Des Moines, Iowa - Sept. 13, 2017 - Iowa One Call is an essential component to safe and legal autumn landscaping projects. Iowa law requires at least 48-hour notice before excavation. This service is free to the homeowner and assures underground facilities are located and marked with color-coded spray paint and flags. Seventy-five percent of homeowners surveyed in the 2017 U.S. Houzz Landscape Trends Study said they were updating their yards with shrubs, perennials or trees. Autumn may be the best time for these updates as the ground maintains warmth from the summer. Warmer soil allows new plants, shrubs and trees to take root. Homeowners should recognize that the first step to updating their landscaping is to know what's below. Underground facilities are items placed below ground to convey or provide essential services. These include electric, gas, water, sewer and communications lines. Each of these services provides vital resources to homes and businesses. Nationally, damage to an underground facility occurs every six minutes because someone failed to make a notice to the one call system. Having your proposed excavation site marked reduces the likelihood of damage by a considerable margin. Impairing an underground facility puts you, the community and the surrounding property at risk of injury and destruction. You may be liable for repairs and lost service if proper protocol is not followed. Failure to notify Iowa One Call prior to digging is a violation of state law (Iowa Code, Chapter 480). The office of the Iowa Attorney General is charged with enforcing the penalty provisions of this code. For violations related to natural gas lines an amount of $10,000 may be assessed for each violation, and for each day the violation continues, up to $500,000. For violations related to other underground facilities, an amount of $1,000 may be assessed for each violation, for each day the violation continues, up to $20,000. To make a notice, simply dial 8-1-1 or generate a ticket online at www.iowaonecall.com. About Iowa One Call     Iowa One Call is the state of Iowa's free underground damage prevention notification system that provides users with a single source/notification process to coordinate the locating and marking of underground facilities located near or within any proposed area of excavation.  The notification system is reached by dialing 8-1-1, or electronically by going online at www.iowaonecall.com Iowa One Call representatives handle more than 400,000 notices and coordinate more than two million locate requests annually.  The service provided by Iowa One Call is free of charge, including the locating and marking process (which is handled by the underground facility operators).  The cost is paid in full by underground facility operators who are required to become members of the Iowa One Call system. Iowa One Call is neither a utility nor a locating service and it does not own facilities nor does it locate underground facilities. To learn more about Iowa One Call, go to http://www.iowaonecall.com. - 30 -

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