The Arizona Corporation Commission announced on April 1 that it is recognizing National Safe Digging Month by urging residents and professional excavators to call 811 before beginning any digging projects. The initiative aims to prevent injuries and protect underground utility systems from damage.
The commission said the AZ811 service is available free of charge for anyone planning to excavate. It is a one-call notification system designed to help individuals and companies locate underground electric, gas, water, telephone, sewer, communications, or other lines prior to excavation. By contacting AZ811 through a phone call or online ticket request, professionals will visit the site and mark the locations of these lines at no cost.
According to the commission, owners of underground facilities are required to mark their utilities as soon as possible but no later than two working days after receiving a request. Failure to comply may result in fines up to $5,000.
The Office of Pipeline Safety within the commission oversees more than 45,000 miles of pipelines and over 1.4 million services in Arizona. In the previous year alone, more than 865,000 calls were made to AZ811 and operators reported a total of 619 incidents involving pipeline hits or damages in 2025. The state remains among those with the lowest number of hits per thousand tickets nationwide.
For further information about safe digging practices or locating underground utilities in Arizona, residents can visit http://www.arizona811.com/ or https://azcc.gov/safety/pipeline-safety/pipeline.
