Established in 1983, Tennessee 811 serves as the statewide official one-call center. Tennessee 811 does not mark lines but functions as a communications link between our member utilities and anyone excavating.

Tennessee’s Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act (TCA 65-31-101) requires everyone who digs to contact Tennessee 811 at least three (3) working days’ notice before starting a project. Tennessee 811 processes the notification of proposed excavation and notifies our member utilities, or their contract locators, to mark their underground facilities prior to the excavation. 

This free service helps prevent damage incidents which can result in millions of dollars in property damage, the interruption of utility service, personal injuries, and even loss of life.

Tennessee 811 is a non-profit governed by a Board of Directors.

Tennessee 811 does not mark lines - we serve as a communications link between excavators and our member utilities.  We will notify all member utilities based on the selected area of excavation.

Member utility companies (or their contract locators) are responsible for marking the underground lines they installed and/or maintain, but not all utilities are a member of Tennessee 811.  In addition, not all underground lines belong to utility operators, so you may encounter non-member and/or privately owned lines in your area of excavation. For more information on private utility lines, click here.

In one word - YES!   

Tennessee state law (65-31-101, Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act) requires anyone who engages in, or is responsible for, the planning or performance of any type of excavation e.g.; hand digging, grading, demolition, cultivating, augering, blasting, or boring to provide advance notice of at least three full business days to Tennessee 811 by dialing 811, 800-351-1111, or by using one of our online ticket entry options.

A normal locate request requires at least three (3) working days' notice. That’s 72 hours excluding weekends and holidays.

You can provide as much as ten (10) working days' notice when you know that your schedule is a little more flexible – we call this “postdating” a ticket. Because of the high volume of tickets each day, postdating your ticket and giving more than three days’ notice may mean that you can better rely on the start date of your ticket. 

Whether you give three days or ten working days’ notice, you’ll be able to keep up with the status of your locates through Positive Response.

The Locate Request Agent (LRA) will ask for some basic information about the location and the type of work to be done. The location information will be compared to service area information provided by member utilities. If a conflict occurs, the member utility will receive notice of your intent to dig. The LRA will provide a ticket number and a list of the member utilities that TN811 will notify.

You’ll need the following information handy when you contact us:

• Your name, company name (if applicable), phone number, and mailing address.
• Field contact information.
• Type of work to be done.
• The county, city, address, and nearest cross street of the proposed excavation site.
• Where on the property you want marking done.

You can view up-to-date responses from all utility companies notified by Tennessee 811 by checking Positive Response.

Positive Response is a service that TN811 provides to help you track the status of your locate request. 

In accordance with the Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act (65-31-108 (b)), all member utilities are required to notify Tennessee 811 that they have marked the approximate location of underground facilities or that the member has no underground facilities in the proposed area of excavation via Positive Response. 

1) When all utilities listed on your ticket have responded to Positive Response.

or

2) Your legal start date and time has been reached.

If you are missing responses in Positive Response or observe clear evidence of unmarked utilities, you are required to call 811 to submit a 2nd Notice. The 2nd Notice allows 811 to notify the utilities of the issue. There is no additional wait time required after you submit a second notice, but we suggest you wait until all lines are marked to begin your digging work.

It is very important to wait until the legal start date and time assigned. Beginning work earlier can result in forfeiture of your rights and protections granted under the Tennessee code, 65-31-101.