DOB Requires 811 Ticket Number for Earthwork Notification

By Penny Laughlin

The New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) has added a new requirement for projects involving earthwork, or excavation, as of May 1, 2017.

If you’ve done any excavation in the five boroughs, then you already know that the DOB requires contractors with earthwork permits to notify the DOB Excavation Unit 24 to 48 hours in advance. These are the standard rules of NYC DOB earthwork notification.

In addition, contractors need to call 811 to alert the utility company before digging starts.

Call Before You Dig—or Notify

This new change requires earthwork contractors to call the 811 (Call Before You Dig) One Call phone number before contacting the Excavation Unit. Alternatively, the 811 notification can take place online at www.newyork-811.com.

Contractors must now provide the 811 ticket number when notifying the DOB of scheduled earthwork at 212.393.2550. Otherwise, notification is not complete, and proceeding with excavation may result in a DOB violation for Failure to Notify.

DOB requires on-site storage for all documents related to the notification, to be presented upon request.

As a final note, don’t forget that the 811 ticket number needs to address all street frontages associated with the excavation.

If you have any questions about this or other DOB matters, please call Metropolis Group at 212.233.6344 or by email at contact@metropolisny.com.