Before You Dig
Homeowners
The safe digging process in Wisconsin starts when you contact Diggers Hotline. By law, everyone - including a homeowner working in their own yard - must contact Diggers Hotline three working days before digging. Weekends and state legal holidays do not count as working days. You can contact Diggers Hotline by dialing 811 from any phone in Wisconsin (or you may dial 800-242-8511), or the Diggers Hotline DIY Portal. You can contact Diggers Hotline 24 hours a day/7 days a week. Contacting Diggers Hotline is just the first step in the safe digging process that also includes utility representatives and concludes with you taking care when digging near utility marks as you work on your project. After contacting Diggers Hotline, you can see what the different colors of paint and flags mean or you can check on the utilities’ response to your locate request by using the Digger's Hotline ticket search tool.
Check out Digger's Hotline for the following projects:
Tree Planting
Garden Planting
Mailbox Installation
Fence Installation
Contractors
Wisconsin Statute 182.0175 requires every excavator and everyone who is responsible for planning non-emergency excavations to provide advance notice of at least three business days to the one-call system. See the state law page for a definition of excavation. Diggers Hotline needs to be contacted prior to excavation and planning an excavation in order to comply with the state statute. Diggers Hotline should also be used to obtain information on safe working clearances from overhead lines. Facility owners are required to be a member of Diggers Hotline unless the facilities are located exclusively on private land. Members affected will receive messages of intent to dig.
View the full list of guidelines on the Digger's Hotline website.