§ 56-265.22 Duties of notification center upon notification by person intending to excavate; record of notification made by telephone required
A. The notification center shall, upon receiving notice by a person, notify all member operators whose utility lines are present in the area of the proposed project, excavation, or demolition. The notification center shall also indicate the names of those operators being notified to the person providing notice.
B. If the notification required by this chapter is made by telephone, a record of such notification shall be maintained by the operators or notification center notified to document compliance with the requirements of this chapter, and such records shall be maintained in compliance with the applicable statute of limitations.
C. The notification center shall notify excavators, within the time frame allowed by the law to mark underground utility lines, of any responses placed on the positive response system by a locator. Such notification shall occur by mutually acceptable means of automatically transmitting and receiving this information. If the excavator cannot provide the notification center with mutually acceptable means of automatically transmitting and receiving this information, it shall be the excavator’s responsibility to contact the positive response system after the period allowed by law to mark underground facilities and prior to commencing excavation in order to determine if any responses to the notice have been recorded.
History
This law was first created in 1979. The record of its establishment is cataloged in chapter 291 of that year’s edition of “Acts of Assembly,” the annual state publication listing all changes made to the Code of Virginia in that year. Unfortunately, the 1979 “Acts” aren’t available online. It has been modified 3 times. Those modifications are cataloged by “The Acts of Assembly,” a state publication, by year and chapter. Those modifications that can be read on the General Assembly’s website will be linked accordingly. Those modifications are as follows: in 1994, chapter 890; in 2002, chapter 841; in 2023, chapters 299 and 300.
1979, c. 291; 1994, c. 890; 2002, c. 841; 2023, cc. 299, 300.