A utility search is the enquiry into which cables and pipes lie in the ground at a location, made before any digging starts. The point is to avoid damage to electricity, gas, water, telecoms and drainage networks — damage that is both dangerous and expensive.
In the Netherlands this is centrally organised. The enquiry is called a KLIC notification (Kabels en Leidingen Informatie Centrum, the cables and pipes information centre) and runs through the Kadaster, the Dutch land registry. The legal basis is WIBON, the Dutch act on the exchange of information about above and below ground networks.
The Dutch KLIC notification
Anyone digging with mechanical equipment — an excavator, an auger or other machinery — must submit an excavation notification. The deadlines:
- The notification must be made at the latest 3 working days and at the earliest 20 working days before work starts
- The notification is valid for 20 working days; digging has to begin within that window
- You receive digital maps showing the networks of the utilities involved, viewable in the KLIC viewer
There is also an orientation request for the design stage; it does not entitle you to dig.
Elsewhere
Other countries organise this differently but the duty of care is the same. In the UK, utility plans are requested from the network operators or through a central service before excavation; in the United States the “call before you dig” number arranges free marking-out of buried services. Whatever the system, digging without an enquiry leaves you liable for the damage.
Practical tips
- The plan is an indication, not a guarantee — the actual position can differ. Near marked services dig carefully and by hand (trial slits)
- Take the information to site — it must be available at the place of work
- Report discrepancies — if a service clearly lies elsewhere than shown, that should be fed back
- Relevant to private work too — a spade in the garden is one thing, but an auger, a mini-excavator or a screw pile puts you into the mechanical category quickly
- In an emergency notify the utility immediately and call the emergency number if there is danger
Related terms
- Excavation pit
- Drainage
- Foul water
- Site preparation
- Construction safety zone
- Land registry
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