Locate Charges for Enbridge Infrastructure

While historically free, some utilities have begun charging contractor to mark their underground infrastructure - the specific culprit is Enbridge Gas, whom announced that as of May 1st, 2023 will charge a fee for field locates and the associated paperwork in Ontario. We built this as an allowance item, as these charges will only occur if the planned excavation is in the vicinity of a gasline. Unfortunately we have to pass this fee through to our customers.

Enbridge Gas announced on Friday March 10th via a 3pm email that they'd begin charging for field work done to locate any lines they have on your property. OntarioOneCall has responded with a press release, indicating they're aware of the situation. In our opinion it is only a mater of time before other utilities jump on board the gouge train.

Since retracted, Enbridge proposed that on May 1st 2023 they would begin charging contractors a $200 [CAD] fee for field locates done within Ontario. Homeowners will still be able to obtain marking of natural gas lines for free; however conflicting information is included within the press release as to whether commercial business tenants will be eligible for free locates or only residential customers.

Enbridge's $200 locate fee for property's in Ontario would have only covered pipes and infrastructure owned by Enbridge (formerly Union Gas), this means any private underground infrastructure was excluded. This means any piping to firepits or pool equipment is not included, and would require it's own private locate.

In situations where the customer has private infrastructure, be that electrical or natural gas pipes (which can feed a variety of sources, including your pool, firepit, or outbuildings) we'll treat it on a case by case basis. We are an exception in the fencing industry and own a 3M Dynatel Locator to assist with pinpointing buried cables - however the responsibility ultimately rests on the customer to inform us if there is anything we need to be cautious of. In certain circumstances we might bring a third party locator in where we feel it's needed to maintain a safe workplace.

No. As the excavator conducting the ground disturbance, it is our responsibility to obtain locates. Enbridge address' this in section 5 of their press release.

yes. Not only is it the law under the Underground Infrastructure System Act( S.O 2012, c4) - but any excavator that commences digging without a locate can be hit with a $10,000 fine ground disturbance activities without a valid locate may be subject to a $10,000 penalty. Ouch!
Locates are a safety item we take seriously.

Fortunatly Enbridge retracted this change, and there is no need to do anything further. It is our opinion that while we understand locates cost Enbridge money, the nice round $200 number did not seem to balance their cost with our desire to not harm THEIR infrastructure.
In Ontario unsafe digging costs 1.2B in damages, we believe this will worsen the situation.