Does 811 Locate Private Lines? What Florida 811 Won’t Mark
No. 811 does not locate private utility lines, in Florida or anywhere else. When you call 811 before digging, each utility company marks only the lines it owns, which typically end at the meter, the property line, or the service connection. Everything past that point is a private utility, and no one will mark it unless you hire a private utility locating company.
That single gap causes a huge share of dig-in damage on Florida properties, because most people assume a "clear" 811 ticket means the ground is clear. Here is where the line actually falls, and who is responsible for what.
What 811 marks: public utilities, to the meter
The 811 process notifies utility operators, and each one locates its own facilities free of charge: the electric service to your meter, the gas main and service to the meter, the water main to the meter, sewer mains in the street, and telecom trunk lines. The system exists to protect utility-owned infrastructure, and it does that well. How the ticket process works is covered in our Florida 811 guide.
What counts as private utility lines
Anything installed on the customer side of the service point. On Florida properties that routinely includes:
- Irrigation and lawn sprinkler systems
- Sewer laterals from the house to the main, septic tanks and drain fields
- Electric lines from the meter to pools, spas, docks, gates, sheds, and outbuildings
- Gas lines to pool heaters, generators, grills, and outdoor kitchens
- Landscape lighting and low-voltage wiring
- Water lines to wells, guest houses, and barns
- Private storm drainage, French drains, and downspout piping
- On commercial sites: site lighting, private fire lines, data conduit between buildings
On a typical commercial parcel, more than half the buried lines are private. Add a pool and an irrigation system to a residential lot and the ratio tips the same way.
Who is responsible for locating private utilities?
The property owner (or the excavator working for them). Florida's damage prevention law obligates utility owners to mark what they own; on the private side, you are the utility owner. If a contractor cuts your unmarked pool line, the repair bill lands on your side of the fence.
This is why experienced contractors ask for a private locate in writing before trenching on any property with more than grass on it, and why lenders and engineers increasingly require mapped locates for sitework.
Can't I just find the lines myself?
Consumer pipe locators and rented equipment can trace some metallic lines, but private systems are the worst case for do-it-yourself locating: PVC irrigation and plastic gas pipe carry no signal, direct-burial electric is indistinguishable from other conductors without training, and septic components hide under decades of landscaping. Professional crews combine electromagnetic locating, ground penetrating radar for non-metallic pipe, and sonde tracing for laterals. The methods are covered in how utility locating works.
How the two services fit together
- Contact 811 at least two full business days before digging. Free, and required by Florida law for every excavation.
- Hire a private utility locating company to sweep the same dig area for everything the utility companies will not mark. Same visit, same APWA color code, complete picture.
- Dig to the marks, hand-digging inside the tolerance zone of every line, public or private.
Cost-wise, the private side of that pairing typically runs a few hundred dollars for residential visits; our utility locating cost guide breaks down the ranges.
Get the private half located
Very Best Utilities provides private utility locating across Florida: irrigation, septic, pool and dock feeds, private electric and gas, laterals and drainage, marked and documented so your crew can dig without surprises. Request a locate and close the gap 811 leaves open.