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Quick Reference Guide: Colorado 811 Ticketing System Changes

This guide provides an at-a-glance overview of the upcoming changes to the Colorado 811 ticketing system. It is designed to help users quickly understand the key updates, new processes, and important dates impacting ticket entry, formatting, procedures, emergency handling, positive response protocols, and more. Whether you are an excavator, facility owner/operator, or member, this reference outlines what to expect during each phase of the system transition and highlights critical information to ensure a smooth adaptation to the new Exactix platform. Use this guide to stay informed and prepared for the enhancements and procedural updates rolling out in late 2025 and throughout 2026. 

PHASES OF CHANGE 

  • Phase 1 is scheduled to launch on January 29, 2026, marking the initial rollout of the system.  
  • Phase 2 is planned for Summer/Early Fall 2026, following the successful launch of Phase 1. 

CHANGES IN TICKET ENTRY & FORMAT 

  • You will still have the option of calling 811 to process a locate over the phone.

Ticket Number Format 

  • The ticket number format remains unchanged, ensuring continuity and consistency in ticket identification.  
  • Versioning Instead of Revisions: Revisions are now called versions, starting at version 0 for the original ticket and incrementing for changes.  
  • Discontinuing B Tickets: Tickets starting with 'B' will be discontinued, and all new tickets will use the 'A' prefix.  
  • NOTE: Late Notice Handling - Late notices will now generate a new ticket version, ensuring proper revision and tracking of late submissions. 

New Ticket Entry Form Fields  

  • Expanded Contact Information: New fields include phone type, office, title, role, industry, and alternate contact email for detailed requester info.  
  • Ticket Types and Dates: Added fields cover estimated work start and end dates, duration, and key ticket scheduling dates.  
  • Work and Equipment Details: New inputs capture type of work, equipment used, explosives, directional boring, and potholing company info.  
  • Dig Site and Additional Info: Fields for city/place, building unit, coordinates, excavation markings, street sides, rights-of-way, and depth data. 

CHANGES IN TICKETING PROCEDURES 

Retirement of Multi-Day/Multi-Tix Procedures: Colorado 811 is retiring the multi-ticket and multi-day ticket processing procedures to streamline operations and reduce confusion, volume, and duplicate tickets.  

Discontinuation of Guaranteed Meets 

  • Colorado 811 will discontinue guaranteed meets but will offer requested meets without guaranteed schedules.  
  • Requested Meet Process: Excavators can request to meet with all notified facility members, who may respond or complete locates by the locate by date. 

CHANGES IN EMERGENCY TICKETS LOCATE BY DATE  

Emergency Ticket Response Times  

  • Facility owner/operator members should respond to emergency locates and emergency damage notices within the following time frames:  
  • During business hours: Emergency tickets are due within one-hour from the time the ticket is processed.  
  • During after-hours: Emergency tickets are due within two hours from the time the ticket is processed.  

Locate By Date Implementation: The Locate By Date on emergency tickets reflects industry best practices in the Exactix system for timely responses. 

CHANGES TO EXCAVATOR RENOTIFICATIONS (EXRN) 

Extended Renotification Timeframe: The processing timeframe for excavator renotifications has increased from 5 to 10 business days to allow more flexibility.  

Reason Codes and Comments for Excavation Renotifications (EXRN) and Relocate Refresh(RLRF) : A reason code will be collected to communicate the specific reason for renotification to include providing comments requesting clarifying information.  

Reason Code: Facility Not Found Under Marking  : A reason code for 'facility not found under marking' will  be available for the full ticket life of 30 days from the locate by date. 

Dig Site Buffer & County Line Procedure 

Dig Site Buffer Zone: A 100ft buffer is applied to excavation sites on single address tickets when parcel boundaries are clear.  

County Line Excavations: Excavation projects crossing county lines require two separate tickets, with dig site polygons cut off at county boundaries. 

Facility Maps & Registration Changes  

Changes in Registration Methods: Colorado 811 no longer accepts Township, Range, Section, Quarter Section grids for underground facility registration.  

Alternative Mapping Approach: Members must now provide maps showing the area of service or underground facility placement for notifications 

CHANGES TO TICKET DELIVERY 

Whitelisting Delivery Email Address 

Ticket Delivery Emails: Tickets will be delivered from the following email addresses  

  • exactix@colorado811.org   
  • exactix2@colorado811.org  
  • mail@4iqidentity.com

Whitelisting Importance: Whitelisting these email addresses prevents tickets from being marked as spam or blocked. Let your IT team know!  

Supported Delivery Methods and Formats 

Colorado 811 will continue to support ticket delivery via email  

Colorado 811 will continue to support ticket delivery formats  

  • Plain Text  
  • HTML  
  • XML Format 8 (arrays for members/grids/shape points) (attachment & body)  
  • XML Format 9 (with XSD and flat lists for members/grids/shape points) (attachment & body) 

CHANGES TO POSITIVE RESPONSE PROCEDURES & CODES  

New Positive Response Codes  

Two (2) new positive response codes will be added to the existing list available for facility owner/operator members to post to tickets.  

  • 025 - Locate Not Completed without Excavator Agreement 
    • Will not require an attachment, code will require comments in field. We will renotify until a complete response is received. If agreement is subsequently reached with excavator during live of ticket, code 023 must be used and an attachment with agreement must be provided to stop renotifications. If subsequent EXRN is filled, renotifications will resume until the end of the ticket or respectively.  
  • 023- Ongoing Ticket with Excavator Agreement 
    • Code does require a positive response attachment showing the excavator agreement was reached, such an email attachment showing the agreement between both parties on the email. If attachment showing agreement is attached to code, CO811 will stop renotifications unless a subsequent EXRN ticket is filled by excavator, then notification will resume as normal… or no attachment was initially received showing an agreement. If EXRN is filled, renotifications will resume until completed. 

Modified Positive Response Codes  

Clearer descriptions on Positive Response Codes : The following response codes are modified to clarify communication between facility owner/operator members and excavators.  

  • 011 - Completed - See Documentation and/or Marks onSite; Abandoned Facilities May be in the Area  
  • 019 - Marked, All Crossings Must Be Exposed During Trenchless Excavation in order to observe a safe crossing 

Removed Positive Response Codes  

Colorado 811 will remove two positive response codes from the responses available.  

  • 008 – Call Facility Owner for Further Info on Locate  
  • 020 – Sewer Marked – Best Available Info Provided on Laterals 

Methods For Posting Responses 

Posting Response Methods: Users can submit Positive Responses through the following methods via Exactix webpage to allow flexible communication options:

  1. Web Browser
    Manually via the Colorado 811 Exactix Ticketing System.
  2. API (JSON-based)
    Through integration with a Ticket Management System (TMS) using a custom webhook and the CO811 Exactix API.
  3. Telnet or TCP/IP
    This legacy option will be phased out by January 2026, as it does not support file attachments.

 Important Notes:

  • The URL field currently available in Positive Response will be retired with the launch of Exactix.
  • Teams should prepare to upload file attachments either through the Exactix application or via API.
  • If no file attachment is provided, auto

User Account Requirement: In the Exactix System, posting ticket responses now requres creating a user account. The direct ticket link will no longer be available.  

Phase 2: Starting June 1, 2026, CO811 will no longer support the Telnet (TCP/IP) method for Positive Response. 

Response Comments & URL Attachments  

URL Removal in Positive Response: URL's for file attachments stored externally will no longer be allowed; all files must be uploaded directly to Colorado 811.  

Increased Comment Character Limit: Positive Response comment section character limit increased to 5000 for detailed communication about facilities.  

Supporting Documentation Requirements: File attachments including maps, sketches, and pictures must comply with size, naming, and filetype rules. 

CHANGES TO AUTOMATIC POSITIVE RESPONSE RENOTIFICATIONS 

Automatic Positive Response Renotification ticket deliveries & charges will begin January 1, 2026,if no file attachment is provided.   

“Incomplete” Responses and Required Action  

"Incomplete" Ticket Protocol: Members must submit daily responses until tickets are complete with all required attachments.  

Common Incomplete Codes  

  • Codes 015, 023, 024, and 025 signify different reasons for incomplete responses requiring action.  
  • 015 – No Locate Due To Extreme Weather/Emergency Conditions in Area of Locate   
  • 023 – “Ongoing Ticket – per locator/excavator agreement” if attachment not provided   
  • 024 – Quality Check / Quality Control (QC) Needed to find facility or to verify marks   
  • 025 – Locate Not Yet Started  

New Notifications: CO811 will begin sending renotifications on Engineering and SUE tickets 

STOPPING RENOTIFICATIONS: Renotifications cease only after a completed response with an attachment is submitted. 

Renotification Process for Incomplete Responses 

Exceptions for Attachments: No attachments are required for specific response codes and ticket types such as damage, emergency, or cancel tickets.  

Attachments are not required for the following Positive Response Code  

  • 002-Clear No Conflict  
  • 013-No Conflict, Privately Owned Utility on Property -Contact Private Utility Owner for Locate  
  • 025-Locate Not Yet Started  

Attachments are not required for the following Ticket types   

  • Damage  
  • Emergency   
  • Cancel 


PHASE 2 UPDATES  

Phase 2 will launch Spring 2026 

NEW Ticket Types  

Large Project Module: This module enables contractors to manage large projects, assign subcontractors, and coordinate locate requests efficiently.  

Joint Meet Ticket: Allows scheduling of preliminary meetings among facility owners and locators for complex projects without underground locating. 

Additional Phase 2 Updates 

Webhook API Ticket Delivery: Colorado 811 will begin offering webhook API delivering tickets in JSON format alongside existing email delivery.  

New Ticket Data Fields: New ticket format includes additional data fields collected during ticket creation for Facility Owner/Operator Members.  

Method for Posting Positive Response: Starting June 1, 2026, CO811 will no longer support the Telnet (TCP/IP) method for Positive Response. 

 

811 SUPPORT AND TRAINING  

Questions? Log your request with Colorado 811. Your question or concern will be routed to the appropriate party for support. See the Exactix Ticketing System landing Page on the CO811 website: https://www.colorado811.org/exactix-ticketing-system for up to date information, and ask a question using our HelpDesk Form.