Utility companies, including CoServ Electric and CoServ Gas, have wires and pipes that run underground in the easements near your home, streets and highways. We install this infrastructure with safety as our principal concern. With new construction taking place everyday in the Metroplex, a contractor or a homeowner risks damaging utility infrastructure - and potential injury - if you dig without calling for the infrastructure to be located first.

If you're a residential customer, contractor, or anyone else who is planning to dig deeper than 16 inches with machine powered equipment, state law requires you to call the DIG TESS One-Call Notification Center at 1-800-344-8377 (1-800-DIG TESS), two days before your dig. The Texas Excavation Safety System (TESS) is a non-profit corporation, managed by a Board of Directors elected from the member companies. Their mission is to provide damage prevention solutions for their customers, to promote public safety and protect the environment.

DIG TESS Procedures

In order to safely dig, the following five-step process is recommended:

• Call before you dig. The One Call Center is an important part of the damage prevention process. The One Call Center operates a toll-free number 24 hours per day for excavators/homeowners to use. The DIG TESS One Call Center is available by calling 1-800-DIG TESS (1-800-344-8377). The operator at DIG TESS will ask you questions such as the location, when digging will take place, how long you will need to dig, and how deep you will need to dig. They will also give you a locate notification number, which you should keep. The center will then notify the utility company(s) that you will be digging in an area that may have utility infrastructure.
• Wait the required amount of time. Texas law requires at least 2 working days notice before beginning excavation. This means a homeowner who is putting in a fence on Saturday must call no later than Wednesday!
• Once the utility company is notified about your intention to dig, it will place flags and paint to mark the approximate location of buried infrastructure. The paint and flag colors represent each type of utility in the area. For example, gas is yellow, electric is red and communications is orange. Respect the marks and dig with care. During the project, it is the excavator's responsibility to make sure the utility marks remain visible. If they are obliterated or removed, the excavator/homeowner must call for a re-mark.
• Dig safely. Once the work begins, it is up to the excavator/homeowner to use safe, accepted digging practices. Regardless of how careful the preparation has been, the excavation work must be performed in a prudent and careful manner. Always hand dig when within 2 feet on either side of any marked lines. Do not pull up the flags until you have finished your project. If your project is delayed, call DIG TESS again and they will notify the utility that you need to have the area remarked.
• If you hit a utility line, or if you know a line has been hit, leave the area and notify that utility immediately. If you hit a CoServ line please call us at 940-321-7800 or 1-800-274-4014. If you don't know the name of the utility that the line belongs to, call DIG TESS or your local fire department.

Please see the attached brochure for additional information on DIGTESS.

More information may also be obtained on the DIG TESS website at www.DIGTESS.org.