Info-Excavation: Focused on the future

By: François Desjardins

Legislation in Quebec

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The law in Ontario, which stipulates the obligation to get information on what is below before excavating, has been in effect since 2012. South of the border, this obligation exists in every state. On Parliament Hill, Bill S-229 passed the Senate in May 2017. Where does the Quebec government stand on legislation while it’s gaining ground elsewhere in the country?

“Representations have been made to the provincial government to provide Quebec with an act regulating damage prevention to underground infrastructures,” says Nathalie Moreau, General Manager, Prevention and Public Affairs at Info-Excavation.

“We believe that we can convince our elected representatives that the best way to prevent damages when excavating and the impacts such damages generate is to provide an Act that would clearly define the responsibilities of every stakeholder in the industry.”

An Established Organization

Info-Excavation, the only centre for damage prevention to underground infrastructures in Quebec, has come a long way in the last 25 years regarding awareness, training and technological advances for professionals in the excavating industry, clients and the public in general. Even if there is an increase in the number of locate requests over the years, there are still more than five reported damages per day done to underground infrastructures. The two main reasons are the absence of making a locate request to Info-Excavation and an inadequate excavating method.

“Not all municipalities or owners of underground infrastructures are members of Info-Excavation. At the municipal level, if we don’t have access to the plans of their underground infrastructures. The contractor will have to make a locate request directly to the municipality while trying to guess what other owners of underground infrastructures he must contact, which complicates matters,” says Moreau, while adding that there is still no law that requires excavators to make a locate request before excavating.

“If they are responsible for damages done to underground infrastructure, they will have to pay for repairing them, but it's still not an obligation. Some safety standards in the construction industry do, however, mention it.”

For Info-Excavation, which currently consists of 77 Quebec municipalities, 110 network owners and 52 other industry stakeholders, the Underground Infrastructure Safety Enhancement Act should require all owners, public or private, to become members of Info-Excavation so that it continues to be a one-point access for damage prevention and localization, as for the One-Call centres in Ontario.

The other major element of the future Act is obviously the obligation for everyone to make a locate request before excavating.

“This is actually the basis of our national prevention program and is an essential tool for the safety of workers and the public while protecting our environment. We must not wait for a tragedy to happen — as was the case in many areas in North America — before taking action and passing legislation which circumscribes better excavating practices,” says Moreau.

Changes in attitude have been witnessed, such as the numerous motions regarding damage prevention that was passed in various municipalities. In 2017, we have sought support from our municipal members on many of our initiatives. Since the beginning, more than 40 municipalities in Quebec have adopted resolutions supporting our efforts and showing their interest toward damage prevention to underground infrastructures. The focus intended is to promote and increase the safety of workers and citizens as well as protecting the environment.

Requiring Best Practices

The first cause of damages to underground infrastructures is inadequate excavating practices. The second is not making a locate requests to Info-Excavation before excavating, even though the service is free. Adopting legislation would resolve this issue, but it should also circumscribe excavating practices.

“Making locate requests mandatory is a big step in terms of damage prevention. But legislation must push forward, by making best practices mandatory where possible, to protect workers, citizens, the environment and the underground infrastructures," says Moreau.

"We are aware that a bill of such magnitude requires a lot of analysis, studies and reflection, but the time has come to consider damage prevention to underground infrastructures as a whole and implement damage prevention methodology to bring the industry's stakeholders together.”