Excavation FAQs

Ontario Regulation 210/01 (Oil And Gas Pipeline Systems) under the Technical Standards and Safety Act, 2000 regulates the safety of oil and gas pipelines in the province of Ontario. The regulation sets the requirements for the design, operation, maintenance, safety, and integrity of the pipelines and the regulation is supplemented by the Code Adoption Document, which adopts national technical standards with some Ontario-specific adjustments.

As a pipelines safety regulator, TSSA is committed to the goal of ensuring the safety of all oil and gas pipeline infrastructure in the province including many underground pipeline networks that provide fuel for our homes. Pipeline strikes from excavation activities (also called “ground disturbance” activities) are one of the most common types of pipeline safety incidents reported to TSSA every year with about 2650 incidents reported to TSSA every year. TSSA is interested in seeing this number of incidents lowered in the future and we have been taking steady steps to address this hazard.

In the past, TSSA used to produce and distribute a “guideline” document to provide safety information for excavators. However, the guideline document has been discontinued after TSSA had formally adopted Canadian Standard Association’s Z247 standard (Damage prevention for the protection of underground infrastructure) into the code adoption document in 2016. The Z247 standard stipulates various requirements for excavators to make sure that damages to underground infrastructures (including other infrastructure like electrical and telecommunication cables or sewer lines) are minimized, and the Z247 standard offers a more comprehensive approach towards ensuring the underground infrastructure safety.

The Z247 standard can be purchased on the CSA website here.

FAQs

What are my regulatory obligations as an excavator?

The Section 9 of Ontario Regulation 210/01 states, “no person shall dig, bore, trench, grade, excavate or break ground with mechanical equipment or explosives without first ascertaining from the licence holder the location of any pipeline that may be interfered with.”

The Section 10 of Ontario Regulation 210/01 states, “No person shall interfere with or damage any pipeline without authority to do so.”

Generally, this means that for an Ontarian to engage in a “ground disturbance” activities like digging, boring, trenching or excavating, the person should obtain a “locate form” from a locator. The person engaging in ground disturbance will be asked to provide information describing the location where the work will take place, the expected time when the work will begin, the scope of the work, the nature of the work, the expected duration and depth of excavation, the name, address and telephone number of the Excavator, and the name of the Excavator’s site representative.

What is a locate?

Locate is an information provided by the locator in the form of ground surface markings and underground infrastructure location documentation, such as drawings, mapping, numeric descriptions, or other written documentation.

A locator is a person authorized by the owner of the underground infrastructure to perform a locate and issue a locate form to the excavator.” While there are other entities providing locate service, in general, this refers to the Ontario One Call in our province.

Locators uses electromagnetic fields, signals, or other acceptable industry best practice methods, together with the information provided by the owner of the underground infrastructure, to identify the location of that underground infrastructure.

What is Ontario One Call and How do I contact them?

Ontario One Call is a contact centre that receives excavation locate requests to ensure homeowners, excavators and infrastructure owners are safe when digging.

Ontario One Call notifies infrastructure owners (members) of excavation requests. These members then deliver locates, minimizing the risk of infrastructure damage, loss of utilities, injury, and monetary consequences.

You can contact Ontario One Call via telephone at 1-800-400-2255 or visit their website at https://www.on1call.com/

What should I do if I accidentally struck a pipeline? Or witnessed a pipeline strike?

If you’ve accidentally struck a pipeline or if you have witnessed a pipeline strike, please call Spills Action Center (SAC) to report the incident. The number is 1-866-MOE-TIPS (663-8477). During your call with the SAC, you will be asked for:

date and time of the incident

source and/or location of the incident

current status of the incident

type of pollutant involved

what impact the pollutant is having on the environment

weather conditions (for example, precipitation, temperature, wind direction, etc.)

This reporting process provides locations for TSSA to follow up with excavators to improve safety, reduce the number of damages to pipelines and ensure stakeholders understand the regulatory requirements and excavation best practices.

The information helps the provincial government and TSSA identify and track environmental issues, identify trends and develop best practices.

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