Description
Locate and mark underground utilities to support safe excavation and construction. Use maps, records, and locating equipment to identify and document the position and depth of buried electric, gas, water, sewer, and communications lines.
- • Coordinate or perform vacuum potholing when required to positively identify facilities.
- • Maintain, test, and calibrate locating equipment, batteries, and accessories.
- • Drive company vehicles to tickets across urban and rural territories in all weather.
- • Respect property and landscaping and minimize disturbance while marking.
- • Follow CGA Best Practices and comply with company and OSHA policies.
- • Attend preconstruction meetings and conduct job site walk-throughs when requested.
- • Keep daily logs, timesheets, mileage, and material usage records.
- • Follow safety procedures, wear PPE, and set up traffic control around work areas.
- • Respond to 811/One Call tickets within required timelines.
- • Review as-builts, GIS maps, and records to determine expected utility routes and owners.
- • Use electromagnetic locators, transmitters, sondes, and ground penetrating radar to trace buried facilities.
- • Locate and mark electric, gas, water, sewer, storm, fiber, and telecom lines.
- • Mark tolerance zones with APWA color codes using paint, flags, or stakes.
- • Create clear site sketches with measurements from fixed references.
- • Record marks with photos, notes, and GPS in mobile ticketing systems.
- • Provide positive response updates and close tickets with complete documentation.
- • Communicate with excavators, site supervisors, and utility owners to clarify scope and resolve conflicts.
- • Identify discrepancies between maps and field conditions and adjust marks as needed.
- • Report damaged, exposed, or unsafe utilities and escalate hazards immediately.
- • Verify depth and alignment where possible and note limitations or no-locate areas.
- • Access tracer wires, pedestals, valve boxes, and manholes to improve locate accuracy.
- • Train or mentor new locators and share best practices.
- • Prioritize workload and handle emergency and short-notice locate requests.
- • Maintain communication by phone or radio and respond to after-hours emergency locates when needed.
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This site includes information from O*NET by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. Career Clutch has modified some of this information for student readability. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Last reviewed: Jan 2026
