Colorado law requires facility owners and operators to give excavators clear, timely information before digging begins. This article outlines the core obligations under § 9‑1.5‑103(4)(a)(I), including providing a valid positive response, marking underground facilities accurately, and supplying required documentation through Colorado 811’s Exactix system. It also explains when renotifications occur and highlights best practices for submitting compliant attachments that clearly support the markings and help prevent excavation damage.
Colorado 9‑1.5‑103(4)(a)(I) Statute states that upon receiving an excavation notice, an owner or operator must provide a positive response to the excavator within the time frames established by law.
Marking Requirements
Owners and operators must locate underground facilities and mark their approximate location using clearly identifiable markings. All markings must:
- Comply with the uniform color code approved by the American Public Works Association; and Meet the marking standards established by the Underground Damage Prevention Safety Commission pursuant to section 9‑1.5‑104.2(1)(a)(I).
Documentation Requirements (In Addition to Markings)
In addition to physical markings, Colorado law requires owners and operators to provide supporting documentation (commonly called Positive Response Attachments) for each underground facility. This documentation must be provided to the excavator through Colorado 811’s ticketing system and must meet or exceed quality standards established by the CO Safety Commission.
Required documentation (also called “Attachments”) includes:
- The owner’s or operator’s name;
- The size and type of each marked underground facility; and
- Documentation of the location of the underground facilities in the form of:
- a digital sketch,
- a hand‑drawn sketch, or
- a photograph that includes a readily identifiable landmark, where practicable.
Timeliness and Renotification
If an owner or operator does not provide the required positive response, including required documentation (“attachments”), within the statutory time period, Colorado 811 is required by law to issue a renotification to the owner or operator. Renotifications may continue until the statutory positive response obligations are satisfied.
Related Excerpt of Colorado Statute § 9‑1.5‑103(4)(a)(I)
“Any owner or operator receiving notice pursuant to subsection (3) of this section shall, at no cost to the excavator and within two business days, not including the day of actual notice, use reasonable care to advise the excavator of the location, number, and size of any underground facilities in the proposed excavation area…The markings must meet the marking standards as established by the safety commission pursuant to section 9‑1.5‑104.2 (1)(a)(I). The documentation required by this subsection (4)(a)(I) shall be provided to the excavator through the notification association and must meet or exceed any quality standards established by the safety commission pursuant to section 9‑1.5‑104.2 (1)(a)(I). In addition to the markings, the owner or operator shall provide for each of its underground facilities: (A) Documentation listing the owner’s or operator’s name and the size and type of each marked underground facility; and (B) Documentation of the location of the underground facilities in the form of a digital sketch, a hand‑drawn sketch, or a photograph that includes a readily identifiable landmark, where practicable.”
Pro Tip: Whenever you submit a positive response to Colorado 811 in Exactix, we encourage you to provide the documentation that supports your positive response. Ensure that you submit maps, images, agreements, and other attachments of clear photos or other approved file types/attachments of the actual markings. We do not advise attaching positive response images of objects or people that do not display the actual markings or support your response. E.g. images of birds, dogs, stick figures, trees, cars driving by, selfies of locators, or other imagery not displaying the actual markings clearly. See below sample illustrations for clarification.
CO811’s Exactix Ticket system accepts a variety of file attachment types, including CAD, DBF, HEIC, JPEG, JPG, KMZ, MOV, MP4, PDF, PNG, PRJ, SHP, and SHX. It’s important to avoid attaching email files (msg), as these are not supported by the CO811 Exactix system.
How it works: Exactix prompts you to attach a file with your positive response code. Attaching the proper documentation ensures compliance with the Colorado Statute and makes it easier to resolve any questions or disputes that may arise later.
Sample of NO: Attachment sample images of how to NOT properly support your positive response with appropriate required documentation.
Sample of YES: Attachment sample images of how you DO want to support your positive response with appropriate required documentation.
Additional good examples of positive response attachments could be:
- Photos or short videos to back up the response used; like showing the locate markings you put on the ground with visible landmarks visible in the pictures too for area reference, or maybe a picture of the lock on a gate or an animal in the yard if a no access response is used
- Digital or hand-drawn sketches showing the underground lines in the area that were marked
- GIS Shapefiles depicting asset locations
- Screenshots of texts, or emails, back and forth with an excavator on a ticket to have proof of the excavator agreement for an on-going ticket (if the #23 response is used) or that no locate is necessary (if using the #22 - No Locate Necessary – Per Excavator No Locate Needed)
- PDFs with instructions and contact information for the excavator to use if a stand-by is required by the member at the time of excavation
The two "no conflict" positive responses, number 002 and number 013, do not require positive response attachments.