PDF Version of the Guidelines

Thank you for using the OKIE811 Web Portal to enter locate requests!

Please note: The information contained in this document should be considered as guidelines only. Each locate request scenario is unique and may be handled differently dependent on the situation.

The OKIE811 Web Portal for ticket entry is available 24/7. Only “Normal” 48 hour locate requests can be processed via web ticket entry.

Locate Requests received via web 6pm-6am Monday – Friday, all day Saturday/Sunday, or on legal holidays will be processed as if they were received the next business day. To view the OKIE811 holidays, please visit the “About” page at www.okie811.org.

IMPORTANT! If you do not receive a locate request confirmation number or request for additional information within 3 hours from the time you submitted it, please contact the Contact Center at 8-1-1. Your locate request does not become valid until it is entered into the OKIE811 system and you receive the 14 digit confirmation number.

The following document contains guidelines for filling out a locate request via the Web Portal, it is broken down by each field on the form.

Excavator Information

  • It is important that Excavator information stays up to date. OKIE811 CSRs and the members may need to contact you to discuss your project. You can use the “Update Information” button to update Excavator information at any time and/or with each submission as needed. Any edits will apply to the current ticket submission and any future ticket submissions.
  • Please provide a first and last name for the person entering the web ticket information and the contact person

Type of Work

  • Specific information regarding the work type can be helpful to locators. Information such as: installing, repairing, replacing, removing, etc. If doing pole/post work, include how many poles/posts are included in the job.
  • Contact information should be for the person that can answer questions regarding the excavation project such as someone working in the field. Please add this person’s name to the Contact fields.
  • To change the contact person’s information per ticket submission, simply click on “Update Information” and make the necessary changes to the Contact information fields for each submission.

Type of Work

  • You can select the work type or start typing the first few letters to see your options. Please select the best fit for the type of work you are doing.
  • Specific information regarding the work type can be helpful to locators and can be added to the Directions field. Information such as: installing, repairing, replacing, removing, etc. If doing pole/post work, include how many poles/posts are included in the job 
  • If performing more than one type of work, be sure to include that on the request. You can add the work type information in the Directions section.

Extent

  • Please provide the approximate time it will take to finish the excavation process. According to OK law, notice shall be given no more than 10 days and no less than 48 hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, prior to the commencement of the excavation. For this reason, if the work continues beyond 10 business days OKIE811 suggests you contact us back on the 8th business day to update you request. You should also contact us back to update the request anytime the markings are covered or destroyed. You can submit your update request via the Web Portal under “Find Ticket”.

White Paint 

  • Is the excavation site marked in white? Marking the excavation site is an excellent way for the excavator to communicate the intended excavation site to the facility owner. If the excavation site is marked some other way, please provide that information in the “Locate Area” field.

Access Issues

  • Check this box if there are access issues to the property such as locked gates, animals, etc.
  • If Access Issues is checked, the Remarks section will become required, please include the specific access information in the Remarks section.

County/Place/Address

  • Please provide the county and town or closest town to the excavation site. If the place name is not listed, just type the place name into the field.
  • As applicable, include the full address including: house number, prefix, street name, suffix, street type. Most towns have a divider that is generally near the center of town, where street prefixes change from N-S or E-W. Some towns may also have the same street name but changing street types such as Cir, Pl, Ct. etc. It is important that all pieces of the address are provided to ensure the correct location can be found.
  • The ‘street name’ field is a required field, so if no address is present for the dig site, please enter the street the dig site is on. If unknown, provide the street name they are traveling on from the starting intersection of the driving directions.
  • Only include address if work is actually taking place at the address or across the street from address
    •  If address is being used as a reference point only to get the locators to the site, please provide the address and specific information to get to location in the Directions field of the web submission. The information regarding the locate area should be included in the Locate Area field.
  • Rural addresses will require driving directions unless the address point can be found on the map.
  • Newer addresses/streets or work in a newer addition may require driving directions. Providing that information when submitting the locate request will save you time, since OKIE811 may not have that newer address/street on the map to verify. If you cannot find it on the online mapping, that is a good indicator OKIE811 will need directions.
  • If your job includes multiple addresses:
    • In order for the multiple addresses to be processed as one ticket, the work area must be limited to 1 block or less in city limits per ticket or 1 mile or less per ticket in rural areas and the Work Type must be continuous from point A to point B, such as locating in rear easements to install main line or locating in front easements to install sidewalk. Jobs that are not continuous such as service line installs must be separated by address.
    • If doing both main line and service line installs at multiple addresses, and the full property needs to be located, each address should have its own ticket.

Intersection 

  • Please provide the nearest major intersection to the excavation site. This should be a main section line street or highway. Please do not use small side streets.

Driving Directions

  •  Driving directions are required on all rural addresses/locations and also any new street or street that OKIE811 cannot verify on mapping resources, this includes rural addresses that may have points on the map.
  • Driving directions should start from a nearby major intersection (major intersections of Highway and/or Section line roads are preferred and within 5 miles from the dig site if possible) and include mileage/footage and compass direction for each turn to the address, including what side of the road it is on.
  • If there are multiple intersections of the starting intersection, please indicate which one the driving directions are starting from. Tee intersections of Highways usually indicate that there may be more than 1 intersection. Example: From Eastern intersection of ___ and _____...
  • It is preferred that large footages are converted to mileage to aid locators in finding the location more efficiently using trip gauges on their vehicles. However, mileages less than 0.10 mi should be converted to feet by multiplying the mileage by 5280ft (1 mi). Example: 0.05 mi X 5280ft = 264ft

  • It is preferred that all mileage is given in decimal format. OKIE811 is required to format all mileages into decimal form before sending to the member.
    Example: instead of “1/4 mile”, type as “0.25 mi”. To determine the decimal form of a fraction: divide the numerator by the denominator: 1 divided by 4 = 0.25

  • If a county road or highway is known by another name, please include that information with the driving directions. This will help in determining what road you are referring to if OKIE811 or Locator maps have it listed a different way.
  • It is preferred that no periods are used within the ticket details, unless it is for a decimal. OKIE811 is required to remove most punctuation and/or characters due to the possibility of confusion. As an internal procedure, OKIE811 uses commas between each turn in compass direction and hyphens (-) between each “thought”.
  • We may verify or edit an abbreviation if it is not familiar or widely used.
  • A description of the property is always helpful to locators and may be required in some instances. Example: Red, two-story house, White house with blue shutters, White pipe fence at entry, etc.
  • If dig site is at an oil field location and part of the driving directions include: “East/West/North/South into…” Please provide distance how far into the location, to well head, or to tank battery (whichever is applicable). Oil field locations may not always be right off the road or seen on our maps. If the location is indeed right off the side of the road, please indicate: “East/West/North/South side of the road.” If an entire pad location needs to be located, please include the size of the pad…Example: pad is 300ft by 300ft

**Note: Specific driving directions are needed in the scenarios mentioned above because the OKIE811 CSR must encompass the most precise excavation site in the OKIE811 map in order to determine the members to notify to mark lines at the requested dig site. If that marking is off by too much, it could be a safety risk to the excavator and the underground facility**

Locate Area Instruction

  •  Where on the property are you excavating? Marking the excavation site with white will help the locators determine exact area.
  • Detailed locate instructions are helpful to locators. However, overly detailed instructions can also be very confusing. The details of the locate instructions should be simplified and provide clear communication of where the excavation is taking place. Using property descriptions, landmarks, and/or a concrete beginning and ending points on the property is helpful to locators while on site.
  • Locate instructions should make sense with the work type given. Example: “Replacing 1 Pole – Locate full property”…The OKIE811 CSR may question this to verify why such a large area is being requested when the work is for 1 pole. Is there additional work being performed at this location?
  • If work type is continuous, working from point A to point B, such as main line installs, sidewalk installs, etc. – Locates can be processed for an area up to 1 blk in city limits and up to 1 mile in rural areas. Please provide the starting intersection, starting address, or driving directions to the starting point and how far and what direction are working from that point. Provide any range of addresses as applicable. Please indicate what radius you need marked around marked path and/or how wide of a path is needing located for that distance. If work type is not continuous, you will be required to submit a locate request for each separate location.
  • If you are working a bounded area (such as an empty field), include any streets and/or physical reference for each boundary of the property if available. If working in various areas all over the property, provide the boundaries and contact/meeting information on the ticket indicating who locators can contact to be shown the areas to locate. If working in a section of a larger property, provide the driving directions to the start point of the locate area and appx boundaries from there.
  • For rural areas, it is helpful to include distances between each reference point. This is due to the variance in size of the properties in a rural area. Example: “Locate from pole at road North to house, appx 0.25 mi”
  • When working around an object such as the house, pole, stake, white line area, etc. please include what radius you need marked or how far in what direction needs to be marked. Example: “Locate 25ft radius of the house”, “Locate 15ft on either side of area marked with white, working East 500ft”
  • If working a linear path, please indicate how far and which direction(s) they should locate. It is helpful to also include how wide of a path to locate or if work is taking place in an easement and what easement if that is available (front easement, rear easement, along the road, etc.)
  • If dig site is along the road, please provide what side of the road needs marked. If work will be crossing/boring the road or work is extending outside the road r-o-w, be sure to indicate that information on the locate request. If a large area outside of the road r-o-w is requested to be located, ticket may be split by each side of the road or we may contact the excavator for further information.
  • If the address/dig site is rural and locate instructions request “Locate full property”, please provide know how large the property is and/or appx boundaries of the property due to the variance in the size and shape of properties in a rural area. Example: “…West 0.25 mi to entrance of property on North side – From entrance the property extends North appx 1200ft, East appx 200ft, West appx 700ft, locate full property within these boundaries”
  • If the locate instructions are to “Locate from pedestal/or pole to house”, please provide a Terminal address/pole number (if available), what side of road the pedestal/pole is on (if available) and the distance from pedestal/pole to house (required). If a service drop footage is more than 1320ft (0.25 mi), please provide what direction the drop runs. Example: “From inter of ____ and ____, North 0.25 mi to pedestal on the east side of road…Locate from pedestal working East appx 1500ft to house.”
  • GPS points are helpful and may be required in some instances, especially to indicate the start and end of a designated path. Driving directions and Locate instructions are still required even if GPS or legal is provided.
  • Large Projects that span multiple miles cross country should indicate the path of the job from beginning to end and should be staked/marked for locators to determine the exact route. GPS and Legal descriptions are helpful and/or required in these scenarios. Large Projects have a 24 hour turn-around time. For more information about submitting Large Projects, please view the Large Project Guidelines document on the OKIE811 website.

Remarks

  • Provide GPS Coordinates and/or legal descriptions in this field.
  • It is important to state any access issues there may be on the property. Some locators will not be able to access the yard if there are dogs present, locked gates, etc. If “access issues” box is checked, the specific details should be in the Remarks.
  • Provide any other information you deem would be important for the locator to know in order to mark or access the dig site. You can also include customer information or any special requests in this section if that is helpful to you.
  • If maps are available, please indicate that in this field.
  • The excavator can request that all lines be only flagged, only painted or flags and paint, but OKIE811 cannot guarantee that locators will fulfill that request.
  • OKIE811 can request that locators provide the depth of the lines, but we cannot guarantee that locators will be able to fulfill that request. You may have to contact the facility owner directly.

Private Line Reminder

  • Member companies may or may not mark service lines. Member companies will not mark private lines. Some gas, sewer, water, electrical service lines may be considered as private lines, which would be the responsibility of the property owner. For private lines, local electricians or plumbers may be able to help you.

Mapping

  • When submitting the locate request via the OKIE811 Web Portal, the excavator can choose to map the dig site location. This can be very helpful to the OKIE811 CSR processing the locate request. If marking the dig site, it is important that the entire dig site is covered with the marking, as this is how OKIE811 contacts the members registered in the area. Address and/or driving directions and locate instructions are still required. The OKIE811 CSR will verify the mapping indicated by the excavator and may contact the exactor or return to verify if information is not matching up.

  • IMPORTANT: If choosing to mark the dig site location on the map, please verify the correct area is being marked.

Map Search Results

  • The map will search information entered into the address fields, street field or the search field located in the mapping area (binoculars). There are multiple categories of search results.
  • When search results are selected, a temporary place marker is put on the map indicating the location of that search result (black ‘X’ or red line/polygon). You will use the marking tools to correctly cover the dig site.
    • Exact Address – finds the exact address point (may or may not have parcel information)
    • Parcel from Address – highlights the exact address point and parcel boundaries
    • Exact Street Segment – Did not find the exact address, but it found the section of road that contains the address range in which the specific address is located.
    • Exact Street – Address and Exact Street Segment is not found, but a matching street is found.
    • Street Begins With – Similar street names found
    • Intersecting – You will have the option to select any intersecting streets with any street result found.
    • Highways – Finds all highways in the county selected. You can also search by entering HWY in the street search to display highways and expand the intersecting streets.
    • Cities – Finds all cities in the county selected.
    • Points of Interests – this result will display when a search finds similar results within the Points of Interests on the map. Some Points of interests are searchable, try entering the name of the school, park, church, etc. Please be sure to verify the location of the point of interest found.

Map Layers

This is found at the top of the map and gives you the option to view different layers of mapping.

  • Map – This is OKIE811’s main map data layer including streets, highways, interstates, address points, parcel data, hundred block info, section/half section lines, legal descriptions, city and county names, bodies of water, parks, etc. All data here is maintained by OKIE811.
  • OKIE Labeled Aerials – This is Bing Aerial Maps with an overlay of OKIE811 map data
  • Bing Labeled Aerials – This is aerial view and map data provided by Bing.
  • Points of Interests – Check this box to see Points of Interests/landmarks such as hospitals, schools, etc. * Not all Points of Interests may be listed in this layer*
  • Restaurants – Check this box to see Restaurants in the area. *Not all restaurants may be listed in this layer*

Mapping Tools

There are several mapping tools available when working with the map. The map tools are across the top and bottom of the map screen.

  • Enter GPS – Enter GPS Coordinates in a choice of Decimal Degrees, Degrees Minutes Seconds, or Degrees Minutes. Be sure to add the negative sign on the Longtitude. Coordinates will be marked with a temporary X when found.
  • Clear – Clear any markings made on the map.
  • Pan – Use this tool to scroll/navigate the map.
  • Measure – Measure distances in miles, feet or yards. Start measurement with a single click and pan and click to follow turns in the roadway, etc. Double click to end measurement. The distance will calculate along the route as it is drawn. “Full” measurement is the full measurement you have made from beginning to end and in most cases the measurement you will use the most. “Part” measurement is the measurement between each single click.

  • Binoculars (Street search) – In this field, you can search for any street name and some points of interests without manipulating the address information already entered.
  • Zoom slider – You can use the Zoom slider to manually zoom in and out. You can also use your mouse wheel to zoom in and out on the map while panning or as needed.
  • Use Ticket – Once address is entered into address fields, the map will start it’s search, however, you can also use this button to pull the search results for the address information entered on the locate request form. You will be presented with several search results based on different values entered on the form. Click on any result to zoom to and temporarily select the location. If the result appropriately defines the work site, you can use the Use Selection tool to automatically mark the map.
  • Mark Area – Use this tool to mark a polygon around the dig site. Single-click to start the polygon and to add each point, double click to complete polygon.

IMPORTANT:
In order for OKIE811 to receive the area you marked in mapping, your marking should be orange before submitting the ticket. Search results selected may display as “X’ or in red and are temporary place holders and will not be sent to OKIE811.

Drawing Error Explanations:

  •  Selection Error – Area marked on map does not match the county selected in the work site information. When marking the dig site location, the county selected in the drop down list must match the county you are marking in. If it does not, you will receive a Selection Error.

 

  • County lines are indicated by a gray dashed line, the marking must not cross that line into the adjacent county.

  • The county names will display on the map in red and can be seen at different zooms of mapping. As example: In the image above, Kingfisher county is the county to the North. If you dig location is on the North side of that dashed line, you would need to change the county selection to “Kingfisher” in order to mark the dig site location in mapping.

  • Selection Drawing Error – The map will not accept a self-intersecting polygon. If a self-intersecting polygon is drawn, you receive the Selection Drawing Error and the marking will be cleared from the map.

 

Update Ticket

Go to “Find Tickets” on the Portal to submit an Update ticket for an ongoing project via web. An Update allows excavators to request a refresh of the locate markings and/or to extend the life of the ticket if markings are still visible.

  • If an Update is required, remember that the law allows the members to respond within 2 business days of the notice. If the excavation is planned to exceed the 10 day window, please Update by the 8th day allowing two business days for the members to respond.
  • The existing ticket must be no less than 3 days old and no more than 30 days old to be updated on the Web Portal. If our ticket is less than 3 days old, please contact the OKIE811 center for special handling. If your ticket is more than 30 days old, please submit a new locate request. If submitting the same/similar information, you can go to “find tickets” on the OKIE811 Web Portal and use the Copy feature to copy the exact details of that existing ticket into a new ticket, then make necessary edits to the ticket and submit. Or you can submit a new ticket via the Web Portal, OKIE811 App, or by phone at 8-1-1.
  • You will be given the option to change contact information on the Update ticket. However, the other locate request information cannot change on an Update ticket. If you need additional changes, please contact OKIE811 to speak with a representative.
  • If the “Update” or “Update Extend” buttons are deactivated (grayed out), the ticket does not quality for online update, please contact 8-1-1 or 800-522-6543 to speak with a representative to update your ticket.

How to Update Ticket:

    • Go to “Find Tickets”
    • Enter ticket number
    • Select Search
    • Select “Update” or “Update Extend” from the toolbar
  • Update – Update and refresh the markings – this notifies the OKIE811 members that the lines need to be checked/remarked/refreshed.
  • Update – Extend – Update to extend the life of the ticket only. This notifies the OKIE811 members that the markings are still visible and they do not need to respond to check/remark/refresh the markings. You are only extending the life of the ticket for another 10 business days.
    • With either type of Update, you have the option to change contact information on that ticket.
    • Click OK to confirm the Update.
    • You will be presented with a 14 digit confirmation/ticket number.
  • If the ticket number you entered is not the newest ticket in the history, the system will recognize that and confirm you want to update the newest ticket in history. After selecting Yes to update that ticket, the newer ticket’s details will display and you will be required to start the Update process again.

Other Find Ticket features:

  •  Copy – You can use this feature to copy any existing ticket number into a brand new ticket.
  • History – View history of any existing ticket number entered.
  • Send To Me – Resend the existing ticket to the logged in user’s email.
  • Show Map – See the mapping made by the OKIE811 CSR for that existing ticket.