of the job needs digging outside the house. If it does, ask who will place the MISS DIG ticket, get the ticket number, and agree that nobody breaks ground before the marking is done. Ask who holds the permit and look up the license on LARA. If the date slips, ask whether the notice is still current, since the law as we read it caps the lead time at 14 calendar days. None of it costs anything, and it takes a minute.