When a Private Locate Becomes a Design Locate

Sometimes the most valuable design locates are the ones no one planned for.

We were recently hired by a soil stabilization contractor to perform a private locate before they began chemical injections on a vacant commercial lot in Frisco, Texas. Their client, a general contractor, was preparing to build a two-storey commercial building covering the entire grassy area marked with the red dot in this image.

This property was originally developed as part of a larger commercial parcel and gradually built out over the years with restaurants, offices, and retail buildings. The lot we were working on was the last undeveloped piece within the block. At first glance, it looked like an open pad site ready for construction, but in reality, it was completely surrounded by existing servicing and underground infrastructure from the neighboring developments.

The Request

Our client asked us to mark the private utility lines around the work area. My first question was, what about the site servicing for this entire block? I explained that the servicing was most likely installed by the same developer when the property was first built out. If we could get records, we could ensure due diligence and confirm what was buried before starting our investigation. Otherwise, we would be working blind, which greatly increases the risk of missing a facility and reducing time and cost.

I stressed that a locator needs to know what could be buried in the work area before beginning, otherwise the investigation must assume that any facility from surrounding properties could cross into the footprint. I also noted that while it is unusual for a developer to run a major buried line through a future building footprint, I had seen it happen before in my 35 years of experience.

Our client understood but believed the only issue would be the street lighting, since they could see conduit in the middle of the property and surface evidence of street light cables. They were on a tight budget, already bid the job and this was a last minute afterthought, so I agreed to keep costs low and locate whatever I could find directly on the property, but I would not be chasing services for adjacent buildings. I made it clear this would be a limitation on my locate, and that this limitation carried an elevated level of risk. They agreed, and we scheduled the job.

What We Found

Once we pressed the general contractor for drawings, we were provided an old plan showing the retail building footprint - This plan had some site servicing, however, that underground for any electric, communication or gas were non-existent.

• A primary electric main – running directly through the building footprint. The Texas 811 public locator had missed this line entirely. We identified it, escalated to the electric utility owner, and instructed our client to stand down until the line was properly located by the 811 locator.

• A gas service stub – marked in yellow was likely installed years earlier for future use and sat  beneath the proposed building area.

The Contractor’s Dilemma

For the developer and general contractor, the discovery created two costly choices:

• Redesign the building. Shrinking the footprint meant losing rentable square footage, and with that, future tenant revenue. On top of that came architectural fees and permitting changes.

• Relocate the utility lines. This meant paying relocation costs to the the utility owner for the gas service and electric main, down time for the existing building this main served, and absorbing a potential 4 to 6 month delay, even though the project was already mobilized.

Either option carried serious financial and scheduling consequences.

Why Public Locates Aren’t Enough

This project highlights two critical truths:

1. Public 811 locates are for excavation, not design. In this case, the public locator even failed to properly identify the electric main. That oversight could have led to a dangerous strike.

2. Private locates expose the bigger picture. By marking the gas stub and flagging the missed electric main, the private locate uncovered conflicts that directly impacted the design and viability of the building.

The Lesson

Vacant land isn’t always void of buried utility infrastructure. Sewer, water, gas, empty conduit and even mains within easements can sit waiting beneath the surface. Without a subsurface utility engineering study or private locate, this project would have broken ground directly over active utility infrastructure, that could have led to safety risks, and will lead to redesign costs, and months of delay.

That’s why every project needs more than just an 811 ticket. Private locate contractors such as Know Before You Dig Locates protect contractors, developers, and owners by turning surprises into solvable problems before they become disasters.

At Know Before You Dig Locates, we say it plainly: the costliest facility conflict isn’t the one you hit, it can be the one you build over.