Expect major delays this spring!
Dig season will be busy and the sooner you can get your locate requests into Ontario One Call (OOC) the better. Be sure to only submit them within 30-days of your dig date.
Ontario One Call released their 2022 Excavator Survey Results, and it looks as though this year is predicted to be busy. 56% of excavators surveyed stated they expect to have more work this year than last. OOC also stated that 2021 had the highest number of complaints regarding late locates ever recorded. As excavators predict this year to be even busier, we may see a rise from 2021 in the number of late locate complaints.
Unfortunately, with that comes major delays in getting your public locates. From our recent experience, the 5-day response is becoming a challenge for most locate service providers (LSPs). Some public locate service providers are now sending warning emails before they respond. Indicating that they “will continue to make all reasonable attempts to process the locate in the expected timeframe", and that your locate “may be completed up to a week beyond the original work date.”
The good news is, OOC is working on ways to speed up the process that they identify in their 2022 Excavator Survey results found HERE and the future for public locates in Ontario looks bright!