Private Locating

What is a “Private” locate?

Private facilities can be found anywhere and may include: facilities that were installed after or downstream of a Utility Company's meter (ie SaskPower, SaskEnergy); natural gas farm taps; natural gas; propane piping or electrical lines to buildings such as garages; lines associated with gas BBQ's and pool heaters, private water systems, data and communication lines; underground sprinkler systems, invisible fences and many others.

How long is the locate valid?

Ticket life is 10 working days from the date the locate was performed as noted on the Record of Locate Form.

How close can I dig to a located facility?
Always dig by hand when you are within 1 metre of the underground facility.

Can you tell me how deep a facility is?

No, we will not provide the depth of the facility as there is an obligation on the excavator to expose these facilities before using mechanical excavation equipment.

Shermco Locating

We use electromagnetic locating equipment, which consists of two parts, a transmitter and a receiver. In short, we use the transmitter to place a “signal” onto the line then go hunt down that signal with the receiver.  As long as the line is metallic and continuous, we can locate it with electromagnetic equipment.

Our locators are up to date on safety training, including:

• Locating Training (Field experience and Classroom training)
• H2S Alive
• First Aid/CPR
• WHIMIS
• Defensive Driving
• ATV Training
• POST Training
• SCOT

Locating Indicators

While locating equipment is becoming increasingly more sophisticated and accurate, parallel facilities, overhead facilities and nearby reinforced concrete structures all affect their accuracy. Locating is part art and part science and locate marks are approximate only.

What do the locate indicators mean?

Where facilities are marked with a single line of paint, flags or stakes, the marks indicate the approximate centre line of the facility. Where facilities are marked with parallel lines connected with an arrow or chevron, the marks indicate either the approximate trench width of the original installation or the approximate outside limits of the facility.

The marking of the locations of buried facilities in Saskatchewan follows the Uniform Color Code: