Flags In My Yard

Please do not call the number on the flags – this is for the contractor if they accidentally hit a line!

At some point in time, you’ve probably noticed small colored flags placed in your yard or around town.  Sometimes the ground is also marked with different colors of paint.  If you have these flags and paint in your yard, it means that someone in the area is planning to dig and they did the responsible thing and called 811.  This allows utilities to come out and mark their buried lines before the project beings.

Utilities will send out locators who will come and mark the approximate location of buried utilities with paint or flags so that whoever is doing the diffing can avoid them.  Each utility type corresponds to a specific color of paint or a flag – for examples, gas lines are marked with yellow paint or flags. Work being performed by contractors is almost always in the right-of-way, or within an existing utility easement.  Residents shouldn’t mow over, or remove the flags, especially if they value their water, sewer, gas, internet, phone, or other services.