
KNOW BEFORE YOU DESIGN Utility Locates
Utility Coordination and Subsurface Utility Mapping Services
Start Smarter. Build Safer. Reduce Risk with Complete Underground Awareness.
​
Before any design work, planning, or ground disturbance begins, one step determines whether a project starts with clarity or uncertainty: utility coordination for private locates.
​
Most buried utility infrastructure on private property is undocumented, outdated, incomplete, or misunderstood. Without coordinated research and verification, designers, surveyors, and excavators are working blind. That leads to redesigns, delays, unexpected conflicts, and avoidable damages.
​
We coordinate the entire underground picture before field work begins, then deliver accurate, design-ready subsurface utility data that supports safe, compliant, predictable projects.
Utility Coordination for Private Locates
The foundation of every successful locate, design, or ground disturbance project.
​
Utility coordination is the process of gathering, reviewing, and interpreting all available information about buried utility infrastructure before locating, designing, or digging. It is the single most important step in reducing project risk.
​
Effective utility coordination includes:

-
Collecting and reviewing all available utility records
-
Confirming which buried facilities are public and which are private
-
Identifying utility rooms, electrical closets, pump rooms, and mechanical spaces
-
Speaking with knowledgeable site personnel
-
Reviewing past construction drawings, as-builts, surveys, and CAD files
-
Understanding how tenant service lines branch from main corridors
-
Determining where buried facilities extend into parking lots, landscaped areas, or expansions
-
Identifying conflicts, risks, and design constraints before any field work begins
Utility coordination forms the base layer of subsurface intelligence.
Without it, a locate is incomplete. With it, your project becomes safer, faster, and far more predictable.
KNOW Before You Design
QL-B & QL-A Utility Mapping for Surveyors, Designers, Municipalities & Infrastructure Owners
Before the first sketch is drawn or site grading begins, you need to know what lies beneath. Know Before You Design Locates supports professionals involved in design and planning by providing design-grade underground utility mapping, often referred to as Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE) Level B and Level A data.
*We locate the subsurface.
**You build with confidence.
WHO ARE YOU?
Our services are tailored to your role. Click below to see how we can support your workflow:
HOME OWNERS AND BUILDERS
Need to dig on your property or build something new?
We help homeowners and builders verify underground buried facilities before construction begins. If 811 does not cover the full scope, we confirm public locates, identify private lines, and perform utility coordination to keep your project safe, compliant, and on schedule.
No guesswork. Just peace of mind.
SURVEYORS
Need underground utility mapping to support your topographic or boundary work?
We perform utility coordination and QL-B mapping so your survey reflects an accurate subsurface picture. We integrate our deliverables directly into your CAD models, ensuring clean, conflict-free design workflows.
You stay in control and we support the underground background
​
ARCHITECTS & DESIGNERS
Your site plan shows what is above ground, but does it show what is below?
​
We work with your surveyor or design team to confirm buried facility risks early in planning. Utility coordination for private locates ensures your design is based on accurate underground information, reducing redesigns, change orders, and hidden conflicts.
No special SUE knowledge required, we guide the process.
ENGINEERS & PROJECT MANAGERS
Designing around unknown buried utility infrastructure creates costly redesigns and preventable delays.
We combine utility coordination with CAD-ready QL-B data, photo documentation, and test-hole confirmation guidance when needed. We provide clear, validated underground information so your design team can move forward with confidence.
​
Get reliable, usable data up front—before design decisions are made.
UTILITY OWNERS
Incomplete records? Legacy buried infrastructure? Undocumented lines?
​
We provide utility coordination, mapping, and documentation to help you manage and modernize your buried assets. We assign SUE-level quality ratings and deliver GIS-friendly datasets to support planning, engineering, and maintenance.
​
Take control of your underground system with verified information.
MUNICIPALITIES & PUBLIC WORKS
We help cities and towns build underground GIS datasets. From locating legacy water/sewer lines to performing LiDAR scans of manholes and catch basins, we provide field-verified data that supports long-term asset management, planning, and design reviews.
WHAT WE DELIVER:
-
QL-D Utility Record Search and Compilation
-
QL-C Site Data
-
QL‑B Utility Locates using EM, GPR, and surface feature correlation
-
Structure Scanning: Optional LiDAR for manholes, catch basins, and vaults
-
Aerial Photo Documentation with GPS tagging
-
CAD-Ready Outputs for integration with your site survey
-
Quality Level Labelling (QL‑B, QL‑A) in line with ASCE 38-22
-
Coordination Support with surveyors, engineers, and design teams
-
We support your team from field locate to CAD-ready delivery.
-
We’re Not Surveyors – We’re Underground Specialists
We don’t do boundary or elevation surveys, but we work alongside your surveyor to fill in the most overlooked layer: what’s below ground. Whether you need a one-time locate or an ongoing partner, our team ensures you’re designing with the full picture.
Start Smarter. Build Safer.
Whether you're planning a new development, retrofitting an existing site, or updating infrastructure records, we’ll help you Know Before You Design.
